A representação da performance em estudos etnomusicológicos

Back in the 1970s a number of ethnomusicologists started to elaborate a theoretical reflection on performance as a central issue in the study of music making. This forced them to develop other ways of visualizing music for their analytical purposes. This article deals with how performance has been represented in ethnomusicological studies. I shall discuss how the graphic rendition of a sound recording is simply the mirror of what a scholar perceives, or the consequence of his/her will to emphasise a specific aspect, mediated through the possibilities offered by (and the limits of) the Western semiographic system. After presenting a series of examples on how various scholars chose to graphically visualize musical performance, this paper shows how the contemplation of the strategies used to visualize performance in ethnomusicological studies can be a fruitful way of reflecting upon various topics, namely 1) the impassable limits of score transcription for understanding music as a performative phenomenon; 2) the analysis of the graphic solutions adopted by the ethnomusicologist as a way to better understand their idea of what the performance is; 3) the role played by technology in promoting new analytical approaches and methodologies; 4) analysis in ethnomusicology as an “artisanal process”.A partir de los años setenta algunos etnomusicólogos comenzaron a elaborar una serie de reflexiones teóricas sobre la performance como elemento central para el estudio del music making, lo cual ha conducido a la necesidad de elaborar modalidades alternativas de visualización de la música con finalidad analítica. Este artículo trata sobre cómo se ha representado la performance en los estudios etnomusicológicos. Discutiré si la representación gráfica de una grabación sonora es simplemente el espejo de lo que percibe el estudioso o la consecuencia de su voluntad de enfatizar un aspecto específico, mediada (y limitada) por las posibilidades ofrecidas por el sistema semiográfico occidental. Tras considerar una serie de ejemplos sobre cómo los estudiosos han decidido representar gráficamente la performance musical, este artículo intenta demostrar que el análisis de las estrategias de visualización de la performance en los estudios etnomusicológicos puede ser considerado como un modo útil para reflexionar sobre algunos aspectos, tales como: 1) los límites infranqueables de las transcripciones en pentagrama para entender la música como fenómeno performativo; 2) el análisis de las soluciones gráficas adoptadas por el etnomusicólogo como una estrategia para dar a entender mejor su idea sobre lo que es la performance; 3) el papel que juega la tecnología en la promoción de nuevos enfoques analíticos y metodologías; 4) el análisis en etnomusicología como un “proceso artesanal”A partir dos anos 70 do século XX, alguns etnomusicólogos começaram a elaborar uma série de reflexões teóricas sobre a performance como elemento central para o estudo do music making, as quais conduziram à necessidade de desenvolver outras formas de visualização da música que possam auxiliar os seus objetivos analíticos. Este artigo mostra como se tem representado a performance em estudos etnomusicológicos. Discutirei se a representação gráfica de uma gravação sonora é simplesmente um espelho do entendimento do pesquisador ou a consequência da sua vontade de enfatizar um aspeto específico, mediada (e limitada) pelas possibilidades que oferecem o sistema semiográfico ocidental. Após apresentar uma série de exemplos que mostram como vários académicos decidiram representar graficamente a performance musical, este artigo pretende mostrar que a análise de estratégias de representação da performance em estudos etnomusicológicos pode ser considerada um meio útil para refletir sobre aspetos, tais como: 1) os limites intransponíveis das transcrições em pentagrama para entender a música como fenómeno performativo; 2) a análise das soluções gráficas adotadas pelo etnomusicólogos como uma estratégia para dar a entender melhor a sua ideia sobre o que é a performance; 3) o papel que desempenha a tecnologia na promoção de novos enfoques analíticos e metodologias e; 4) a análise em etnomusicologia como um “processo artesanal”

Enhancing the Visualization of Percussion Gestures by Virtual Character Animation

International audienceA new interface for visualizing and analyzing percussion gestures is presented, proposing enhancements of existing motion capture analysis tools. This is achieved by offering a percussion gesture analysis protocol using motion capture. A virtual character dynamic model is then designed in order to take advantage of gesture characteristics, yielding to improve gesture analysis with visualization and interaction cues of different types

Dynamic mapping strategies for interactive art installations: an embodied combined HCI HRI HHI approach

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for dealing with the paradigm of interactivity in new media art, and how the broad use of the term in different research fields can lead to some misunderstandings. The paper addresses a conceptual view on how we can implement interaction in new media art from an embodied approach that unites views from HCI, HRI and HHI. The focus is on an intuitive mapping of a multitude of sensor data and to extend upon this using the paradigm of (1) finite state machines (FSM) to address dynamic mapping strategies, (2) mediality to address aisthesis and (3) embodiment to address valid mapping strategies originated from natural body movements. The theory put forward is illustrated by a case study

Computer assisted music instructment tutoring applied to violin practice

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

The exploration of a triadic model of contest-complementation-conformance over innovative musical and visual forms of expression

The relationship between music, moving images and colour is one that has long exerted a fascination over artists, practitioners and theorists. It is a compelling topic now because this question very directly illuminates ideas in the area of digital music and performance as laptop performance gives opportunities for real time work with visuals and sound. In this project I explored this rich field by creating six works (including two compositions and four experimentations), closely related to each other, which dramatised tensions between the natural and industrialized world through different audio, visual and musical treatments, but always beginning with the same source visual material. My processes were informed by the insights of three theorists, and finding ways of applying and interpreting them in performance contexts. The three theorists whose ideas most concerned me were Michel Chion (France, 1947), Raymond Murray Schafer (Canada, 1933) and Nicholas Cook (Greece, 1950). To explain the relationship between music and visuals in my project, I utilized Nicholas Cook’s triadic model of contest, conformance and complementation, as described in his book Analysing Musical Multimedia (Oxford University Press, 2000). The works created for this project displayed at least one strongly differentiated musical component in each of the pieces. For the visuals I decided to use (1) my own footage from natural landscapes and (2) footage from cityscapes to create a sharp visual juxtaposition. For the processing of the natural images, I made reference to Stan Brakhage’s experimental film ‘The Dead’ (1960 – 11 minutes, 16 millimeters). It’s a deathly, evocative walk through a cemetery through the non-attached, deviating camera of Brakhage, accompanied with a wide range of film effects such as superimpositions, solarized film fragments and overexposures (loss of highlight detail). In “The Dead”, the images are tightly crossfaded (layered), a technique which prevents the viewer from focusing on a specific image yet still being in context of the film content. In addition, material objects can be located in The Dead. Statues are dominant in it, and Brakhage’s sloping angles, solarization, and superimpositions with the noble mausoleums illustrate them as evil spirits that haunt these large tombs rather than supervising them in protection. What I have learned from Brakhage’s work is that experimenting with film techniques such as image superimposition, color inversion, and overexposures over a series of visuals which are related to each other thematologically, and applying these techniques on the film in an appropriate way, leads to a more poetic representation of the visuals where the film’s context is not a result of the primitive visual material but of the way the visual techniques are applied. In other words, the meaning of the film is not defined by its primitive content but by the techniques applied. This eases the filmmaker to focus on different aspects of the film. For instance Brakhage in his film “The Dead” made use of the techniques mentioned above (image superimposition, color inversion, and overexposures) to depict the world from the viewpoint of a spirit. In addition, he combined these techniques with camera swerving so as to imitate the movement of the spirit itself. Learning from this, I crossfaded water images with color-inverted mountain images in the natural video sections, creating a similar effect that Brakhage creates in “The Dead” with the use of his layering techniques. Thus, I indicated my artistic decision of the presence of harmony in nature with the use of color inversion, color correction and image superimposition versus the intense footage from urban centers where I kept the imagery unprocessed and in black and white. Any stretched sound used in this project was created with “Hypermammuth Paulstretch”; a software applying time-stretching algorithm on any .wav, .ogg or .mp3 sound input. Paulstretch is freeware software that I got from the website: http://hypermammut.sourceforge.net/paulstretch/ Paul Nasca was the developer of this software. His webpage is: http://www.paulnasca.com As it is clearly described in his website: http://www.paulnasca.com/open-sourceprojects# TOC-Paul-s-Extreme-Sound-Stretch, this program produces high quality sounds without the presence of any ‘artefacts’ even if the original source sound undergoes extreme stretching. This is the reason why I decided to use this software. The output stretched sound is very clear and depending on the original source, the processed sound either retains some characteristics of the original or it has a completely different texture. This can lead to the production of a wide variety of processed sound effects that I was very interested in exploring in my project