Hearing Images and Seeing Sound: the Creation of Sonic Information Through Image Interpolation
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Hearing Images and Seeing Sound: The Creation of Sonic Information Through Image Interpolation Maxwell Dillon Tfirn Charlottesville, VA B.M., University of Florida, 2009 M.A., Wesleyan University, 2012 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Music University of Virginia April, 2017 ii © Copyright by Maxwell Dillon Tfirn All Rights Reserved March 2017 iii Abstract This dissertation focuses on the compositional use of spectra, from the inception of this approach in the focus on acoustic characteristics of sound to my own approach, using images and raw data as spectral generators. I create these spectra using image interpolation and processing, and map them from the visual to the auditory domain. I situate my work in relation to the French and Romanian spectralists, the German Feedback Group, and other offshoots whose starting point is timbre-based composition. My own suite of software translates images into sound, allows for the creation and deletion of images, thus altering the sound, and supports analysis of the resultant spectra. Finally, the application of my software and techniques is illustrated in three of my compositions: Establish, Corrupt, Broken for 8-channel fixed media, Laniakea Elegant Beauty for Chamber Ensemble, and Invisible Signals for open instrumentation. iv Acknowledgements My dearest thanks go to my advisor, Judith Shatin. Her amazing insights and editorial expertise made this dissertation possible. I have enjoyed working with her during my years at UVA on a number of interesting projects and her continued support and critical questions have helped me to grow as a composer and artist. I would also like to thank my other departmental committee members Ted Coffey and Luke Dahl. Their leadership as teachers, artists, and friends has left a lasting impact on my personal and creative life. Thank you to Roseanne Ford for serving as the outside reader on my committee. Thank you to my parents, Lori and David Tfirn, and my brother Ian for supporting me along the way. Finally, I owe the greatest amount of gratitude to my wife Seung-Hye. I would not have been able to do this without her support, analytical comments, patience and ability to motivate and inspire me. v Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ v Chapter I. .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The French School .......................................................................................................... 2 1.2 The First Spectral Works ................................................................................................ 4 1.2.2 Gérard Grisey’s Partiels ................................................................................................ 5 1.2.3 Murail’s Gondwana ...................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Romanian Spectral Music .............................................................................................. 9 1.4 The German Feedback Group ........................................................................................ 12 2.0 Second Generation Spectral Composers and Beyond .................................................... 14 2.1 Kaija Saariaho ............................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Joshua Fineberg ............................................................................................................ 17 2.3 Steve Lehman ............................................................................................................... 18 2.4 Jonathan Harvey ........................................................................................................... 21 3.0 Influences on Other Genres and Current Music ............................................................. 23 3.1 Noise and Glitch Music and Its Timbral Uses ................................................................. 24 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter II. ................................................................................................................. 26 2.0 Spectral Manipulation .................................................................................................. 27 2.1 Transformation and Mapping ....................................................................................... 28 2.1.1 Addition and Subtraction ........................................................................................... 28 2.1.2 Multiplication and Division ......................................................................................... 29 2.1.3 Exponents .................................................................................................................... 29 2.1.4 Other Functions .......................................................................................................... 31 2.2 Modulation and Distortion ........................................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Ring Modulation ......................................................................................................... 33 2.2.2 Amplitude Modulation ............................................................................................... 35 2.2.3 Frequency Modulation ............................................................................................... 36 2.2.4 Enveloping FM Envelopes ........................................................................................... 38 2.3 Analysis Techniques (Audio Descriptions) ..................................................................... 41 2.3.1 Feature Analysis Using Real and Imaginary Numbers ............................................... 43 2.3.2 Spectral Flux ................................................................................................................ 45 2.3.3 Spectral Centroid ........................................................................................................ 46 2.3.3 Spectral Flatness ......................................................................................................... 46 2.3.4 Formants and Peaks .................................................................................................... 47 2.4 The Sonogram .............................................................................................................. 50 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 52 vi Chapter III. ................................................................................................................ 54 3.1 Image to Sonogram ...................................................................................................... 56 3.1.3 Turning an Image into a Sonogram in Max/MSP ....................................................... 60 3.1.4 Generating a Sound from an Image Based Sonogram ............................................... 62 3.1.5 Other Software ........................................................................................................... 65 3.1.6 Other Uses for Image to Sound Conversion ............................................................... 66 3.2 Image to Buffer ............................................................................................................. 66 3.2.2 Using the Newly Interpolated Buffer ......................................................................... 73 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 74 Chapter IV. ................................................................................................................ 76 4.1 Fixed Media Composition ............................................................................................. 76 4.1.1 Software Used for Image and Sound Processing ....................................................... 77 4.1.2 Form and Process ........................................................................................................ 80 4.2 Chamber Ensemble ....................................................................................................... 83 4.2.1 Compositional Process ................................................................................................ 84 4.2.2 Form ............................................................................................................................ 85 4.2.3 Techniques .................................................................................................................. 87 4.3 Real-Time Spectral Composition ................................................................................... 88 4.3.1 Software ...................................................................................................................... 89 4.3.2 Form ...........................................................................................................................