Normal mode for chamber ensemble and electronics

Transcription

1 University o Iowa Iowa Research Online Theses and Dissertations Sring 2010 Normal mode or chamber ensemble and electronics Israel Neuman University o Iowa Coyright 2010 Israel Neuman This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: htt://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/562 Recommended Citation Neuman, Israel. "Normal mode or chamber ensemble and electronics." PhD (Doctor o Philosohy) thesis, University o Iowa, htt://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/562. Follow this and additional works at: htt://ir.uiowa.edu/etd Part o the Music Commons

2 NORMAL MODE FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS by Israel Neuman An Abstract O a thesis submitted in artial ulillment o the requirements or the Doctor o Philosohy degree in Music in the Graduate College o The University o Iowa May 2010 Thesis Suervisor: Associate Proessor Lawrence Fritts

3 1 ABSTRACT Normal Mode is a comosition or chamber ensemble and electronics that makes reerence to the microtonality emloyed in Turkish music. In this comosition I have made an attemt to exand the timbral alette o standard Western instruments by the use o electronic sounds, which were constructed through digital sound synthesis. The microtonal requencies, which were used in this synthesis rocess, were derived rom the Turkish tonal system. The ensemble material, on the other hand, was conceived within a Western-inluenced serial itch organization. These two distinct inluences invite a dynamic discourse between the ensemble and the electronics. As a new instrument, which was develoed seciically or this comosition, the electronics initially attract more attention. Over time a new equilibrium is established and the electronics art is integrated in the ensemble. The electronics art o Normal Mode was created in the object-oriented rogramming environment Max/MSP. It is realized in a erormance o the comosition with the same sotware. Five o the chaters o this thesis discuss the comositional rocess o the electronic art and the system o organization that guided this rocess. These chaters describe how this system was incororated in the rogramming o Max/MSP atchers which generated the comosition s sound library and erorm the electronics art in real time. They also describe the relationshis between the ensemble and the electronics. The sixth chater resents the comosition Normal Mode. The Max/MSP atchers that erorm the electronics art are included in the sulement o this thesis.

4 2 Abstract Aroved: Thesis Suervisor Title and Deartment Date

5 NORMAL MODE FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS by Israel Neuman A thesis submitted in artial ulillment o the requirements or the Doctor o Philosohy degree in Music in the Graduate College o The University o Iowa May 2010 Thesis Suervisor: Associate Proessor Lawrence Fritts

6 Coyright by ISRAEL NEUMAN 2010 All Rights Reserved

7 Graduate College The University o Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL PH.D. THESIS This is to certiy that the Ph.D. thesis o Israel Neuman has been aroved by the Examining Committee or the thesis requirement or Doctor o Philosohy degree in Music at the May 2010 graduation. Thesis Committee: Lawrence Fritts, Thesis Suervisor David Gomer Robert Cook John Rason Bryon Winn

8 To Yi and Amitai, and to Mina ii

9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my mentor and thesis suervisor, Lawrence Fritts, or his guidance and suort, and or sharing his insiring knowledge with me. I would also like to thank my committee members, David Gomer, John Rason, Robert Cook and Bryon Winn, or their contributions to my education over the years I have been a student at the University o Iowa. Finally, I would like to exress my deeest gratitude to my wie, Yi, and my mother, Mina, or their encouragement, love and suort, and most o all or their atience. iii

10 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES... v LIST OF FIGURES... vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION... 1 CHAPTER 2 THEORY AND METHODOLOGY Turkish Music and Collections o Frequencies Theories o Timbre and Methods o Sound Synthesis Temoral Organization CHAPTER SYNTHESIS PATCHERS A Short Introduction to Max/MSP Sound Synthesis in Max/MSP Additive Synthesis Patchers Frequency Modulation Patchers... 4 Synthesis Master Patcher... 9 CHAPTER 4 PERFORMANCE PATCHERS The Movement Patcher and Its Comonents Comosing a Sound Event Rhythm Tree CHAPTER 5 ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS CHAPTER 6 NORMAL MODE FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS Program Notes Instrumentation Perormance Notes Technician Notes Notation Normal Mode CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY iv

11 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Turkish accidentals... 1 Table 2. The segments o the Turkish octave Table. Sub-grous and corresonding transosition levels Table 4. Maing o the natural dyads by M transormation... 6 Table 5. Secial noteheads or the interactive movements... 8 v

12 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Cycles o iths and ourths... 1 Figure 2.2 Turkish octave division Figure 2. A seven-beat rhythmic attern Figure.1 Patch cords... 2 Figure.2 Common Max/MSP objects Figure. Additive synthesis atcher Figure.4 The microtone column A Figure.5 cycle~ object subatcher Figure.6 The harmonic set subatcher <F_1cs>... 0 Figure.7 Amlitude enveloe objects... 1 Figure.8 Random enveloe generator... 2 Figure.9 The natural dyad column E... Figure.10 Parallel multile-modulator requency modulation atcher... 5 Figure.11 Modiied arallel multile-modulator requency modulation atcher... 7 Figure.12 Multile-carrier requency modulation atcher... 8 Figure.1 The cycle~ objects subatcher o multile-carrier requency modulation... 9 Figure.14 Synthesis master atcher Figure 4.1 Overview o a movement atcher Figure 4.2 Interaction low chart Figure 4. Polymachine Figure 4.4 Polymachine subatcher Figure 4.5 Rhythmic grou subatcher vi

13 Figure 4.6 Sequence subatcher Figure 4.7 The oly~ object s external atcher Figure 5.1 Twelve-tone rows Figure 5.2 Transormations o a seven-beat attern Figure 5. Rotations o the rime orm Figure 6.1 Seating diagram Figure 6.2 Equiment setu Figure 6. DSP status window in Max/MSP Figure 6.4 The interace window o the control atcher Figure 6.5 The interace window o Part I Figure 6.6 The interace window o Part II Figure 6.7 The interace window o Part IV Figure 6.8 The notation o the electronics... 8 Figure 6.9 The electronics notation in the interactive arts vii

14 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

15 2 In 1987, the Comuter Music Journal devoted its sring issue to microtonality. Subsequently, in the winter o 1991, the journal Persectives o New Music ublished an issue entitled Forum: Microtonality Today. These ublications relected a growing interest among contemorary comosers and scholars in the research and alication o tuning systems and octave divisions that can serve as alternatives to the twelve-note equal-temered Western tuning. The term microtonality oten reers to any non-standard tuning or octave division whether or not it incororates intervals smaller than the semitone. 1 Electronic music lays a rominent role in these exlorations o new grounds. The comuter is considered by many to be the best tool or this task as it is ree o any limitations that can be imosed by the erormer s technique or the instrument s mechanical and hysical roerties. Comosers interested in microtonality seek rimarily to exand the itch domain o contemorary music. John Eaton claims that microtones ermit a greater variety o harmonic and melodic motion. 2 Douglas Keislar maintains that microtonality is a logical outgrowth o the increasingly comlex itch relationshis o Western music. Moving beyond twelve-note equal temerament, he elaborates, can be a doorway to ever more intricate schemata in the serialist tradition. 4 On the other hand, according to Keislar, microtonality can also rovide a breakaway rom comlexity or a route to 1. Douglas Keislar, Introduction, Persectives o New Music 29, no. 1 (Winter 1991): Douglas Keislar et al., Six American Comosers on Nonstandard Tunings, Persectives o New Music 29, no. 1 (Winter 1991): Keislar, Introduction, Ibid.

16 simliication without regression. 5 Octave divisions and non-standard tunings vary rom one comoser to another and rom one comosition to another. However, a ew trends may be identiied among contemorary comosers. One trend is to introduce microtonal intervals in combination with the twelve-note equal-temered octave division. This aroach is exemliied in the works o Charles Ives, Alois Hába and Ivan Vïshnegradsky. 6 Another trend is associated with the comosers Harry Partch, Eivind Groven, Lou Harrison, Ben Johnston, La Monte Young and James Wood. These comosers have used just intonation and just interval o requency ratios involving rime numbers. 7 Equal-temered octave divisions in dierent intervals have been used by comosers such as Joseh Yasser, Adriaan Fokker, Henk Badings, Hans Kox and Easley Blackwood. 8 A ourth trend includes comosers who emloy octave divisions derived rom non-western musical cultures. Lou Harrison and Larry Polansky, among other comosers, have both worked with central Javanese slendro tunings. 9 While microtonality is mainly emloyed in the itch organization o comositions, many comosers and scholars oint out its strong eect in the timbral domain. Easley Blackwood maintains that oten the timbre o an instrument is all wraed u in the 5. Ibid. 6. Paul Griiths, Mark Lindley, and Ioannis Zannos, "Microtone," in Grove Music Online, Oxord Music Online, htt:// (accessed January 7, 2010). 7. Ibid. 8. Ibid. 9. Keislar et al., Six American Comosers on Nonstandard Tunings, 178, and Larry Polansky, Paratactical Tuning: An Agenda or the Use o Comuters in Exerimental Intonation, Comuter Music Journal 11, no. 1 (Sring 1987):

17 4 tuning. 10 Ben Johnson draws attention to the change in timbre that takes lace due to the utilization o dierent erormance techniques in the execution o an alternative tuning: To get the intonation, the layers might use alternate ingerings, li the notes high and low, or ull out the barrel o the instrument, all o which change the timbre. You get a lute that sounds more like a shakuhachi, or instead o an oboe you get dierent colors o oboe. 11 Wendy Carlos identiies mutual relationshis between timbre and tuning: Clearly the timbre o an instrument strongly aects what tuning and scale sound best on that instrument, and exactly vice versa. 12 Microtones lay an imortant role in the work o sectral comosers such as Tristan Murail, Gérard Grisey and Claude Vivier, who have derived their inluences rom the sectral analysis o sound and the acoustical research o timbre. 1 The relationshis between timbre and microtonality are exlored by studies o tuning systems, such as the studies by Wendy Carlos and William A. Sethares. 14 These studies evaluate dierent tunings by examining the consonant and dissonant relations created when dierent timbres or harmonic sectra were alied to these tunings. They show that timbre aects the ercetion o consonant and dissonant relations. They rovide lesser account or the eect o the tuning on timbre, which is ointed out by Carlos and Blackwood. The timbre o acoustic instruments is, ater all, mainly the result o the instruments hysical 10. Keislar et al., Six American Comosers on Nonstandard Tunings, Ibid., Wendy Carlos, Tuning: At the Crossroads, Comuter Music Journal 11, no. 1 (Sring 1987): Griiths, Lindley, Zannos, "Microtone," and Julian Anderson, "Sectral music," in Grove Music Online, Oxord Music Online, htt:// (accessed February 24, 2010). 14. Carlos, Tuning: At the Crossroads, 29-4; William A. Sethares, Tuning, Timbre, Sectrum, Scale (London: Sringer-Verlag, 2005), htt:// (accessed October 15, 2009).

18 5 roerties and erormance ractices. In electronic music, microtonality is commonly used in combination with digital sound synthesis, although comosers o electronic music incororated microtonality beore the aearance o comuters in that ield. Stockhausen comosed Studie I (195) and Studie II (1954) based on non-standard tunings and realized them with electronic sound generators and an analog our-track tae recorder. 15 Nevertheless, the comuter in general and the digital synthesis in articular oer the comoser more control over the comonents o sound, and thereore invites the incororation o microtonality. In regard to the caabilities o comuter-controlled synthesis, Wendy Carlos writes: The exonential growth in comuters has inally exanded to include systems designed exressly or music roduction, editing, and erormance at low enough cost to be as aordable as, say, a good grand iano. This is the irst time instrumentation exists that is both owerul enough and convenient enough to make ractical the notion: any ossible timbre, in any ossible tuning, with any ossible timing, sort o a three T's o music. 16 In 1987, when these words were ublished, this was more a rediction o the uture than a descrition o reality, although, in 1986, Douglas Keislar had already develoed a comuter rogram or real-time microtonal control o digital synthesizers. 17 The ull realization o Carlos rohecy only arrived with more recent develoments in this ield such as the suite o analysis-resynthesis rograms Sectral Toolbox and the alication TransFormSynth. This sotware enables both the control over the sound s timbral 15. Paul Griiths, Modern Music and Ater: Directions Since 1945 (Oxord: Oxord University Press, 1995), 45-46; Joel Chadabe, Electronic Sound: the Past and Promise o Electronic Music (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1997), Wendy Carlos, Tuning: At the Crossroads, Douglas Keislar, History and Princiles o Microtonal Keyboards, Comuter Music Journal 11, no. 1 (Sring 1987):

19 6 characteristics and the maing o dierent timbres with dierent tunings. 18 Normal Mode is a comosition or chamber ensemble and comuter that makes reerence to the microtonality emloyed in Turkish music. In this comosition I have made an attemt to exand the timbral alette o standard Western instruments by the use o electronic sounds which were constructed through digital sound synthesis. The microtonal requencies, which were used in this synthesis rocess, were derived rom the Turkish tonal system. These requencies were organized in a system that I have develoed seciically or this comosition. The imlementation o this system within the synthesis rocess led to the construction o sounds which can be generalized into two tyes: inharmonic sounds and noise-tye sounds. The library o sounds, which is utilized in the erormance o this iece, includes sounds o a wide variety o mixes between these two tyes. Tristan Murail writes the ollowing regarding the inluences on contemorary music and what he deines as the revolution o the world o sounds: 19 I erceive a double inluence o electroacoustic music and non-western musics, which have enabled us to discover a dierent sense o time; they have led us to alternative methods o orienting ourselves to duration; through them, we are now attentive to henomena reviously considered secondary: microluctuations o many kinds, sound colours, the roduction o sound, etc. 20 Murail also oints out the signiicant contribution o inharmonic sounds to this revolution. Inharmonic sectra themselves, he says, give rise to articularly rich and 18. William A. Sethares et al., Sectral Tools or Dynamic Tonality and Audio Morhing, Comuter Music Journal, no. 2 (Summer 2009): 71-84, htt://muse.jhu.edu/journals/comuter_music_journal/ v0/.2.sethares.d (accessed October 10, 2009). 19. Tristan Murail, The Revolution o Comlex Sounds, Contemorary Music Review 24, no. 2/ (Aril/June 2005): 122, htt://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/d?vid=&hid=11&sid=dd d -be50-747b767e641%40sessionmgr12 (accessed October 1, 2009). 20. Ibid.

20 7 interesting sectra and can be classiied under this new category o comlex sounds, since they resist analysis as either harmonies or timbres. 21 Murail s descrition o inharmonic sounds as neither harmonies nor timbres may be exlained by the ollowing comments by Trevor Wishart: The object [the inharmonic sound] aears to ercetion as an aggregate o various itches, more used than a tyical chord in instrumental music but deinitely not a singly-itched note. 22 In other words, whereas the sectral comonents o harmonic sound are used to constitute a distinct timbre, the sectral comonents o inharmonic sound are indeendent enough to be noticeable, yet used enough not to sound like a chord or a cluster. Unlike Murail, Wishart argues that inharmonic sounds are not radically dierent rom normal sound-objects ound in conventional musical ractice. 2 Nevertheless, he describes noise-tye sounds and inharmonic sounds as the two extremes o a multidimensional array o comlex ossibilities. 24 The synthesis rocess that generated the sound library o Normal Mode and the comosing o the electronics art were both done in Max/MSP. The creation o this twoart rogramming environment is credited to two eole: Miller Puckette, who initiated Max in the mid-nineteen-eighties, and David Zicarelli, who released MSP about ten years later. MSP was initially introduced by Zicarelli as a sulement to Ocode s Max.5 grahical rogramming environment, which enables signal rocessing. 25 Nowadays it is a 21. Ibid., Trevor Wishart, On Sonic Art, ed. Simon Emmerson, (London: Routledge 2002), Ibid. 24. Ibid. 25. Joseh B. Rothstein, Products o Interest, Comuter Music Journal 22, no. (Autumn 1998): 75.

21 8 undamental and indisensable art o the rogram. Nevertheless the virtue o Max/MSP may still lie in its remise or what Puckette called the Max aradigm. He describes this aradigm as a way o combining re-designed building blocks into conigurations useul or real-time comuter music erormance. 26 Max/MSP real-time caability was established, according to Puckette, on the concet o arallel multi-tasking that allows the instantaneous imlementation o elaborated tasks. 27 A rimary inluence on the Max aradigm, as stated by Puckette, was the rogram RTSKED. 28 The creator o RTSKED, Max Mathews, was also the insiration or the name 29 The real-time erormance caability o Max/MSP attracted many comosers over the years. Miller Puckette writes about the irst attemts to utilize Max as a real-time erormance tool: The new Macintosh version o Max, which eventually grew into what is now Max/MSP, was irst used on stage in a iece by Frederic Durieux in early But it was Philie Manoury's Pluton, whose roduction started in Fall 1987 and which remiered in July 1988, that surred Max's develoment into a usable musical tool. The Pluton atch, now existing in various orms, is in essence the irst Max atch. 0 The onstage realization o Pluton is described by Puckette as a comlex oeration that required two comuters: a Macintosh as a control comuter and an IRCAM 4X or audio rocessing. 1 Even so, the eiciency o Max/MSP has imroved tremendously over the years. In 200, the violinist comoser Mari Kimura wrote about the methods she used to 26. Miller Puckette, Max at Seventeen, Comuter Music Journal 26, no. 4 (Winter 2002): Ibid., Ibid. 29. Ibid. 0. Ibid., Ibid.

22 9 create a Max/MSP one-touch system. This system allows her simultaneously to lay the violin and control the comuter in her interactive comositions. 2 It requires a minimum o comuter keystrokes and no ostage assistant. Such an aroach o simliying the erormance rocedures has guided me in the creation o the atchers or the erormance o Normal Mode. These atchers may aear in Chater 4 as very comlex. Nevertheless their oeration is very simle. I seciically designed the comuter art to be accessible or erormance by ractically anyone who would read the technician notes, although some revious knowledge o Max/MSP may hel. The interaces o these atchers, as shown in the technician notes, are also reduced to a ew elements, which is essential or the erormance o the iece. As already relected in this introduction, in Normal Mode I have drawn rom multile resources including the microtonality o Turkish music, digital sound synthesis and the real-time erormance caability o Max/MSP. For the temoral organization o Normal Mode I have used additional resources such as Middle Eastern rhythmic atterns and the concet o the rhythm tree as it is described in the comuter alication OenMusic. These resources will be discussed in Chater 2, which describes the system o organization and the theoretical context that inormed it. The comositional rocess o the electronics o Normal Mode was twoold. In the irst stage I constructed a library o sounds through the synthesis rocess that will be described in Chater. In the second stage, which will be discussed in Chater 4, I comosed the erormance atchers that 2. Mari Kimura, Creative rocess and erormance ractice o interactive comuter music: A erormer's tale, Organised Sound: An International Journal o Music Technology 8, no. (December 200): 289, htt://iim.chadwyck.com/articles/dislayitempdf.do?ormat=page&pqid= & journalid=jid &royaltiesid=loujid &roduct=iim&articleid=iim (accessed January 1, 2010).. Ibid.

23 10 utilize this library in the erormance o the iece. The ith chater o my thesis will discuss the comositional rocess o the ensemble material or which I have drawn inluences rom the work o serial comosers. This chater will also describe the relationshis between the electronics and the ensemble material.

24 11 CHAPTER 2 THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

25 12 This chater discusses the system o organization that guided the comositional rocess o the electronics o Normal Mode and the theoretical context that inormed this system. The discussion will touch on a wide variety o toics, including the theory o Turkish music, theories o timbre, methods o sounds synthesis and Middle Eastern rhythmic structures, yet it will be conined only to asects o these toics which were relevant to this comositional system. This inormation ormed the oundation or a set o rincile ideas and classiications that constitute the system. These seemingly unrelated toics are, thereore, woven together in this chater by their contribution to this comosition. Turkish Music and Collections o Frequencies Turkish music uses the Pythagorean tuning system which is based on stringlength ratios between multiles o 2 and. 1 The Turkish tonal system emloys a nonequal division o the octave into twenty-our notes. This division originates rom the cycles o iths and ourths resented in Figure The ure ith in Pythagorean tuning is 702 cents (instead o 700 cents in the twelve-note equal-temered system) and the ure ourth is 498 cents (instead o 500 cents). In a cycle o ure iths the inal C exceeds the erect octave by about 2.4 cents, also known as the Pythagorean comma. This comma is a undamental element in Turkish music and it is the oundation or the six tyes o 1. Mark Lindley, "Pythagorean intonation," in Grove Music Online, Oxord Music Online, htt:// (accessed December 9, 2008). 2. Karl L. Signell, Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Music (Seattle: Asian Music Publications, 1977), 27.. Lalage Cochrane, "Pythagorean intonation," in The Oxord Comanion to Music, ed. by Alison Latham, Oxord Music Online, htt:// /e5424 (accessed December 9, 2008).

26 1 accidentals used in the Turkish tonal system. A Turkish accidental raises or lowers a note by a seciic number o commas. 4 The six accidentals each have a notation symbol and a name in Turkish (see Table 1), however, to simliy the discussion they will be seciied here by the number o commas they raise or lower. Figure 2.1 Cycles o iths and ourths Table 1. Turkish accidentals Turkish Name Number o Commas Notation Symbol koma diyezi raises 1 comma bakiye diyezi Küç müc diyezi Koma bemolü Bakiye bemolü Küç müc bemolü raises 4 commas raises 5 commas lowers 1 comma lowers 4 commas lowers 5 commas The Turkish non-equal octave division has yielded a large variety o scales which are called makams. There are thirteen basic makams and many more comound and transosed makams. While theoretical studies maintain that all the basic makams can be 4. Signell, Makam, 24.

27 14 transosed, in ractice some o the transosed makams receive dierent names, and usually makams are transosed to only a small number o transosition levels. The transosition o makams or ragments o makams oten results in the adjustment o intervals. 5 Thereore, the concet o transosition in Turkish music diers rom the Western concet o mod-12 transosition in which all interval structures are transosable to all levels o transositions. Figure 2.2 shows the twenty-our notes o the Turkish octave. Seven o these notes D, E, F, G, A, B, C - and the octave D receive no accidentals. In my comositional system they are called natural notes. The rest o the notes receive commabased accidentals and they are called microtones. For the sake o this comosition the natural notes are treated as equal-temered. 6 Each one o the microtones is deined as a deviation by a seciic number o commas rom a natural note and is named accordingly. For examle, the second note in the Turkish octave is the microtone D 4 comma shar as it is our commas higher then D. The natural notes, as shown in Figure 2.2, add u to a Dorian scale. It can be observed in this igure that all o the whole-tone intervals o this Dorian scale and the semitone between B and C are divided by microtones. Hence there are six sets o microtones, each o which is ramed by two natural notes. Every two raming natural notes constitute in my comositional system what I call a natural dyad. The natural notes E and F do not rame any microtones, thereore, they are not considered a natural dyad. 5. Ibid., Based on Robert Garias, Survivals o Turkish Characteristics in Romanian Musica Lautareasca, Yearbook or Traditional Music 1 (1981): 10, and Peter Manuel, Modal Harmony in Andalusian, Eastern Euroean, and Turkish Syncretic Music, Yearbook or Traditional Music 21 (1989): 78, in Turkish-inluenced musical cultures, which were also inluenced by Western music, some itches and intervals were adjusted to the Western temered tuning, while others maintained the Turkish tuning.

28 15 A set o microtones and its raming natural dyad constitute a segment. The six segments o the Turkish octave are seciied in Table 2. Figure 2.2 Turkish octave division Table 2. The segments o the Turkish octave Segment Natural Dyad Microtones S1 D - E D 4 commas shar E 4 commas lat E 1 comma lat S2 F - G F 1 comma shar F 4 commas shar F 5 commas shar G 1 comma lat S G - A G 4 commas shar A 4 commas lat A 1 comma lat S4 A - B A 4 commas shar A 5 commas shar B 1 comma lat S5 B - C C 1 comma lat S6 C - D C 4 commas shar C 5 commas shar D 1 comma lat In the comositional system o Normal Mode, each one o the notes in the Turkish octave reresents a harmonic set. The latter is a set o sixteen requencies extracted rom the harmonic series o a note in the Turkish octave. The segment combines the harmonic sets o all its notes (natural dyad and microtones) into one collection, which is called a

29 16 segment requency collection (SFC). There are, thereore, six segment requency collections which served as source collections o requencies or the synthesis rocess o the sound library o Normal Mode. Each time a sound was synthesized within this rocess an inharmonic set was selected. The inharmonic set is a set o requencies derived by random selection rom an SFC. Since the random selection o requencies was rom the entire SFC across the harmonic sets, the selected set o requencies was not based on harmonic relations. The sectral comonents o sounds synthesized with such sets were not integer multiles o a undamental requency. Hence the synthesis rocess, when shaing the sectral enveloes, disregarded the role o undamental requency and none o the requencies deliberately received higher amlitude. The sounds, which were created by this rocess, are inharmonic and undeined in itch. These sounds may be erceived as having multile itches (yet not a chord) or simly as timbres. Theories o Timbre and Methods o Sound Synthesis The harmonic series is central to the understanding o timbre. The oundation or the modern study o timbre was laid by the mathematician Jean Batiste Fourier and the scientist Hermann von Helmholtz. 7 Helmholtz concentrated on harmonic instrumental sounds. 8 He showed that the timbre o a sound is determined by the relative amlitudes o the sectral comonents. But because Helmholtz s sectral enveloes are static, they 7. Charles Dodge and Thomas A. Jerse, Comuter Music: Synthesis, Comosition and Perormance (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), Hermann L. F. Helmholtz, On the Sensations o Tone as a Physiological Basis or the Theory o Music, trans. Alexander J. Ellis (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1954).

30 17 describe only the steady ortion o the sound. He did not examine the attack and the release, the unstable ortions o the sound, nor did he incororate the element o time in his sectral analysis. 9 With the develoment o digital audio and the algorithm known as the ast Fourier transorm (FFT) by Cooley and Tukey, 10 more recent studies o timbre, such as the studies by Jean-Claude Risset 11 and by James A. Moorer and John Grey, 12 were able to examine the sectrum s evolution in time. They discovered that the amlitudes and the requencies o individual sectral comonents vary throughout the duration o a sound, mainly in its attack and release ortions. These studies led to the introduction o timeevolving sectra, also known as the dynamic sectra, in digital sound synthesis, as relected in the study by John Chowning. 1 The latter concentrated on requency modulation. As Chowning maintained, the characteristics o the sectral evolution are the signature o the sound and the ability to reroduce them within a synthesized sound contributes to the lively quality o a sound. 14 Methods o sound synthesis develoed hand in hand with the study o timbre. Nowadays a wide selection o methods is utilized both in the analysis and the resynthesis o sound. The synthesis rocess that generated the library o recorded sounds o Normal 9. Dodge and Jerse, Comuter Music, Ibid. 11. Jean-Claude Risset, Comuter Music Exeriments , Comuter Music Journal 9, no. 1 (Sring 1985): James A. Moorer and John Grey, Lexicon o Analyzed Tones. Part I: A Violin Tone, Comuter Music Journal 1, no. 2 (Aril 1977): 9-45, and James A. Moorer and John Grey, Lexicon o Analyzed Tones. Part 2: Clarinet and Oboe Tones, Comuter Music Journal 1, no. (June 1977): John Chowning, The Synthesis o Comlex Audio Sectra by Means o Frequency Modulation, Comuter Music Journal 1, no. 2 (Aril 1977): Ibid.

31 18 Mode utilized two methods: additive synthesis and requency modulation. This rocess was based on the SFCs that were reviously discussed. It also incororated dynamic sectra. The methods o synthesis were adjusted to allow more indeendence and variation in time o the individual sectral comonents. The sounds, which were generated by this rocess, are inharmonic. Due to their dynamic sectra, the itch and timbre o these sounds are constantly transormed throughout their duration. Additive synthesis combines sine waves in various requencies to a sum o sine waves that roduces a more comlex sound. The relative amlitudes o these sine waves determine the timbre o the resulting sound. I the amlitude o each sine wave is varied indeendently in time by an enveloe, a dynamic sectrum is created. In the simulation o instrumental sound the requencies are in harmonic relations and the enveloes dulicates the attack, decay, sustain and release that characterize acoustic sound. Yet the additive method can bear any set o requencies and any combination o enveloes as it enables the recise control over the individual sectral comonents. The disadvantage o this method is that it requires a substantial amount o sine waves to generate rich and interesting sounds. In the context o digital synthesis this is translated into excessive comutation requirements. In requency modulation, the waveorm o one sine wave known as the carrier is varied by another sine wave, the modulator. As a result more comonents are added to the sectrum and a more comlex sound is created. I the requency ratio between the carrier and the modulator is a ratio o integers, the sectral comonents will be in harmonic relations. I this ratio is not a ratio o integers, then the sectral comonents will be in inharmonic relations. The characteristics o the sectrum are aected by the

32 19 modulation index. In FM synthesis, the modulation index is related to the amlitude o the modulator. An increase in the amlitude o the modulator or an increase in the modulation index will result in a transer o more energy rom the carrier to other sectral comonents and in a richer sectrum. Varying the modulation index in time will result in a dynamic sectrum. Temoral Organization The library o sounds generated by the synthesis rocess was utilized in the comositional rocess o the electronics that will be discussed in Chater 4. This rocess incororated a temoral organization which derived inluences rom two sources. The irst source was a collection o Middle Eastern rhythms known as the Andalusian Muwashahat rhythmic atterns. The second source was the concet o the rhythm tree as it is described in the comuter rogram OenMusic. The Muwashahat rhythmic atterns originated in medieval Sain and Portugal. 15 These atterns are based on beat-cycles ranging rom two to orty-eight beats. They incororate combinations o two tyes o drum strikes low sounding strike (dum) and high sounding strike (tek) and silence. Figure 2. shows an examle o a seven-beat rhythmic attern. In Normal Mode I used atterns with u to twenty-our beats. I divided these atterns into our rhythmic grous. Grou 1 included ten atterns with beat-cycles o two to ive beats, Grou 2 included twelve atterns with beat-cycles o ive to ten beats, Grou included ourteen atterns with beat-cycles o ten to thirteen beats, and Grou 4 included twelve atterns with beat-cycles o sixteen to twenty-our beats. These 15. Maqam World, Arabic Rhythms, Maqam World, htt:// (accessed December 9, 2008).

33 20 grous were integrated with the concet o the rhythm tree in the comositional rocess o the electronics. The Muwashahat rhythmic atterns were also incororated into the comositional rocess o the ensemble material, which will be described in Chater 5. Figure 2. A seven-beat rhythmic attern OenMusic is a tool or comuter-assisted comosition, which was designed by Gerard Assayag and Carlos Agon in IRCAM, based on its redecessor PatchWork. PatchWork was designed by M. Laurson, J. Duthen, and C. Rueda, and received much attention rom such Euroean comosers as Brian Ferneyhough, Claudy Malherbe, Tristan Murail and Kaija Saariaho. 16 The rhythm tree is a method or generating comlex rhythmic structures. This method uses a rogramming rocedure in which the user irst deines the structure o a measure or a sequence o measures. The user can sub-divide beats in that measure by several layers o sub-divisions. The rhythmic values generated by these sub-divisions can be tied together or relaced by rests. The result is a comlex rhythmic structure o nested rhythms. This method treats rhythm as a multi-layered structure in which the irst layer is sub-divided in order to generate the second and the second layer is sub-divided to generate the third layer, etc. I adated this method to be based on sub-divisions o durations instead o beats as will be described in Chater Gerard Assayag et al., Comuter-Assisted Comosition at IRCAM: From PatchWork to OenMusic, Comuter Music Journal 2, no. (Autumn 1999): 59.

34 21 CHAPTER SYNTHESIS PATCHERS

35 22 The electronics o Normal Mode, as already stated in the introduction, were comosed in a twoold rocess in Max/MSP. I would like to begin this chater with a short introduction to the rincial elements o this sotware. This introduction will reare the discussion o the comosition s sound library in this chater, as well as the discussion o the electronics art in Chater 4. A Short Introduction to Max/MSP Max/MSP is an object-oriented rogramming environment. The user o this sotware combines virtual objects into a coniguration called a atcher. Each object in this environment is rogrammed to erorm a seciic task. A atcher can be rogrammed to erorm tasks such as the synthesizing, recording, editing and rocessing o sound. One atcher can be inserted within another atcher to orm a subatcher. Usually atchers in Max/MSP include several layers o subatchers. They are also caable o accessing and utilizing external iles such as sound iles. This allows the user to rogram a comlex chain o commands which is imlemented instantaneously by the comuter. When the rogramming is comleted the atcher becomes a virtual erormer. The objects in Max/MSP have unique names, which will aear in this text in boldace letters. These objects can be connected by two tyes o virtual atch cords (Figure.1) the Max atch cord (a) that transers data and the MSP atch cord (b) that transers digital signals. All the objects communicate by sending and/or receiving messages through the Max atch cords. Some objects in Max/MSP can send and/or receive digital signals through MSP atch cords. The messages include essential data or various tyes o commands. One o the most common commands in Max/MSP is the

36 2 bang message that simly activates objects. An object can also receive an argument that deines arameters or its unction. Figure.2 dislays examles o common Max/MSP objects. The irst object (a) is contained within the object box, which can host most o the objects in Max/MSP. The box dislays the name o the object and its argument. In this case the object is cycle~, which is a digital oscillator, and the argument is 1000, which seciies a requency o 1000Hz or this oscillator. Some objects have a unique visual aearance. The message box (b) allows the user to tye in a verbal command or a numerical value, which can be sent as a message to another object. The button (c) generates bang messages. The number box (d) receives, dislays and sends integers. Similarly, the loat number box (e) can accommodate loating oint numbers. The atcher object () hosts a subatcher and its argument will usually dislay the name o this subatcher. The inlet (g) and outlet (h) objects are used within the atcher object to allow it to be connected to other objects. Figure.1 Patch cords

37 24 Figure.2 Common Max/MSP objects Sound Synthesis in Max/MSP The library o sounds o Normal Mode was generated by additive synthesis and requency modulation in Max/MSP. The urose o this synthesis rocess was the construction o comlex sounds with microtonal requencies rom the segment requency collections (SFCs). My goal was to exlore new sonic ossibilities by generating new sounds rather than to resynthesize reexisting recognizable timbres. This synthesis rocess was inluenced by the incororation o various levels o automation and random selection. As discussed in the revious chater, the sounds, which were synthesized in this rocess, are inharmonic, yet not entirely gong and bell sounds. Modiications, which were made in the Max/MSP requency modulation atchers, introduced distortion and various levels o noise into the mix o synthesized sounds. The additive synthesis

38 25 atchers, as well as the requency modulation atchers, synthesized dynamic sectra through unusual variations o amlitude enveloes and modulation indexes. Time-based transormations o itch and timbre requently occur within the sounds short duration o two seconds (or 2000 milliseconds). In the ollowing sections I will describe the Max/MSP atchers that were constructed or this synthesis rocess. The discussion will ocus on the incororation o my comositional system in these atchers. It will deine the methods by which requencies were selected to be used in various tyes o synthesis atchers. It will also show how random selection restricted by the SFCs was incororated within these methods, as well as in the control o other arameters o the synthesis atchers. I began the rocess with the construction o a large number o additive and FM synthesis atchers. Each atcher was associated with one segment o the Turkish octave and derived requencies rom this segment s SFC. I deined a method o requency selection or each atcher based on the tye o synthesis, and the number o requencies and harmonic sets included in the SFC. Hence, methods o requency selection varied rom atcher to atcher. I subsequently combined atchers associated with the same segment as subatchers in a synthesis master atcher which mixed their signals into one comlex sound. I had six synthesis master atchers. Each one o them generated the recorded sound iles that constituted the basic sound-class o one segment. The term sound-class reers to a grou o sounds that share common characteristics. The deining characteristics can include durations, amlitude enveloes, registers and sectral enveloes. Sound-classes can also be deined by the rocedure that generated the sounds or by a transormation or a set o transormations which was alied

39 26 to the sounds. In Normal Mode, a basic sound-class is deined by the SFC that served as the source collection o requencies or the synthesis rocess which generated the sounds in this class. With such classiications, sounds can be controlled by a comositional system, as can be itch, rhythm and other musical elements. All the atchers, which are discussed in this chater, are associated with the segment S2. These atchers served as models or the construction o atchers or the rest o the segments. Thereore, the atchers o the segment S2 exemliied the basic unction o all atchers which were art o the synthesis rocess. Additive Synthesis Patchers Figure. rovides an overview o an additive synthesis atcher which is related to the segment S2. This atcher combines multile sine waves into a comlex sound. The requencies o these sine waves are derived rom the SFC o this segment. A unique enveloe controls the amlitude o each sine wave, yet none o these sine waves is deined as undamental. In addition, this atcher incororates random selection both in the selection o requencies and the generation o enveloes. For the urose o illustration, the igure divides the atcher with dashed vertical lines into ive columns. The columns A through D include similar objects. Each one o these columns generates our sine waves. The requencies o these sine waves are derived rom the harmonic set o one microtone o the segment S2. Thus, column A derives requencies rom the harmonic set o F 1 comma shar, column B rom the harmonic set o F 4 comma shar, column C rom the harmonic set o F 5 comma shar, and column D rom the harmonic set o G 1 comma lat. Column E looks slightly dierent. This column

40 27 generates two sine waves. The requencies o these sine waves are derived rom the harmonic sets o the segment s natural dyad, F natural and G natural. Figure. Additive synthesis atcher All the enveloes generated by this atcher receive the same duration, which is entered in the number box at the uer-let art o the atcher. In Max/MSP, durations are seciied by a whole number o milliseconds. A millisecond is a thousandth o a second. The button object near the duration number box generates the initial bang message that activates all the comonents o this atcher. All the signals roduced by the atcher s comonents are transerred by the web o MSP atch cords in the lower art o the atcher to the signal multilier. The latter mixes all the signals into one sound. The

41 28 overall amlitude o this sound is determined by a loating oint number entered in the loat number box, which is connected to the right inlet o the signal multilier. A close view o column A is shown in Figure.4. The discussion o this column exemliies the rocedures that also take lace in columns B, C, and D. The only dierence between these columns lies in the harmonic set rom which requencies are selected. The atcher objects (a) in the lower art o the column contain subatchers with cycle~ objects such as the subatcher shown in Figure.5. The cycle~ object is a digital oscillator that generates a sine wave. The requencies o each o these cycle~ objects are determined by subatcher inserted in the object <F_1cs> (b) in Figure.6. The amlitudes o the column s cycle~ objects are controlled by enveloes generated by the <RndmEnv> objects (c) and the unction objects (d). The selection o requency that takes lace in the subatcher o <F_1cs> is random. This harmonic set subatcher is shown in Figure.6. The bang message received in the inlet o the subatcher activates the uzi<4> object (a). This object generates our instantaneous bang messages, which are sent to the urn-jb<16> object (b). The urnjb<16> object randomly selects our integers within the range o 0 to 15, 1 which is seciied in its argument. 2 These numbers are then matched with our items in the umenu object (c). The sixteen items in this dro menu object are the sixteen requencies o the harmonic set o F 1 comma shar (e). The selected requencies are distributed by the bucket object (d) through the our outlets o the subatcher among the our cycle~ 1. The unique eature o the urn-jb<16> object is that it does not reeat any o the integers until all the integers within the range have been selected. 2. The argument o some Max/MSP objects such as random, urn, and urn-jb seciies a range within a mod-n, in our case mod-16 or the range o integers between 0 and 15.. Like the urn-jb<16> object, the umenu object utilizes modular numbering o its items, thereore the irst item is always item number 0.

42 29 objects o the column. For examle, i the urn-jb<16> object selects the integers 5, 0, 7, and 12 the selected requencies will be Hz, Hz, Hz and Hz. Figure.4 The microtone column A Figure.5 cycle~ object subatcher

43 0 Figure.6 The harmonic set subatcher <F_1cs> Figure.7 rovides a close view o the objects in column A that generate the amlitude enveloe o one cycle~ object in this column. The unction object (a) allows the user to draw and store a grah by lacing breakoints in the object itsel. The object oututs a list o x/y values corresonding to the grah. This object is useul in controlling arameters that vary in time, such as amlitude within an enveloe. The x-axis will then seciy the time in milliseconds. The y-axis will seciy the amlitude as loating oint numbers between 0 and 1. The duration o the enveloe is entered in the number box (c). In the case dislayed in Figure.7, as well as in many other atchers o Normal Mode, the breakoints are entered in the unction object by the random enveloe generator

44 1 subatcher inserted in the <RndmEnv> object (b). The button object (d) irst activates this subatcher and then the unction object. Figure.7 Amlitude enveloe objects The random enveloe generator subatcher randomly selects the coordinates or the breakoints. It is dislayed in Figure.8. This subatcher generates eight x/y values or the eight breakoints. While the y values are always in the range between 0 and 1, the x values can be within any duration in milliseconds that will be received through inlet 2 in the number box (a). Since the nature o the unction object is to accumulate breakoints, one must clear the object beore generating a new grah. This is done by the message box clear (b). The message box 0 0 (c) sets the x/y values o the irst breakoint to 0 time 0 amlitude. Similarly, the objects in the dashed rame (d) set the x/y values o the last breakoint. In this case, the y value is always 0 but the x value equals the duration received in the number box (b). The objects in the dashed rame (e) generate random x/y values or six breakoints in between the irst and last breakoints.

45 2 The x values o these six breakoints are in the range between 1 and the duration minus 1, to revent the overlaing with the irst and last breakoints and to insure that the enveloe will always start with a ade in and end with a ade out. Figure.8 Random enveloe generator Column E o the additive atcher is shown in Figure.9. The column s subatchers (a) include two cycle~ objects that generate two sine waves. The requencies o these sine waves are ixed and are determined by the message boxes (b). These requencies are each the lowest requency (or the undamental) in the harmonic set o one o the notes in the segment s natural dyad: F natural and G natural. The unction objects (c) generate the enveloes o this column. These are ixed enveloes o very low

46 amlitudes. Due to these enveloes, none o the sine waves o this column unction as a undamental requency. Instead these sine waves create a drone that shades the rest o the atcher s comonents. Figure.9 The natural dyad column E The method o requency selection, which is demonstrated by the additive synthesis atcher in Figure., is adated to the internal structure o the segment S2. This segment includes our microtones and a natural dyad. In each column o the columns A through D, our requencies are randomly selected by a subatcher, such as the one shown in Figure.6, out o the sixteen requencies o the microtone s harmonic set associated with the column. Hence, sixteen requencies are selected in columns A through D, and are joined by the two ixed requencies o column E to a total o eighteen requencies.

47 4 The additive synthesis atcher o the segment S2 served as the rototye or the construction o additive synthesis atchers or the rest o the segments. All o these atchers include eighteen cycle~ objects, o which sixteen receive requencies selected rom the microtones harmonic sets and two are associated with the natural dyad. Yet dierent methods o requency selection rom the microtones harmonic sets were alied in these atchers, based on the number o microtones in each segment. The segments S1, S, S4 and S6 include only three microtones. One method, which was alied in these segments, was the selection o two sets o eight requencies rom two harmonic sets out o the three microtones harmonic sets o the segment. Another method combined dierent numbers o requencies rom all three harmonic sets that add u to sixteen. The segment S5 includes only one microtone. The method o requency selection in this segment was order ermutations o the requencies in the microtone s harmonic set against ixed sets o enveloes. Frequency Modulation Patchers The FM synthesis atchers o Normal Mode incororate two tyes o requency modulation. The irst tye is arallel multile-modulator requency modulation. The second tye is multile-carrier requency modulation. Figure.10 dislays an examle o a atcher using the irst tye o requency modulation o the segment S2. It includes a single carrier with our arallel modulators that simultaneously modulate the carrier. In this atcher, the carrier s requency is determined by random selection between the two lowest requencies in the harmonic sets o the segment s natural dyad. The modulators

48 5 requencies are selected rom the harmonic sets o the segment s microtones. As such, the modulators requencies are inharmonic to the carrier s requency. Figure.10 Parallel multile-modulator requency modulation atcher The cycle~ object (a) generates the carrier sine wave. The cycle~ objects (b) through (e) generate the modulator sine waves. The number box () dislays the requency o the carrier. This requency is randomly selected by the grou o objects marked by the dashed rame (g). The modulation requencies are selected by the subatchers inserted in the atcher objects (l) through (o). These are similar to the

49 6 subatcher shown in Figure.6, which is used in the additive atcher. As in the additive synthesis atcher each one o them is associated with the harmonic set o a microtone in the segment. In this case, the subatcher selects our requencies out o an eightrequency subset o the harmonic set. With each activation, o the atcher the grou o objects in the dashed rame () randomly selects and activates one o the subatchers in the atcher objects (l) through (o). The selected subatcher then randomly selects our requencies and sends them to the modulator cycle~ objects (b) through (d). The atcher in Figure.10 incororates a time-varied modulation index. The unction objects (q) through (t) generate the enveloes that control the change in the modulation indexes over the duration o the sound. The unction object (u) deines the overall amlitude enveloe or the resulting sound. The reset object (v) stores and recalls dierent sets o coordinates or the grahs or enveloes o all unction objects. Figure.11 resents a atcher that exemliies a modiication o the atcher in Figure.10 within the same tye o requency modulation. These atchers dier in the objects that aear in the dashed rames (h) through (k). In the atcher in Figure.11, each one o the *~ objects in these dashed rames multilies the carrier requency by a requency selected by one o the subatchers in the atcher objects (l) through (o). The roduct is a modulating requency, which is ar above the hearing range. The resulting sound is distorted and yet it is not entirely white noise. Seciic modulation indexes generate various levels o noise and unique colors. This tye o sound is very eective when it is mixed with the bell-tye sounds, which are generated by the additive synthesis atchers.

50 7 The second tye o requency modulation, the multile-carrier requency modulation, is demonstrated in Figure.12. This atcher combines multile carriers o dierent requencies in an additive meaner, each o which is modulated by one modulator. All the modulators receive the same requency but dierent modulation index. Figure.11 Modiied arallel multile-modulator requency modulation atcher The atcher in Figure.12 is based on the rototye o the additive synthesis atcher shown in Figure.. The modiication takes lace in the cycle~ object

51 8 subatchers which are inserted in the atcher objects, such as (a) in Figure.12, in the lower art o columns A through D. In the additive atcher, the cycle~ object subatcher (Figure.5) includes one cycle~ object that generates a ure (none-modulated) sine wave. In this atcher, the cycle~ object subatcher (Figure.1) includes two cycle~ objects: one generates the carrier sine wave and the other generates the modulating sine wave. At the same time column E, like in the additive atcher, generates a shading drone o ure sine waves. Figure.12 Multile-carrier requency modulation atcher The carriers requencies o the atcher in Figure.12 are randomly selected rom the harmonic sets o the segment s microtones by similar subatchers as in the additive atcher (Figure.6). The common modulation requency is randomly selected rom the

52 9 harmonic sets o the natural dyad by the object in the dashed rame (b) in Figure.12. The unction objects o columns A through D generate the enveloes that control both the modulation index and the amlitude o each air o carrier/modulator cycle~ objects. In this atcher these unction objects are controlled by resets stored in the reset object (c). Figure.1 The cycle~ objects subatcher o multile-carrier requency modulation Synthesis Master Patcher The discussion so ar has described the rototyes o additive and FM synthesis atchers through concrete examles rom the segment S2. Such atchers rom each segment were combined as subatchers in the segment s synthesis master atcher. Figure.14 shows the synthesis master atcher o the segment S2. This atcher mixes the signals generated by ive synthesis atchers into one sound. The button object (a)

53 40 generates the initial bang that activates the atcher. The message box and number box (b) deine the duration o the sound. The atcher objects (c) and (d) include subatchers o additive synthesis. The atcher objects (e) and () include subatchers o multilecarrier requency modulation. The atcher object (g) includes a subatcher o arallel multile-modulator requency modulation. Figure.14 Synthesis master atcher Some synthesis atchers, like the atchers in Figure.10, Figure.11 and Figure.12, utilize the reset object. The objects in the dashed rame (h) in Figure.14 randomly select resets rom a reset object, which is included in the FM synthesis subatcher (g). This reset object recalls coordinates or the amlitude and modulation

54 41 index enveloes, which are generated by the unction objects o this subatcher. A similar selection mechanism as in the dashed rame (h) is attached to such synthesis subatchers o the synthesis master atcher, which are not ully automated. The objects in the dashed rame (i) add a unique comonent to the sounds, which are mixed in the synthesis master atcher. These objects lay recorded samles o noisetye sounds in very low amlitudes. The role o these noise-tye sounds is to create shadings to the sounds which are generated by the synthesis subatchers. The term shading reers to a sound editing technique in which a rimary sound object is juxtaosed with secondary sounds o very low amlitudes. These secondary sounds roduce a subaudible sound environment or the rimary sound object. They are usually noise-tye sounds that have no recognizable attack. Instead, they gradually ade in and ade out. As in visual arts, the shading technique enhances the deth and multi-dimensionality o the sound object. The ader-like gain~ objects, (j) through (o), control the levels o the outut signals o the subatchers. They unction as the main tool in this atcher or mixing and using these signals into one comlex sound. The unction object in the dashed rame () alies an enveloe to the mixed sound which is summed u in the *~ object (q). The transoser subatcher 4 (r) alies an algorithmic transosition to the sound. The biquad~ object (s) and the iltergragh~ object (u) ilter out some o the noise created in the atcher, mostly as a low-ass ilter. The ader-like gain~ object (t) controls the inal level o the sound beore the audio outut object (v). The srecord~ object in the dashed rame (x) records the mixed sounds to AIFF iles. The reset object (w) stores and recalls data related to successul mixes o sounds achieved in this atcher. This data controls the 4. This atcher is taken rom the Max/MSP sotware s library.

55 42 aders levels (gain~ objects (j) through (o)) as well as the general enveloe () and the transosition levels alied by the algorithm transoser subatcher. The synthesis master atcher in Figure.14 is associated with the segment S2. The sound iles, which were recorded by this atcher, constitute the basic sound-class o this segment. This sound-class includes sixty sound iles o 2000 milliseconds each. These sixty sound iles are divided into ive sub-grous o twelve sound iles. The subgrous were deined by transosition levels that were alied to the sounds by the algorithm transoser subatcher during the recording rocess. Table seciies the transosition levels that deined each sub-grou. Similar basic sound-classes and subgrous were constituted or each segment using the segment s synthesis master atcher. Algorithmic transosition or itch shit, when alied to inharmonic sounds and sounds with signiicant noise comonent, may be erceived more as a change o timbre than a change o itch. Not all transosition levels are very eective with such sounds. The transosition levels, which are seciied in Table, have roved to be the most eective with the sounds generated by the synthesis master atcher. Table. Sub-grous and corresonding transosition levels Sub-grou Transosition levels I Untransosed sounds (T 0 ) II T 12 T 1 T 2 T 5 T 6 T 7 III T -12 T -1 T -2 T -5 T -6 T -7 IV T 24 T 1 T 14 T 17 T 18 T 19 V T -24 T -1 T -14 T -17 T -18 T -19

56 4 The classiication o basic sound-classes and their sub-grous was enhanced by additional sound classes. One sound-class was created in a synthesis master atcher that utilizes the low-band requency collection. This collection contains the our lowest requencies o the harmonic sets o all the notes in the Turkish octave. The resulting sound-class is made u o sounds that are easily transosed to low registers. Another classiication o sounds is the classiication into timbre-based sound-classes. This classiication was alied to the entire library across the segments. The sound-classes were deined by a subjective evaluation o the amount o noise in the sounds. Sounds with 10 ercent or less noise constitute the irst sound-class. Sounds with ercent noise constitute the second sound-class. Sounds with more then 40 ercent noise constitute the third sound-class. These classiications o the library o sounds into soundclasses and sub-grous have ormed the oundation or the comosition rocess o the erormance atchers that will be discussed in the ollowing chater.

57 44 CHAPTER 4 PERFORMANCE PATCHERS

58 45 The erormance o the electronics o Normal Mode is done with six Max/MSP atchers: one control atcher and ive movement atchers. The control atcher simly enables the ast oening o the movement atchers. What I call a movement atcher is a atcher that realizes the electronics art o one movement in the comosition. A movement atcher generates comosite sound events using sound iles rom the comosition s sound library. The comonents o the movement atcher can lay, edit and rocess sound iles in real time. This atcher also deines the temoral organization o sound iles within the sound event. It is a multi-layer atcher that includes many subatchers and links to external iles. The rogramming o this atcher incororates a comlex chain o commands and data low with both redetermined elements and random selection. The random selection is restricted to meaningul choices by classiications such as the sound-classes discussed at the end o the revious chater. At the same time, random selection is utilized in regard to almost all asects o the comositional rocess including temoral organization, selection o sounds, transositions and enveloe generation. The sound events are the building blocks o the electronics art. They are marked in the score as cues indicating to the technician when to activate the movement atcher by striking the sacebar. The timing o a sound event within the movement is seciied by the location o the corresonding cue in the score. The overall duration o a sound event is redetermined and marked in the score. The characteristics o a sound event are subject to both rerogramming and random selection in real time. Sound events may, thereore, vary with each erormance.

59 46 The Movement Patcher and Its Comonents Figure 4.1 rovides an overview o the tyical comonents o a movement atcher. The atcher in this igure is the movement atcher o Part III. The comonents o dierent movement atchers vary to some extent based on comositional choices unique to each movement, yet this examle may serve as a rototye or understanding the unction o these atchers. Figure 4.1 Overview o a movement atcher For illustration uroses, Figure 4.1 divides the atcher into grous o comonents based on their unctionality. The grous o comonents are: control objects,

60 47 reset objects, olymachines, 1 real-time sound rocessors and audio outut objects. The control objects activate the rest o the atcher s comonents. The reset objects store and recall data essential or the unction o the olymachines and the rocessors. The olymachines lay, edit and rocess sound iles rom the library o sounds. The rocessors cross-synthesize and convolute the signals generated by selected olymachines, and they also aly reverb to some o the sounds. The audio outut objects receive the signals rom the olymachines and the rocessors and outut them as 2- channel stereo. Figure 4.2 describes the interaction between the comonents o the movement atcher that takes lace with each sound event. This igure dierentiates between three tyes o interaction: the low o bang messages, the low o data and the low o signal. The initial bang message, which is generated by a strike o the sacebar, activates the control objects. These objects activate irst the reset objects, which send data to the olymachine and the rocessors. The control objects then send bang messages that activate reselected olymachines and rocessors in redetermined time intervals. The signals generated by the olymachines are sent to the audio outut objects and/or to the rocessors. The signals rom the rocessors are also sent to the audio outut objects. It is imortant to oint out that the low o data and bang messages haens almost instantaneously, with the excetion o bang messages, which are delayed or comositional uroses. Seciically the bang messages, which are sent rom the control objects to selected olymachines and rocessors, are oten delayed as art o the temoral organization o the sound event. 1. The term olymachine was coined by the author to describe these comonents o the movement atcher that utilize the Max/MSP object oly~.

61 48 The movement atcher acts also as a mixing board erorming the ollowing tasks: controlling the levels o individual signals generated by its comonents; anning these signals in the stereo ield; sending signals internally rom one comonent to the other; oututting the mixed signals as a 2-channel stereo image. Figure 4.2 Interaction low chart Figure 4.2 describes the surace level o interaction between the grous o the atcher s comonents. This level incororates only redetermined decisions in regard to which olymachines and rocessors will be activated, in what time intervals and to what

62 49 duration. The redetermined decisions o this level also inluence, to some extent, choices o amlitude, register and rhythm that take lace in deeer levels o the atcher, mainly within the olymachines. The Polymachine The olymachines are the core o the movement atcher as they are the main sound generators o this atcher. They include several layers o subatchers and links to external iles and they erorm multile tasks, including selection and layback o sound iles, editing o durations and enveloes, transosition, iltering and anning. The olymachines incororate the oly~ objects that acilitate eicient olyhony in Max/MSP. Each one o the olymachines is associated with a sound-class. It selects and lays sound iles rom this sound-class. The internal structure o the olymachine relects the sub-grous o the sound-class. Figure 4. rovides a close view o the olymachine. The object r<bangnbc> (a) receives a bang message rom the control objects. This bang message activates the olymachine subatcher inserted in the object <Nbca_LPre> (b). The gain~ object (c) controls the level o the mono signal coming out o the olymachine subatcher. The subatcher inserted in the object <an> (d) ans this mono signal into a 2-channel stereo signal. The anning is controlled by random selection generated by the objects in the dashed rame (e). The anned 2-channel stereo signal is sent to the audio outut objects by the send~<l> and send~<r> objects (). The <Nbca_LPre> object (b) has several inlets that can transer data to the olymachine subatcher. This data controls the subatcher s arameters. The objects,

63 50 which are connected to these inlets, receive that date rom the reset objects and transer it to the subatcher. The data includes redetermined sets o values. With each sound Figure 4. Polymachine event, or cue, a set o values unique to this cue is recalled by the reset objects and sent to the olymachine subatcher. The number box (g) o Figure 4. receives a duration in milliseconds or the activation o the olymachine in a seciic cue. The number box (h) and the toggle (i) receive values that inluence the selection o register which takes lace in the olymachine subatcher. The number box (k) receives a value that inluences the temoral organization o the iles layed by the olymachine. In addition the value received by the number box (l) determines the level o the olymachine subatcher s

64 51 outut signal. The iltergrah object (j) controls a biquad~ object in the olymachine subatcher as in the synthesis master atcher (Figure.14(s)). The olymachine s mono signal can be sent, beore it is anned, to the rocessors o the movement atcher by the send~<nbc> object (m). The Polymachine Subatcher The olymachine subatcher is shown is Figure 4.4. The gate object (a) receives a bang message and sends it to one o the atcher objects <G1>, <G2>, <G>, <G4>, in the dashed rame (b). The seciic atcher object is selected by a number entered (as a reset) in the number box in Figure 4.(k). These atcher objects host the rhythmic grou subatchers. The latter determines the temoral organization o the sound iles which are layed by the olymachine. They are rogrammed to generate sequences o bang messages. These sequences vary in the number o bang messages and the time intervals between these bangs. The bang massages are distributed by the objects in the dashed rame (c) in Figure 4.4 among the oly~ objects in the dashed rame (d) by two ossible methods o distribution: when the toggle object, Figure 4.(i), is o, the bangs are sent to the random<5> object and the select object below it and randomly distributed among all the oly~ objects; when the toggle object, Figure 4.(i), is on and a number is entered in the number box, Figure 4.(h), all the bangs are directed to one selected oly~ object. The oly~ objects in the dashed rame (d) in Figure 4.4 acilitate the olyhonic laying o sound iles rom a sound-class in the library. Each one o them accesses one sub-grou o iles out o this sound-class. These sub-grous are deined by the

65 52 transosition levels which were alied to the sounds when they were created in the synthesis master atcher. Additional transositions are alied to the sounds by the oly~ objects in real time. Hence, each oly~ object deines a register. The methods o distribution conveyed by the objects in the dashed rame (c) in Figure 4.4 are, in act, methods o register selection: all registers vs. one selected register. Figure 4.4 Polymachine subatcher The biquad~ object, Figure 4.4(e), along with the iltergrah object, Figure 4.(j), act as a low-ass one band ilter. The *~ object () in Figure 4.4 alies an

66 5 enveloe to the signal generated by the olymachine subatcher. This enveloe is randomly generated by the objects in the dashed rame (g) as in the synthesis atchers (Figure.7 and Figure.8). The Rhythmic Grou Subatcher The temoral organization o the sound iles layed by the olymachine, as reviously mentioned, is deined by the rhythmic grou subatchers, which are inserted in the atcher objects <G1>, <G2>, <G> and <G4> in the dashed rame (b) in Figure 4.4. This temoral organization is based on the Muwashat rhythmic atterns. Each rhythmic grou subatcher reers to a grou o atterns o the Muwashat rhythms (see Chater 2). The Muwashat rhythmic atterns vary in the number o attacks and the time intervals between attacks. Each rhythmic attern was translated into a sequence o bang messages. The number o bang messages within a sequence equals the number o attacks included in the rhythmic attern. The time intervals between bang messages is roortionate to the time intervals between attacks. While the duration o a sequence can be changed, the roortions o the time intervals will always be maintained. The rhythmic grou subatcher is shown in Figure 4.5. It randomly selects sequences o bang messages. The subatcher receives through inlet 2 the duration which is set or the activation o the olymachine. This duration is dislayed in the number box (a). A bang message is received in inlet 1. It is directed by the random object (b) and the select object (c) to a sequence sub-atcher, which is inserted in one o the atcher objects, such as <seq_g2-1> (d). The sequence subatcher is shown in Figure 4.6. It receives the same duration through inlet 2 (a). The duration is multilied by all ractions

67 54 which are the arguments o the * objects, such as (c). The results are delay times in milliseconds, which are entered as arguments to the delay objects, such as (d). The bang message received in inlet 1 (b) is sent to all delay objects and delayed by time intervals which are roortionate to the rhythmic attern. Figure 4.5 Rhythmic grou subatcher Figure 4.6 Sequence subatcher

68 55 The oly~ Object and Its External Patcher A oly~ object, like the objects in the dashed rame (d) in Figure 4.4, access an external atcher. It creates coies o this atcher. The name o the external atcher and the number o coies are seciied in the oly~ object s argument. For examle, the object oly~<nbcgre_1> accesses the ile NbcGre.maxat and creates thirteen coies o this atcher. Each coy generates a voice within a thirteen-voice olyhony. Figure 4.7 shows this external atcher. Figure 4.7 The oly~ object s external atcher The core o this atcher is the slay~ object (a). This object is caable o laying external sound iles. It can lay the sound ile rom and to dierent time oints. It can also transose the itch by changing the layback seed o the sound ile. This action on

69 56 the sound ile is oten called seed transosition. The slay~ object receives messages rom other comonents o the external atcher that deine arameters or these unctions. The objects in the dashed rame (b) instruct the slay~ object as to which sound ile to lay. Each coy o the external atcher within the oly~ object can lay a dierent ile. The selection o iles is random within the sound-class and the sub-grou. A time oint, rom which the slay~ object will begin to lay a sound ile is deined by the objects in the dashed rame (c) o Figure 4.7 and the message box (d). This time oint is randomly selected within a redetermined time interval. The message box (g) seciies a maximum ossible duration or a single sound. In order to dierentiate between legato and staccato sequences o sounds, two maximum ossible durations were deined: 2000 milliseconds and 500 milliseconds. I the maximum ossible duration is 2000 milliseconds, the time interval or the selection o the beginning time oint is 0 to I the maximum ossible duration is 500 milliseconds, the time interval or the selection o the beginning time-oint is 0 to 00. The inal duration o a seciic sound will be the maximum ossible duration minus the time interval between 0 and the new beginning time oint. For examle, i the maximum ossible duration is 2000 milliseconds and the beginning oint is set to 700, the duration o the sound will be 100 milliseconds. In general, the durations o legato sounds range between 800 milliseconds and 2000 milliseconds and the durations o staccato sounds range between 200 milliseconds and 500 milliseconds. An enveloe is alied to the sound throughout the new duration. The objects in the dashed rame () in Figure 4.7 randomly generate this enveloe. These objects are similar to objects shown in Figures.7 and.8.

70 57 The objects in the dashed rame (e) in Figure 4.7 deine a seed transosition level based on division o the octave into 52 commas. The seed transosition is generated by sending a ratio to the inlet o the slay~ object. I, or examle, the ratio is 2, the slay~ object will lay the sound ile twice as ast and the sound will be transosed an octave above. I the ratio is 0.5, the sound will be transosed an octave below. The ratio o the comma-based seed transosition is determined when the constant in message box is raised to the n-th ower by the ow object. The n in this seciic atcher is a ositive number between 1 and 52 which is randomly selected by the random object. Such a ratio will result in a seed transosition equivalent to transosition by a seciic number o commas within an octave above. For examle, i the constant is raised to the ower o 0, the ratio is which is a transosition by a (Pythagorean) ith, i.e. a transosition by an interval o 0 commas (0 x 2.4 = 702) is also a transosition by a (Pythagorean) ith. Comma-based seed transositions are used in the oly~ objects in registers arallel to the registers o the sound-class sub-grous. As mentioned in Chater, the sub-grous are deined by the transosition levels alied to the sounds in the synthesis master atcher. The transosition levels o each sub-grou are within a seciic register. The arallel registers o the seed transositions are deined by the range o numbers randomly selected or n. The irst oly~ object rom the let in the dashed rame (d) in Figure 4.4 does not include transosition. The second oly~ object transoses within the irst octave above by n = The third oly~ object transoses within the irst octave below by n = The ourth oly~ object transoses within the second octave above

71 58 by n = The ith oly~ object transoses within the second octave below by n = Comosing a Sound Event The discussion so ar has described the movement atcher to its deeest layers and core comonents. The ollowing aragrahs will summarize the rocess by which sound events are comosed in real time within the movement atcher. This rocess begins with the selection and modiication o a single sound ile by the slay~ object and related objects within one coy o the oly~ object s external atcher (Figure 4.7). At this stage the sound ile is trimmed to a new duration, it receives a new enveloe and it is transosed by a seed transosition. The modiied sound ile is incororated in a olyhonic succession o similarly modiied sound iles, which are layed by the oly~ objects o the olymachine subatcher (Figure 4.4). This olyhonic succession is characterized by a rhythmic structure, which is determined by a sequence o bang messages generated by one o the rhythmic grous subatchers (Figure 4.4(b) and Figure 4.5). The registers o this olyhonic succession are deined by the methods o distribution o the bang messages among the oly~ objects (Figure 4.4(c)). The olymachine subatcher alies an amlitude enveloe to this succession. The duration o this enveloe is equal to the duration that was determined or the activation o the olymachine within a seciic sound event or a cue. The olyhonic succession o sound iles generated by one olymachine is joined by successions generated by other olymachines. At the same time, sound rom the

72 59 olymachines may be sent to the real-time sound rocessors. The mixed sounds rom the olymachines and the rocessors constitute the sound event. All the activity that takes lace within the olymachine is subject to random selection and the resulting sound is to a large extent undetermined. At the same time, this activity is restricted by redetermined arameters that seciy its duration and inluence the choices o register and rhythmical structure. Such redetermined arameters, which are stored and recalled by the reset objects, also deine the mix between signals generated by dierent olymachines and rocessors as they control the ader levels o each comonent. Another set o redetermined choices is relected in the rogramming o the control objects. This rogramming determines which olymachine and rocessors will be activated in each sound event. It also determines the time oints within the sound event s duration rom which the selected comonents will start to work. Thus, the rogramming o the control objects is an essential comonent in the temoral organization o the electronics art. Rhythm Tree The temoral organization o the electronics o Normal Mode in each movement is structured as a rhythm tree o three layers. The irst layer determines the duration o each sound event and its timing within the movement. The second layer determines the timing and duration o the activations o the atcher comonents olymachines and rocessors. The durations in the second layer are divided in the third layer by randomly selected sequences (or rhythmical atterns) o randomly selected sounds o randomly selected durations. All activations o sound events take lace on a downbeat. The

73 60 activations o olymachines and rocessors in the second layer are oten delayed in relation to the downbeat. The durations in the second layer may be searated rom each other or may overla. Similarly the succession o the sounds in the third layer may be staccato or legato. The characteristics o a sound event may, thereore, vary anywhere between a ercussive succession o short sounds and olyhonic simultaneity. The irst two layers o the temoral organization are redetermined and these layers are notated in the score. The third layer o the temoral organization is subject to random selection and, thereore, cannot be notated. The notation o the electronics is unctional and it is designed to serve the technician in the activation o the atchers. (See Technician Notes and score in Chater 6). The lower sta indicates to the technician when to activate the atchers with a strike o the sacebar. It includes numbered cues notated as quarter notes on the downbeats. The numbering in the score corresonds to the numbering o cues in the atcher. The uer sta notates the timing and duration o the activations o the atcher s comonents in relation to the downbeat o the cue. This sta allows the technician to anticiate the events that will ollow the strike o the sacebar. The bracket between the staves marks the overall duration o the sound event.

74 61 CHAPTER 5 ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS

75 62 The comositional system described in Chater 2 establishes the timbral characteristics and the temoral organization o the electronics art. This system also mas the basic sound-classes o electronic sounds to a itch organization which is based on the Turkish tonal system. The itch material or the ensemble was comosed in the twelve-note equal-temered Western tuning. The common element between those two dierent worlds is ound in the collection o natural dyads that rame the segments. Although this collection o dyads is considered in this comosition as equal-temered, it is imortant to acknowledge that the whole-tone dyads in this collection (D-E, F-G, G-A, A-B and C-D) are not all equal. Each one o these dyads rames a unique microtonal division. Subjecting these dyads to mod-12 transosition would cause them to lose their identity. Thereore only a seciic set o transormations could be alied to these dyads. To establish relations between the seven itch-classes that constitute the natural dyads and the rest o the Western aggregate, I have chosen to use M5, M7 and M11 transormations. I consider these tyes o transormations more strongly connected to the centricity o the cycle o iths both in Turkish music and Western music. Table 4 shows that the natural dyads can be maed by M5, M7 and M11 transormations to include all itch-classes with the excetion o c 6. The latter only mas to itsel through these transormations and since it is not art o the original collection o dyads it is not included in this maing. Four o the natural dyads - o the segments S1, S2, S5, and S6 - are each maed with a seciic selection o dyads. The natural dyads o the segments S and S4 are maed to the same selection o dyads. Nevertheless, this maing reserves some o the unique identity o the natural dyads within the Western aggregate.

76 6 Table 4. Maing o the natural dyads by M transormation Segment Natural Dyad M5 M7 M11 S1 {2 4} {t 8} {2 4} {t 8} S2 {5 7} {1 e} {e 1} {7 5} S {7 9} {e 9} {1 } {5 } S4 {9 e} {9 7} { 5} { 1} S5 {e 0} {7 0} {5 0} {1 0} S6 {0 2} {0 t} {0 2} {0 t} Several serial oerations heled create the itch organization o the ensemble material. I constructed eight dierent twelve-tone rows (Figure 5.1) rom subsets o the Dorian scale, including the tetrachords (025) and (015) and the hexachord (02579). Those rows were maniulated by the multilication system, as was used by Pierre Boulez in Le marteau sans maitre (195-57), 1 to orm orty domains o unordered sets. Furthermore, I alied M5, M7 and M11 transormations to the unordered domain sets or the urose o connecting them with the segments. For examle, the unordered set {8t025} is a domain set in the irst domain o the row B1. It consists o only one natural dyad {02} o the segment S6. However, the dyads {t8}, {5} and {50}, which are subsets o this domain set, can be maed through the transormations resented in Table 4 to the segments S1, S, S4, and S5. Similarly, M transormations o this set will include the natural dyads o these segments. M5 o this set is the set {t0124}, which includes the 1. Based on Stehen Heinemann, Pitch-Class Sets Multilication in Theory and Practice, Music Theory Sectrum 20, no. 1 (Sring 1998): 72-96, and Lev Kolbyakov, Pierre Boulez: A World o Harmony (New York: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1990).

77 64 natural dyad {24} o S1. M7 o this set is the set {89te02}, which includes the natural dyad {9e} o S4 and the natural dyad {e0} o S5. M11 o this set is the set {9t0247} which includes the natural dyad {97} o S and the natural dyad {24} o S1. Figure 5.1 Twelve-tone rows A e1t8 A t8e1 B1 2475e9680t1 B t19e86 C e10t86 C2 579e02t8641 D e12t0 D2 t957681e042 The domains were utilized in the comositional rocess o the ensemble material. In the irst stage, two methods were deined by which domain sets were selected or comositional rocess. The irst method associated a grou o domains, which was generated rom one row, with a movement or a section within a movement or the urose o comosing this section only with sets rom these domains. The second method reorganized domain sets rom all orty domains in classes o domain sets that have similar characteristics. The selection o domain sets or comosing some sections o the ensemble material was based on these classiications. A variety o characteristics deined the classes within the second method, and each class was divided into a number o collections. One class included collections o domain sets that had the same number o itch-classes, or examle, a collection o all the trichords, all the tetrachords, etc. Another class included collections o domain sets with

78 65 seciic itch-class content, or examle, a collection o all the domain sets that contain the dyad {24} (or the natural dyad o the segment S1). A third class included collections o domain sets that contain segments o the Western chromatic scale. Such domain sets were sorted out in collections based on their total number o itch-classes, the number o these itch-classes that constitute a Western chromatic segment, the itch sace o this segment and what other itch-classes are included. For examle, the hexachord {8te012} is a domain set in the third domain o the row C1. Five o its itch-classes constitute a chromatic segment rom c t to c 2. The sixth itch-class is c 8. This hexachord was a member o a collection o hexachords with similar chromatic segment o ive itchclasses and an additional itch-class. Ater the methods o selection were deined, domain sets were comosed out in short hrases. The rhythmic structures o these hrases were derived rom transormations o the Muwashat rhythmic atterns. The basic set o transormations included rotations o the rime, retrograde, inversion and retrograde-inversion orms o the attern. Figure 5.2 resents the rime (a) retrograde (b), inversion (c) and retrogradeinversion (d) orms o the seven-beat attern, which was discussed in Chater 2 (Figure 2.). Figure 5. resents the seven rotations o the rime orm. Beore such rhythms were combined in the rhythmic structure o a short hrase, an additional set o transormations were alied that included augmentation, diminution and metric modulation. All hrases were written in their inal orm in 4/4 meter. Each short hrase was then multilied by the itch transormations M5 M7 and M11 to generate three more hrases with the same rhythm. As a rearation or comosing the ensemble material, I had several collections o such short hrases.

79 66 Figure 5.2 Transormations o a seven-beat attern Figure 5. Rotations o the rime orm In the next hase o the comositional rocess I cut small ragments rom the short hrases and asted them together with other ragments to generate more comlex gestures. These gestures were orchestrated and combined with other gestures in the score.

80 67 At this stage, motivic relations, as well as ormal asects o the iece, began to emerge. As art o the develoment o these motivic relations and the articulation o the orm, the gestures themselves received more transormations. One tye o itch-class transormations, which is rominent in Part III and Part V, is the maing rom the numbers mod-12 to the numbers mod-n, or n =, 4 and 6. As in the case o the M transormations, these transormations are based on maing between seciic itchclasses and not on maniulations o interval structures. In general, the comositional rocess o the ensemble material, beyond the stage o orming the domains, was avoiding the basic mod-12 oerations o transosition, inversion, retrograde and retrogradeinversion. This restriction was the result o the inluence o Turkish music on this comosition. As the ensemble material was shaing u, I began to comose the electronics alongside it. I analyzed the itch content o gestures rom the ensemble material based on the maing resented in Table 4. This analysis established relationshis between gestures and sound-classes or corresonding sound events. For examle, the irst two measures o the iece are each dominated by one dyad. (See Chater 6 or the score). In measure one it is the dyad {5}. In measure two it is {t8}. Measure three includes the dyads {24}, {8t}, {79}, {5} and {e1}. Thereore, these three measures were associated with the segments S1, S and S4. In measure our the vibrahone, marimba, viola and cello emhasize a voice leading rom the dyad {48} to the dyad {9}. While these dyads are not included in the maing o Table 4, these seciic itch-classes imly only the segments S1, S and S4. Similarly the itch content o measures ive and six emhasize the itch-classes 2, 5, 7, e and 0 that imly the segments S2, S5 and S6.

81 68 The rhythmic structures and locations o gestures inluenced the irst two redetermined layers o the temoral organization o the sound events. For examle, in measures ive and six o the irst movement, the sound events o cues 7 and 8 are set in relation to the woodwinds and the strings. The irst-layer duration o cue 7 corresonds to the activity in the woodwinds rom beat three o measure ive to beat two o measure six. This duration is divided by our second-layer durations. The irst one begins with the clarinet on beat three o measure ive. The second second-layer duration begins with the lute and tenor saxohone in the end o measure ive. Another duration is interjected within the lute and saxohone gesture, and the last duration arallels the growl at the end o this gesture. Similarly, cue 8 interjects its second-layer duration within the izzicato strings gesture o measure six.

82 69 CHAPTER 6 NORMAL MODE FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE AND ELECTRONICS

83 70 Program Notes A mechanical system is said to oscillate in a normal mode when all o its articles move simultaneously with the same requency. Hence, a normal mode is a coordinated motion o articles. The comosition Normal Mode derives its requencies o oscillation rom two dierent musical worlds. The electronics o the iece were created through a rocess o digital sound synthesis with reerence to the microtonal octave division o Turkish music. The ensemble material was conceived within a Western-inluenced serial itch organization. These two distinct orces never cancel each other. Instead they create much tension and motion and sometimes, hilosohically seaking, also ind a normal mode.

84 71 Instrumentation Flute Clarinet in Bb Tenor Saxohone Horn in F Trombone Percussion I: vibrahone, kick bass drum, low tom, high tom, snare drum, timbales, bongos, wood block, hi-hat, susended cymbals (ride, crash). Percussion II: marimba, kick bass drum, low tom, high tom, snare drum, timbales, bongos, woodblock, guiro, hi-hat, susended cymbals (ride, crash). Piano Violin Viola Cello Comuter (Max/MSP)

85 72 Perormance Notes The score is transosed. The technician must oerate the required equiment rom a location on the stage that allows him/her to ollow the conductor. Two microhones have to be laced in the ront art o the stage. They should be clearly marked as microhone 1 and microhone 2 in a way that is visible to the musicians on stage. These microhones are used in Part II and Part IV which include interaction between the electronics and soloists o the ensemble. In Part II, the interaction is with the clarinet that lays to microhone 1. In Part IV, the interaction is with the tenor saxohone that lays to microhone 1 and the trombone that lays to microhone 2. Two additional music stands should be laced near the microhones. The ensemble s seating should allow room or these transitions on stage (see Figure 6.1). Figure 6.1 Seating diagram

86 7 Glissandi are continuous over the rests in arenthesis. Fingered glissandi should be erormed as chromatically as ossible. Trills are always a hal ste above the note. Secial notation is exlained in the notation key. The comuter notation is exlained in the technician notes.

87 74 Technician Notes The equiment required or the erormance o the electronics o Normal Mode includes: a comuter with the sotware Max/MSP 5 or a later version; an audio interace device comatible with Max/MSP with two microhone inut channels and two outut channels; a small mixer with at least two inut channels and Let/Right outut channels; two microhones; and two seakers with amliication. The technician must oerate the comuter, the audio interace device and the small mixer rom a location on the stage that allows him/her to ollow the conductor. The microhones have to be laced in the ront art o the stage. They should be clearly marked as microhone 1 and microhone 2 by a marking that is visible to the musicians on stage. Microhone 1 has to be connected to inut channel 1 o the audio interace device and microhone 2 to inut channel 2. The two outut channels o the audio interace device have to be connected to two inut channels in the mixing board. The Let/Right outut channels o the mixer have to be connected to the ower amliication system. Figure 6.2 rovides a technical diagram o this setu. To adjust the microhones inut levels, use the gain controls o the audio interace device. To adjust the system s outut levels, use the mixer s aders. Max/MSP includes a DSP status window, which allows the user to set u the communication between the sotware and hardware, such as the audio interace device. For this iece, set u the DSP in the ollowing way: 1. In the otions menu, select DSP. A window like the one shown in Figure 6. will oen. 2. Select your audio interace device rom the Driver dro menu.

88 75. Select the same device rom the Inut Device dro menu. Figure 6.2 Equiment setu Figure 6. DSP status window in Max/MSP The electronics art o Normal Mode was comosed in Max/MSP or the Macintosh oerating system. All the iles, which are required or the erormance o this