8/12/2019 What's the Matter With Today's Experimental Music. Organised Sound Too Rarely Heard by Leigh Landy - Denis S…

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What's the Matter with Today's Experimental Music? Organised Sound Too Rarely Heard byLeigh LandyReview by: Denis SmalleyLeonardo Music Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1992), pp. 120-121Published by: The MIT Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513227 .

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8/12/2019 What's the Matter With Today's Experimental Music. Organised Sound Too Rarely Heard by Leigh Landy - Denis S…

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nar (inthe editions n Russian) swell

as a listof the publications f Soviet

authors n Leonardo.

REPRESENTATIONSOF

MUSICALSIGNALSby Giovannide Poli,Aldo Piccialli

and CurtisRoads,eds.MITPress,Cambridge,MA,U.S.A.488pp., illus.

ReviewedyMarcBattier,REAM,1,

rueSaint-Mem,-75004Paras,rance.

Italy eemsto be a placeof choicefor

speculationon the conceptsof music

representation.There,in 1982, n the

context of a symposium n Musical

GrammarsndComputerAnalysis r-

ganized n Modena,CurtisRoadspre-

senteda substantial urvey n this

topic. Several ears ater,Roads,alongwith several talianresearchers,

gatheredmanycomputer-musicrac-titioners n Sorrento,a townon the

cliffsof the Mediterranean ea.Sev-

eral papers rom thisgatheringhave

been collected for thisbook, al-

thoughthey havebeen considerablyrevisedand augmented;otherpapers

were specifically ommissioned.The

book is a newadditionto a series,dedicated o recentadvancesn the

field of computermusic,publishedby

MITPress.The topicof representations f mu-

sical signals s intenselyobservedandresearched hesedays. n a way,com-

puter musichasalways een preoccu-pied by it. Afterall, the seminalwork

of MaxMathewsn soundsynthesis

and, more generally,n the design of

acousticcompilerspresenteda par-

ticularviewof the question,a view

sharedwith the electronic nstrument-buildersof its time:Olson and Belar,

creatorsof the RCA lectronicsynthe-sizer,and Hugh LeCaine, nventorof

various oundsynthesisdevices[1].

RepresentationsfMusical ignalsscomposedof 14 previously rlpuSlished exts,gatherednto fivesections:Time-frequency epresentationsf

MusicalSignals(fourtexts),Granular

Representationsf MusicalSignals

(two texts),PhysicalModelRepre-sentationof MusicalSignals(three

texts), Architecture nd ObjectRepre-sentationsof MusicalSignals(three

nar (inthe editions n Russian) swell

as a listof the publications f Soviet

authors n Leonardo.

REPRESENTATIONSOF

MUSICALSIGNALSby Giovannide Poli,Aldo Piccialli

and CurtisRoads,eds.MITPress,Cambridge,MA,U.S.A.488pp., illus.

ReviewedyMarcBattier,REAM,1,

rueSaint-Mem,-75004Paras,rance.

Italy eemsto be a placeof choicefor

speculationon the conceptsof music

representation.There,in 1982, n the

context of a symposium n Musical

GrammarsndComputerAnalysis r-

ganized n Modena,CurtisRoadspre-

senteda substantial urvey n this

topic. Several ears ater,Roads,alongwith several talianresearchers,

gatheredmanycomputer-musicrac-titioners n Sorrento,a townon the

cliffsof the Mediterranean ea.Sev-

eral papers rom thisgatheringhave

been collected for thisbook, al-

thoughthey havebeen considerablyrevisedand augmented;otherpapers

were specifically ommissioned.The

book is a newadditionto a series,dedicated o recentadvancesn the

field of computermusic,publishedby

MITPress.The topicof representations f mu-

sical signals s intenselyobservedandresearched hesedays. n a way,com-

puter musichasalways een preoccu-pied by it. Afterall, the seminalwork

of MaxMathewsn soundsynthesis

and, more generally,n the design of

acousticcompilerspresenteda par-

ticularviewof the question,a view

sharedwith the electronic nstrument-buildersof its time:Olson and Belar,

creatorsof the RCA lectronicsynthe-sizer,and Hugh LeCaine, nventorof

various oundsynthesisdevices[1].

RepresentationsfMusical ignalsscomposedof 14 previously rlpuSlished exts,gatherednto fivesections:Time-frequency epresentationsf

MusicalSignals(fourtexts),Granular

Representationsf MusicalSignals

(two texts),PhysicalModelRepre-sentationof MusicalSignals(three

texts), Architecture nd ObjectRepre-sentationsof MusicalSignals(three

nar (inthe editions n Russian) swell

as a listof the publications f Soviet

authors n Leonardo.

REPRESENTATIONSOF

MUSICALSIGNALSby Giovannide Poli,Aldo Piccialli

and CurtisRoads,eds.MITPress,Cambridge,MA,U.S.A.488pp., illus.

ReviewedyMarcBattier,REAM,1,

rueSaint-Mem,-75004Paras,rance.

Italy eemsto be a placeof choicefor

speculationon the conceptsof music

representation.There,in 1982, n the

context of a symposium n Musical

GrammarsndComputerAnalysis r-

ganized n Modena,CurtisRoadspre-

senteda substantial urvey n this

topic. Several ears ater,Roads,alongwith several talianresearchers,

gatheredmanycomputer-musicrac-titioners n Sorrento,a townon the

cliffsof the Mediterranean ea.Sev-

eral papers rom thisgatheringhave

been collected for thisbook, al-

thoughthey havebeen considerablyrevisedand augmented;otherpapers

were specifically ommissioned.The

book is a newadditionto a series,dedicated o recentadvancesn the

field of computermusic,publishedby

MITPress.The topicof representations f mu-

sical signals s intenselyobservedandresearched hesedays. n a way,com-

puter musichasalways een preoccu-pied by it. Afterall, the seminalwork

of MaxMathewsn soundsynthesis

and, more generally,n the design of

acousticcompilerspresenteda par-

ticularviewof the question,a view

sharedwith the electronic nstrument-buildersof its time:Olson and Belar,

creatorsof the RCA lectronicsynthe-sizer,and Hugh LeCaine, nventorof

various oundsynthesisdevices[1].

RepresentationsfMusical ignalsscomposedof 14 previously rlpuSlished exts,gatherednto fivesections:Time-frequency epresentationsf

MusicalSignals(fourtexts),Granular

Representationsf MusicalSignals

(two texts),PhysicalModelRepre-sentationof MusicalSignals(three

texts), Architecture nd ObjectRepre-sentationsof MusicalSignals(three

texts) and ParallelDistributedProc-essing Representations f MusicalSig-nals (three texts).These sectionsareclear reflectionson the natureof mu-sical sigrlalsndthe variouswayso con-sider hem.To help the readergrasp

texts) and ParallelDistributedProc-essing Representations f MusicalSig-nals (three texts).These sectionsareclear reflectionson the natureof mu-sical sigrlalsndthe variouswayso con-sider hem.To help the readergrasp

texts) and ParallelDistributedProc-essing Representations f MusicalSig-nals (three texts).These sectionsareclear reflectionson the natureof mu-sical sigrlalsndthe variouswayso con-sider hem.To help the readergrasp

thesevariousapproaches, achcate-

gory s introducedby one of the edi-

tors.

Somepaperspresentan overview

of a topic: n a verycoherent manner,

each of the five categorieshas a paper

thatto some extentcan be consid-

ereda surveypaper.Amongthe

broadest s the one byJean-Claude

Risset,a renownedcomposerand pio-neer in computermusic,on timbre

analysis ysynthesis.Hispaperhas a

substantial ibliography.Also ofwide

scope, the articleby GuyGarnett,a

composerand researcherrom the

Center or NewMusicand Audio

Technologies(CNMAT) t the Uni-

versity f California,Berkeley,dealsin a methodical ashionwith the ques-

tionof timeandtemporalproceduresin the variousaspectsof musicand sig-

nalrepresentations.Because t is athoroughand knowledgeable aper,

one can only wonderwhythe workof

recognized mportanceachievedby

StephenPope in this domain,which

hasappeared n variouspublications,

is not explicitlymentioned.

The book hasa comprehensiven-

dex section,composedof a name in-

dex and a wide subjectndex. Bothin-

dexes arequite impressiven both

size andchoice of entries.

Note

1. For more on the life and inventions of Hugh

Le Caine, see the review in this issue of Gayle

Young's TheSackbutBlues.

WHAT'STHE MATTER

WITHTODAY'S

EXPERIMENTAL

MUSIC? ORGANISED

SOUND TOO

RARELYHEAR1DbyLeigh Landy.HarwoodAcademic

Publishers, 991.308 pp. ISBN:3-7186-5168-8.SSN:0891-5415

Reviewed yDenis Smalley,Schoolof Mu-

sic, University f EastAnglia,Nonvich

NR4 7TJ,U.K

This bookis based on theassumption

that overthe last 15 years ewercom-

posers,musicians nd listenershavebeen interested n experimentalmu-

thesevariousapproaches, achcate-

gory s introducedby one of the edi-

tors.

Somepaperspresentan overview

of a topic: n a verycoherent manner,

each of the five categorieshas a paper

thatto some extentcan be consid-

ereda surveypaper.Amongthe

broadest s the one byJean-Claude

Risset,a renownedcomposerand pio-neer in computermusic,on timbre

analysis ysynthesis.Hispaperhas a

substantial ibliography.Also ofwide

scope, the articleby GuyGarnett,a

composerand researcherrom the

Center or NewMusicand Audio

Technologies(CNMAT) t the Uni-

versity f California,Berkeley,dealsin a methodical ashionwith the ques-

tionof timeandtemporalproceduresin the variousaspectsof musicand sig-

nalrepresentations.Because t is athoroughand knowledgeable aper,

one can only wonderwhythe workof

recognized mportanceachievedby

StephenPope in this domain,which

hasappeared n variouspublications,

is not explicitlymentioned.

The book hasa comprehensiven-

dex section,composedof a name in-

dex and a wide subjectndex. Bothin-

dexes arequite impressiven both

size andchoice of entries.

Note

1. For more on the life and inventions of Hugh

Le Caine, see the review in this issue of Gayle

Young's TheSackbutBlues.

WHAT'STHE MATTER

WITHTODAY'S

EXPERIMENTAL

MUSIC? ORGANISED

SOUND TOO

RARELYHEAR1DbyLeigh Landy.HarwoodAcademic

Publishers, 991.308 pp. ISBN:3-7186-5168-8.SSN:0891-5415

Reviewed yDenis Smalley,Schoolof Mu-

sic, University f EastAnglia,Nonvich

NR4 7TJ,U.K

This bookis based on theassumption

that overthe last 15 years ewercom-

posers,musicians nd listenershavebeen interested n experimentalmu-

thesevariousapproaches, achcate-

gory s introducedby one of the edi-

tors.

Somepaperspresentan overview

of a topic: n a verycoherent manner,

each of the five categorieshas a paper

thatto some extentcan be consid-

ereda surveypaper.Amongthe

broadest s the one byJean-Claude

Risset,a renownedcomposerand pio-neer in computermusic,on timbre

analysis ysynthesis.Hispaperhas a

substantial ibliography.Also ofwide

scope, the articleby GuyGarnett,a

composerand researcherrom the

Center or NewMusicand Audio

Technologies(CNMAT) t the Uni-

versity f California,Berkeley,dealsin a methodical ashionwith the ques-

tionof timeandtemporalproceduresin the variousaspectsof musicand sig-

nalrepresentations.Because t is athoroughand knowledgeable aper,

one can only wonderwhythe workof

recognized mportanceachievedby

StephenPope in this domain,which

hasappeared n variouspublications,

is not explicitlymentioned.

The book hasa comprehensiven-

dex section,composedof a name in-

dex and a wide subjectndex. Bothin-

dexes arequite impressiven both

size andchoice of entries.

Note

1. For more on the life and inventions of Hugh

Le Caine, see the review in this issue of Gayle

Young's TheSackbutBlues.

WHAT'STHE MATTER

WITHTODAY'S

EXPERIMENTAL

MUSIC? ORGANISED

SOUND TOO

RARELYHEAR1DbyLeigh Landy.HarwoodAcademic

Publishers, 991.308 pp. ISBN:3-7186-5168-8.SSN:0891-5415

Reviewed yDenis Smalley,Schoolof Mu-

sic, University f EastAnglia,Nonvich

NR4 7TJ,U.K

This bookis based on theassumption

that overthe last 15 years ewercom-

posers,musicians nd listenershavebeen interested n experimentalmu-

sic.The introductiondefines'experi-mental'and usesthe concept of the

'parameter'o help delineate experi-mentation.Part2 is concernedwithcontextualdeterminants:he media,technology,communityand accultura-

sic.The introductiondefines'experi-mental'and usesthe concept of the

'parameter'o help delineate experi-mentation.Part2 is concernedwithcontextualdeterminants:he media,technology,communityand accultura-

sic.The introductiondefines'experi-mental'and usesthe concept of the

'parameter'o help delineate experi-mentation.Part2 is concernedwithcontextualdeterminants:he media,technology,communityand accultura-

tion,and the politicaldimensionsof

music.Part3 reviewsopics such as

form and structure,notationand per-

forming echniquesand expandson

timbre,space and themedia. Part4 is

concernedwith today's rends: lec-

troacousticmusic,stylisticusions,

'neo-'tendencies (neotonality,neo-

simplicity, eo-romanticism,he re-

vivalof melody,etc.) and askswhycomposers ikeStockhausen,Boulez

andBerio havebecomemilder.Part5

exhortseducators,mediatorsand

composers o work oward duca-

tionalchange.The authorcallsfor

morecompositionalparticipationn

(inter)media,a consideredawareness

of technologicalapplications, con-

centrationon localmusicalvalues,a

consciousness f political ssues,an ex-

plorationof new parameters nd

sounds(rather hannotes), the devis-ing of new criteriaand terminologies,

more 'clues' n the musicso that is-

tenersare helped,more attention o-

cusedon new techniques/notations,

anda search or newexemplarymen-

tors.He lookstowards n 'experimen-

tal synthesis'basedon a reappraisalof pastexperience.Part6 comprises

studiesof musicconsideredexperi-

mental:worksby Ligeti,Berio, Carter,

Xenakis,Reich,Brown,Wolff,de

Leeuw,Rissetand Shinohara.

Landy's efinition f 'experimental'(p. 7) is unclear: musicn which theinnovative omponent(not in the

senseof newness oundin any artisticwork,but insteadsubstantialnnova-

tion as clearlyntendedby acomposer)

of anyaspectof a givenpiece takes

priority bovethe more general tech-

nicalcraftsmanshipxpectedof any

artwork.Thisdefinitiondoesnot correlate

with the worksdiscussed n part6. In-

novationbeforecraft?Perhapsn thecaseof BrownandWolff.For the oth-

ers it is rather nsulting. f I have mis-

understood he craft-innovationela-

tionship t is because this is not

explained. Substantialnnovatiorl?'Some(butnot all) of thesecomposers

mayhavebeen innovative,but notnecessarily ubstantiallyndnot neces-

sarily n theworkspresented.The

trouble s that measuring he doseofinnovations a difElcult istoricaland

increasinglyubjective ask.Whichhis-

tion,and the politicaldimensionsof

music.Part3 reviewsopics such as

form and structure,notationand per-

forming echniquesand expandson

timbre,space and themedia. Part4 is

concernedwith today's rends: lec-

troacousticmusic,stylisticusions,

'neo-'tendencies (neotonality,neo-

simplicity, eo-romanticism,he re-

vivalof melody,etc.) and askswhycomposers ikeStockhausen,Boulez

andBerio havebecomemilder.Part5

exhortseducators,mediatorsand

composers o work oward duca-

tionalchange.The authorcallsfor

morecompositionalparticipationn

(inter)media,a consideredawareness

of technologicalapplications, con-

centrationon localmusicalvalues,a

consciousness f political ssues,an ex-

plorationof new parameters nd

sounds(rather hannotes), the devis-ing of new criteriaand terminologies,

more 'clues' n the musicso that is-

tenersare helped,more attention o-

cusedon new techniques/notations,

anda search or newexemplarymen-

tors.He lookstowards n 'experimen-

tal synthesis'basedon a reappraisalof pastexperience.Part6 comprises

studiesof musicconsideredexperi-

mental:worksby Ligeti,Berio, Carter,

Xenakis,Reich,Brown,Wolff,de

Leeuw,Rissetand Shinohara.

Landy's efinition f 'experimental'(p. 7) is unclear: musicn which theinnovative omponent(not in the

senseof newness oundin any artisticwork,but insteadsubstantialnnova-

tion as clearlyntendedby acomposer)

of anyaspectof a givenpiece takes

priority bovethe more general tech-

nicalcraftsmanshipxpectedof any

artwork.Thisdefinitiondoesnot correlate

with the worksdiscussed n part6. In-

novationbeforecraft?Perhapsn thecaseof BrownandWolff.For the oth-

ers it is rather nsulting. f I have mis-

understood he craft-innovationela-

tionship t is because this is not

explained. Substantialnnovatiorl?'Some(butnot all) of thesecomposers

mayhavebeen innovative,but notnecessarily ubstantiallyndnot neces-

sarily n theworkspresented.The

trouble s that measuring he doseofinnovations a difElcult istoricaland

increasinglyubjective ask.Whichhis-

tion,and the politicaldimensionsof

music.Part3 reviewsopics such as

form and structure,notationand per-

forming echniquesand expandson

timbre,space and themedia. Part4 is

concernedwith today's rends: lec-

troacousticmusic,stylisticusions,

'neo-'tendencies (neotonality,neo-

simplicity, eo-romanticism,he re-

vivalof melody,etc.) and askswhycomposers ikeStockhausen,Boulez

andBerio havebecomemilder.Part5

exhortseducators,mediatorsand

composers o work oward duca-

tionalchange.The authorcallsfor

morecompositionalparticipationn

(inter)media,a consideredawareness

of technologicalapplications, con-

centrationon localmusicalvalues,a

consciousness f political ssues,an ex-

plorationof new parameters nd

sounds(rather hannotes), the devis-ing of new criteriaand terminologies,

more 'clues' n the musicso that is-

tenersare helped,more attention o-

cusedon new techniques/notations,

anda search or newexemplarymen-

tors.He lookstowards n 'experimen-

tal synthesis'basedon a reappraisalof pastexperience.Part6 comprises

studiesof musicconsideredexperi-

mental:worksby Ligeti,Berio, Carter,

Xenakis,Reich,Brown,Wolff,de

Leeuw,Rissetand Shinohara.

Landy's efinition f 'experimental'(p. 7) is unclear: musicn which theinnovative omponent(not in the

senseof newness oundin any artisticwork,but insteadsubstantialnnova-

tion as clearlyntendedby acomposer)

of anyaspectof a givenpiece takes

priority bovethe more general tech-

nicalcraftsmanshipxpectedof any

artwork.Thisdefinitiondoesnot correlate

with the worksdiscussed n part6. In-

novationbeforecraft?Perhapsn thecaseof BrownandWolff.For the oth-

ers it is rather nsulting. f I have mis-

understood he craft-innovationela-

tionship t is because this is not

explained. Substantialnnovatiorl?'Some(butnot all) of thesecomposers

mayhavebeen innovative,but notnecessarily ubstantiallyndnot neces-

sarily n theworkspresented.The

trouble s that measuring he doseofinnovations a difElcult istoricaland

increasinglyubjective ask.Whichhis-

toricalpath does one create?Landy s not sufficiently areful

withtermsand definitions for in-stance, imbre' It is looselydiscussedon pages 13,8v85, 95-97and 181-182.Although imbre s one area

toricalpath does one create?Landy s not sufficiently areful

withtermsand definitions for in-stance, imbre' It is looselydiscussedon pages 13,8v85, 95-97and 181-182.Although imbre s one area

toricalpath does one create?Landy s not sufficiently areful

withtermsand definitions for in-stance, imbre' It is looselydiscussedon pages 13,8v85, 95-97and 181-182.Although imbre s one area

120 Reviews20 Reviews20 Reviews

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8/12/2019 What's the Matter With Today's Experimental Music. Organised Sound Too Rarely Heard by Leigh Landy - Denis S…

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/whats-the-matter-with-todays-experimental-music-organised-sound 3/3