MUSIQUE CONCRETE & ELECTRONIC MUSIC of the 50S
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MUSIQUE CONCRETE & ELECTRONIC MUSIC of the 50s & 60s Monday, February 22, 2010 Precursors to the Modern Synthesizer The Teleharmonium (1897) Thaddeus Cahill "Get Music on Tap Like Gas or Water" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlbXl81Rs0 Some aspects developed eventually into the Hammond Organ (ca. 1930) Monday, February 22, 2010 Precursors - The Theremin patented 1928 by Leon Theremin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o Two Antennae - pitch and loudness used in 1950s Sci-Fi Soundtracks The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRc6f2oVdlw Spellbound (Hitchcock, 1956) Modern Performance http://www.ted.com/talks/pamelia_kurstin_plays_the_theremin.html (start at 6:00) Monday, February 22, 2010 Precursors Optical Sound Track Manipulation Oskar Fischinger & Ornament Sound John & James Whitney Five Film Exercises john whitney five film exercises - Google Video whitney music box var. 0 - chromatic - 48 tines Norman McLaren norman mclaren pen point - Google Video norman mclaren neighbours - Google Video Monday, February 22, 2010 Musique Concrete Pierre Schaeffer b. 1910, Nancy, France) - Symphony Pour Un Homme Seule İlhan Mimaroğlu (b.1926, Istanbul) - Prelude #11 Hugh Lecaine - Dripsody Steve Reich -(b.1936, New York) - Come Out To Show Them Robert Normandeau - (b.1955, Quebec City) Cinema pour Oreilles Monday, February 22, 2010 Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Schaeffer b. 1910, Nancy, France) worked for ORTF in Paris “a concert of locomotives” - musical work based on train sounds aesthetic ancestor was Luigi Russolo and “The Art of Noise” Etude aux chemins de Fer (1948) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9pOq8u6-bA (scan chart in Schrader, p.12) Monday, February 22, 2010 “Pure” Electronic Music Karlheinz Stockhausen & The Cologne Studio Song of the Youths - (1955) Kontakt (1961) http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=aNt6a5xFOnE&feature=PlayList&p=BED586B72E4456F4&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=95 Louis & Bebe Barron - Forbidden Planet (1956) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8aIl03DTzg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIuc1_Qg4A8 Monday, February 22, 2010 Early Synthesizers Robert Moog & Wendy Carlos - The Moog Synthesizer Peter Zinovieff - The EMS Synthi A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtktHPCoYgw&feature=related Monday, February 22, 2010 History of Electronic Music 1960s - Robert Moog - Analog Synthesis Monday, February 22, 2010 History of Electronic Music 1960s - Analog Synthesis Walter Carlos - Switched-On Bach Monday, February 22, 2010 1950s - Digital Synthesis Max Mathews, Bell Labs (New York) Programming Languages - MUSIC I-V MUSIC I (1957) - single melodies only MUSIC II (1958) - Four Part Harmony fundamental Principle THE SAMPLING THEOREM - sound can be accurately represented by a series of numbers - sampling rate must be 2x highest frequency Monday, February 22, 2010 1950s - Digital Synthesis UNIT GENERATORS - re-usable software components that represent audio processes OSCILLATOR - produce a tone FILTER - eliminate a tone or range of tones Signal Flow Monday, February 22, 2010 1950s - Digital Synthesis UNIT GENERATORS - re-usable software components that represent audio processes .comment VibTone instrument: .comment Sine wave with sine wave vibrato .comment and LINSEG envelope. .prefix VT .scorecard pitch (4.00 12.00 octpitch 8.00) amp (0 32000 amplitude 20000) ta (0 1 sec .01) tdy (0 1 sec .1) vibr (.01 20 Hz 7) viba (.001 .06 octpitch .01) lfrac (0 1) .instrument float freq, ampi, vibri, vibai, phase, vibphase, lfraci; LINENS lstate; .start phase = vibphase = 0.; .note freq = sipitch(pitch); ampi = amp; vibri = sicps(vibr); vibai = freq*(frfacpitch(viba) - 1.); linset(ta,DUR,tdy,&lstate); lfraci = lfrac; Monday, February 22, 2010 1950s - Digital Synthesis Guttman, Silver Scale, Pitch Variations (1957) Pierce, Stochata (1959) - square waves Mathews, Masquerade (1963) Mathews, Speech Synthesis - Bicycle Built for Two J-C Risset, Audio Illusion - Endless Pitch Descent Monday, February 22, 2010 History of Electronic Music 1980s - return to Digital Synthesis FM Synthesis - Yamaha DX7 John Chowning, Stanford University patented 1975 licensed to Yamaha, 1983 Sampling Synthesis - EMU Emulator Monday, February 22, 2010 History of Electronic Music 1990s - Physical Modeling Synthesis Monday, February 22, 2010 What IS Physical Modelling? • computer sound synthesis based on physical theory of the vibrating object - string, reed & air column, membrane modes of vibration for a cylindrical air column computer model of vibrating drum head Monday, February 22, 2010 What IS Physical Modelling? • analogous to computer graphics modelling of physical structures to simulate realistic dynamical behaviour smoke synthesized with physical modelling (particle system) animated dinosaur moves realistically by careful simulation of physical structure Monday, February 22, 2010 What IS Physical Modelling? • colliding galaxies synthesized by John Dubinski, U. of T. Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics colliding galaxies Monday, February 22, 2010 JOS Proposed Clarinet Model (1986) from “Efficient Simulation of the Reed-Bore and Bow-String Mechanisms”, Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, The Hague, 1986 Monday, February 22, 2010.