PROCESS MUSIC
Listen: Arthesis (1973) by Éliane Radigue
1 STILL FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH STEVE REICH
infuenced by both tape loops and Ghanian drumming
2009 Pulitzer Prize in Music
2 Music As a Gradual Process (1968)
Once the process is initiated, it will continue on its own.
The process defnes both the sound characteristics and structure of the piece.
The process must be heard as it is happening.
The process must be gradual enough to be perceived.
The subject of the music is the process, rather than the sound source.
Pendulum Music (1968)
3 STILL FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH 4 Rhythm
5 STILL FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH Phasing
Poly-meter
Poly-tempo
6 STILL FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH Phasing
Come Out (1966) is a process piece based on phasing - two identical tape loops running at slightly different speeds.
Used a recording of a single spoken line by Daniel Hamm, one of the falsely accused Harlem Six.
Reich used the phasing process in scores for acoustic instruments as well…
Piano Phase (1967).
8 9 10 Music for Eighteen Musicians (1976)
Reich expanded his sonic palette with four voices, cello, violin, two clarinets, six percussionists, and four pianos.
Big Ensemble with no conductor uses music signaling methods adapted from Ghanian Drumming and Balinese Music
Repetitive “tape loop” techniques translated for acoustic instruments
11 The Orb’s 1990 single “Little Fluffy Clouds” sampled Reich’s Electronic Counterpoint and an interview with musician Rickie Lee Jones.
Excerpt from “Electric Counterpoint”
12 The Orb’s 1990 single “Little Fluffy Clouds” sampled Reich’s Electronic Counterpoint and an interview with musician Rickie Lee Jones.
Excerpt from “Little Fluffy Clouds (Dance Mix)”
13 Michael Nyman’s fve types of process music
Chance determination processes in which the material is not determined by the composer directly, but through a system he or she creates
People processes in which performers are allowed to move through given or suggested material, each at his or her own speed
Contextual processes in which actions depend on unpredictable conditions and on variables arising from the musical continuity
Repetition processes in which movement is generated solely by extended repetition
Electronic processes in which some or all aspects of the music are determined by the use of electronics. These processes take many forms.
Mathematical processes in which materials are manipulated by means of permutation, addition, subtraction, multiplication, changes of rate, and so on
14 STILL FROM EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH LA MONTE YOUNG The frst “minimalist” composer. Often cited as the frst “minimalist” composer - musical reductionist In the late 1950’s, he attended UC Berkley with Worked with Cage, Stockhausen, Tudor & Riley Terry Riley. He studied under Stockhausen in Darmstadt, Germany during summers, where he met As part of the Fluxus movement, his scores from the early 1960’s were David Tutor and discovered the work of John Cage. highly conceptual, short “event scores”: Trio for Strings (1958) was a long, fat, colorless piece, ppp for its entire duration. Trio used only Draw a straight line and follow it long, sustained tones and silences.
Push a piano to the nearest wall, if the piano goes through the wall, Moved to NYC in 1960 to study with Cage and soon keep on pushing, otherwise stop. became well known in the avant garde scene. Yoko Ono hosted a series of concerts in her loft, curated Repeat a loud, heavy sound every one or two seconds as uniformly by Young. and regularly as possible for a long period of time. (X for Henry Flint)
Brian Eno performed X for Henry Flynt as a student, stating, “It really is a cornerstone of everything I’ve done since.”
Dream House project started in 1962.
Great piece names.
15 Background Music: Drift Study (1968), sine-waves and fltering La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela
Theatre of Eternal Music, 16Dreamhouse 78’17” (1974) The Dream House
17 ÉLIANE RADIGUE
Assisted Pierre Shaeffer and Pierre Henry
Studied at NYU
In 1975, Radigue became a disciple of Tibetan Buddhism, greatly infuencing her music. slow, purposeful "unfolding" of sound
Worked extensively with the Arp 2500 Modular Synthesizer
Early ‘drone music’
Listening: Arthesis (1973)
18 19 TERRY RILEY
Riley was part of the San Francisco Tape Music Center with Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich and Morton Subotnick.
In C (1964) was inspired by tape loops and jazz improvisation. It consisted of 53 musical fgures played sequentially, with each being repeated a few times.
The work brought minimalism to prominence, introducing rhythmic patterns that could be combined and repeated.
Electronic techniques inspiring methods for acoustic music.
20 21 ALVIN LUCIER
Part of the Sonic Arts Union
Music for Solo Performer (1964-5) was what Lucier considers the beginning of his compositional career.
The Sonic Arts Union created pieces “in which established techniques were thrown away and the nature of sound was dealt with from scratch.” David Behrman
22 I AM SITTING IN A ROOM (1970) plays at the limits of acoustics and perception.
Lucier’s words are recorded, played back into the room and rerecorded, over and over again, until the resonant frequencies of the room completely refgure the words as sound. uses room resonance to ‘smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.”
A room is a flter, sound is infuenced by space.
23 I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.
24 Room Acoustics
DIFFRACTION - Long waves will bend around objects.
ABSORPTION <---> REFLECTION Hard surfaces refect, soft surfaces absorb. Short wavelengths become trapped in soft material - carpets, drapes, etc.
Refected sound is REVERBERATION, a series of echoes, and reverberation time depends on the size and material of the space
25 Room Resonance
Destructive Interference (aka Phase Cancellation): Two waves out of phase, the peaks and troughs summed together will cancel each other out.
Constructive Interference: Two waves in phase, peaks and troughs line up - the resultant wave will have twice the amplitude.
26 Resonance
Resonance is also found in the "body" of musical instruments and in the voice.
resonating sound waves within a guitar
27 Reverberation
Natural - refections caused by the resonant qualities of a space
Artifcial - simulated digitally or through an analog system
28 Refections and Reverberation
Green = Direct Sound Red = Early Refections (15 ms.) Blue = Secondary Refections
29 Studio Treatment for Room Resonance
30 Philip Glass
doesn’t like to use the word minimalism to describe his music, preferring “music with repetitive structures.”
Einstein on the Beach his collaboration with theater director Robert Wilson, revolutionized opera (1976).
31 32 33 MEREDITH MONK
"In most of my music, theater pieces and flms, I try to express a sense of timelessness; of time as a recurring cycle."
Liner notes of the album Book of Days, ECM New Series (1990)
Composer, performer, director, vocalist, flmmaker, and choreographer.
Multi-disciplinary work often focused around voice
34 Book of Days (1988)
35 Disintegration Loops (2004)
William Basinski
36