The Music Dictation of Norman Mclaren's Animated Piece Synchromy

九州大学学術情報リポジトリ Kyushu University Institutional Repository

The Music Dictation of Norman McLaren's Animated Piece Synchromy

栗原, 詩子九州大学大学院芸術工学研究院音響部門

https://doi.org/10.15017/2794910

出版情報：芸術工学研究. 4, pp.65-75, 2005-12-20. Faculty of Design, Kyushu University バージョン：権利関係： The Music Dictation of Norman McLaren's Animated Piece Synchromy

*J](~!-=f KURIHARA Utako

J-7/" · 7:7 7 v/" (1914-1987) ti, ~~~m, 1. The Necessity of the Music Dictation of Synchromy Norman McLaren (1914-1987) 0~ff~filW~~~0-B~§7, h~YOOft~rnfi~~ was a pioneering animator on the National Film Board of Canada [1]. His ff7 :=.;J. -v 3 /"$F~0W~~~1'F*c'-- [qlffiJ~i tttU definition of animation art is often referred to by a ~:!fflc' S-:> tc 1930.if:{i;iJ:, ~ i"J~fil*c tc b tc -:>-C t~~B"J number of researches in this field. fctf)!'.~~*tc L tc[l] 0 {V /" :7 U 2. -} ti, rnfiffij~ 11 Animation is not an art of drawings that move, but the art 2js:0~J=Ifflttc jK-!p_J I), 7 :7 7 v /" El Jlt0{'FHH tc J:: 6 7 ~rai of movements that are drawn. What happens between each frame is much more important than 0if*tc [qlwffl9 ib'l~~ 6 =0~.fifflt J:tct;l!lUft L --::>-:nt 6 c what exists on each frame. Animation is therefore the ") 1, e'btJJ-cMl~B"Ji:tifi'ijr~iJ:,~~6iJ~, 1b'l0~1~07 art of manipulating the invisible interstices that lie between the frames [2]. :=. ;J. - V 3 /"{Ip£~ ct> 6 ;: c iJ:, ~, 7- r 7 :=. ;J. - V 3 /" 51:.tc t3 v)-C ~ :m~l:tffttt[~ i5 tJJ-C v) 6 o His last work in the field of animation, Synchromy, is a seven-minute film during which one can experience c ;: '6 iJ~, ;: 0{'F£""-0 §btffioctcJ::~~ -c, @153U1ilf~ music as a moving image. The piece was produced by tiz L v)a r;J®~, rnfiOOtcfflv) ~htds*3~HJ!01§r1*~ utilizing the synthetic animated sound technique of 0-it /" 7°1v{~[3]-?, if~ · if5j c rnfiOOJ:0rb'l~ c 000{* directly generating sound by inserting dots: this is the reverse of the process referred to as optical sound ;f]n~[5]tC~i -:>-Cit) 6 a .:f L -C, 7 ~Fai0~~~m,~}M recording. t -Cli'.l'~iJ~f*~9 6 ~ < *Jilj.ft-C ~ ntd'F£r;J®, RP While this piece is considerably important and is 't, {'F£r;JB~Faitc t3 ~t 6 *IiB0~!Ul:-?rnfiffiiif.i'ij~0~1£ frequently mentioned in animation studies, approaches on Synchromy are ti:-?, ruIT~000f*iJ~{'F IJ tfj9~S"J~,~tc --::>v)-C ti~<~ limited to a discussion on color sample [3] or a relative description of sound waves and ~~ n-c;: i:tiJ:,-:> tc 0c'S 6 a sound cards [4, 5], neglecting the precise appreciation ;: 7 L tc1ilf~~ti5ltc ~@-:> tc-1!1 ti, { V /" :7 u 2. - } of this masterpiece. In my considered opinion, the lack of the score of the 0 *jM~mr¥ L l:t 1t) g tc S 6 ti '6 7 o ~~f'F*c' S 6 7 work is partially the reason for such stagnation. It was :7 7 v /" El Jlti7~{'FHH0~~ c-:> tel:, {'F£0£~ifi'ijmiJ~ McLaren himself who composed Synchromy, but no one if* c ~f~0~Wl:t[qlwfflOOf*c'S 6 ~J:, 2's:{'Ftc --::>v)-c conserved its score for it was written not for performative reproduction but just for its consummation ~~9 6 tc tJJ tc*IiB ~~*HI tCte!jffi9 6 £\~iJ~S 6 0 ti!¥i of being animated. A restration of the score might attiJ~, .:c 0tc tJJ0£2's:$tf-M~x~t-c v)tc 0c'S 6 o therefore provide a key to a greater understanding of ;: 7 L tdtill ~.bi ;z, {V /" :7 u 2. - } 0-lJ- 17 /" r this animated masterpiece. r7Y:7~Uif·~fflLk0i7~$t~~S6o *IiB~* 2. The Animated Sound in Synchromy and Its Dictation ffl c L -Cf[f;f--}{~9 6;: cc\ ;: 0~~1'F£~~ffr9 6 tc An animation film is created with twenty-four frames tJJ 0 £~$if--} ~ ~ffe L tc 1t) a per second. When a film that is written with ten dots in

§i!l:@"~i¥-=f The Music Dictation of Norman Mclaren's Animated Piece Synchromy pp.65 - 761 ~~iltfI~./iJf'.9'E I Vol. 4, 20051 65 I each frame is played, it creates two hundred fourty mark, the starting point of shich is on either the right or sound signals per second, thereby generating a sound the left side of the column, at McLaren's discretion. wave of 240 Hz, namely, pitch H3. It is common Such contents on the screen are transcripted as a knowledge that McLaren possessed a pile of sound chart in the blank area above the staff notation. The cards, that could create seventy-two sound wave sounds blank columns are depicted gray, while the columns in over seven octaves. use are in white. The markings for the sound waves are The tone of Synchromy's music is limited to a square drawn in black on the white columns. They indicate the wave because that McLaren used a set of cards with usage of columns and the status of the musical parts in a simple hard-edge black-and-white stripes [6]. The music top-to-bottom sequence (Fig.2). develops from one to three voices in six odd octaves from A#l (58Hz) to D7 (2358Hz). Regarding the NOTES strength of the sounds, since the distinction of the [l] Valliere T. Richard. Norman McLaren, Manipulator twenty-five grades is not a prerequisite in musical of Movement: the National Film Board Years 1947- listening or in music transcription, I subjectively 1967. Associated University Press, 1982, pp. 105-108. considered the six stages of traditional dynamics (pp, p, [2] Maureen Furniss, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. mp, mf, f, ff) [7] with accent marks (> ), sforzando John Libbey & Company, 1998, p.5. marks (sf), and crescendo(-===) and decrescendo ( :::::::=--) [3] Liz Faber and Helen Walters, Animation Unlimited: marks. Although the musical language is largely Innovative Short Films Since 1940. Harper Design traditional and easy to listen to, it is difficult to catch a International, 2004, pp. 58-63. brief span of bars 143 through 145 with wide-range [4] Thomas Y. Levin, "Des sons venus de nulle part: Rudolf pitched sounds; hence, a frequency analysis was Pfenninger et l'archeologie du son synthetique" Son et conducted on the DVD sound file [8]. Lumieres. publiee a !'occasion de !'exposition presentee au Centre Pompidou du 22 septembre 2004 3. Description of the Moving Image au 3 janvier 2005, Centre Pompidou, 2004, pp.51-60. The screen is virtually divided into eleven columns, [5] Roy M. Prendergast, Film music: a Neglected Art. and the sound marks within each column appear Norton & Company, 1977, p. 203. according to their frequency rate. Initially, only the [6] Norman McLaren, "Synchromy" 1984, in David central column is used, but later, the area expands to McWilliams ed., Norman McLaren on the Creative include all the eleven columns. A number of short sound Process. National Film Board of Canada, 1991, pp.91-93. marks are drawn with the emergence of each high [7] McLaren himself took the volume as from pitched sound, and fewer long sound marks are drawn "pianissimo" to "fortissimo". McLaren, op.cit, p.91. with the emergence of each low pitched sound (Fig. l ). [8] An open source software for recording and editing The sound volume is indicated by the width of the sounds Audacity. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/.

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Fig.2a (left) A Transcriptive Chart for Fig.1 aI llHI llHI I Fig.2b (right) A Transcriptive Chart for Fig.1 b

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