Theo Burt: Composition Folio Teodore Burt PhD Te University of York Music Research Centre September 2 !2 2 Abstract " fo#io is presented consistin$ of seven computer%$enerated compositions. Many of the 'orks create and exp#ore relationships bet'een sound and video) reflectin$ a concern 'ith the mu#ti%moda# nature of perception& +n most of these compositions, materia# is structured by simp#e a#$orithmic processes. Tese processes are used to exp#ore relationships bet'een perception and co$nition, ho' the chan$in$ form of a 'ork over time revea#s the nature of a process to us, and ho' our understandin$ of that process a-ects our expectation and anticipation of future form& .ne 'ork in the fo#io takes the approach of transformin$ existin$ sound and ima$e& Tis process is used in an attempt to disrupt /musica# meanin$/ and other symbo#ic content encoded in the source materia#& 0hese compositions 'ere comp#eted bet'een 2 1 and 2 !2 and are presented chrono#o$ica##y) demonstratin$ the pro$ression of my ideas throu$hout this period& An accompanyin$ text discusses ideas relevant to the fo#io in $enera# and $ives a critica# commentary on each 'ork& Compositions inc#uded, Four) Colour Projections) Control Processes) Summer Mix) Colour Projections / set 2) Bastard Structures 2) Tiling Sessions& 2 Contents "ckno'#ed$ements 3 Dec#aration 3 ! +ntroductory notes 4 2 Summary of 'orks 5 2 Back$round !2 6 Methodo#o$y 22 3 7our 23 4 Co#our Pro8ections 22 5 Contro# Processes 62 9 Summer Mi( 69 1 Co#our Pro8ections : set 2 33 ! Bastard Structures 2 31 !! 0i#in$ Sessions 44 !2 Conc#usion and future 'ork 52 Resource ;ist 53 6 List of Figures 7i$ure !, <(amp#e of binary "udio 7re=uency%Shift ?ey @"7S?A pattern&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&24 7i$ure 2, A sti## from 7our sho'in$ the video output from the array of four panels.&&&&&&&&&&&&25 7i$ure 2, Mappin$ of regu#ar po#y$ons to audio 'aveforms in /Co#our Pro8ections'&&&&&&&&&&&&&26 7i$ure 6, Sti## from Co#our Pro8ections &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&29 7i$ure 3, Sti## from Co#our Pro8ections&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&21 7i$ure 4, Sti## from Co#our Pro8ections&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&6 7i$ure 5, Sti##s from sub-compositions in Contro# Processes&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&66 7i$ure 9, Tree sti##s from Bastard Structures II performed at Mi##er/s Yard) York&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&4 7i$ure 1, <(amp#es of simp#e isometric shapes defined over a trian$u#ated isometric $rid&&45 List of Tables 0ab#e !, Mappin$ of #ist numbers to duration of 'aveform osci##ation in 7our&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&24 3 Acknowledgements 0hanks to 0ony Myatt) Peter Corth and 0im Cri$ht for count#ess hours of discussions, advice) ideas, opportunities, co##aborations, ar$uments and patience over the #ast four years and more& Tanks a#so to Mark 7el#) Russel# Daswel#) Roc EiméneG de Cisneros, "##on ?aye and Anna Ramos for advice) support and friendship& And to my parents and brother for everythin$& Declaration "## compositions 'ithin this fo#io are entirely my o'n 'ork) 'ith the exception of Bastard Structures 2 'hich is a co##aboration 'ith artist 0im Cri$ht& "## accompanyin$ text is my o'n 'ork and has not been presented before. 4 1 Introductory notes Tis fo#io contains ei$ht compositions. Tis document 'i## present relevant back$round information and a brief commentary on each piece& +n section 2 I present a summary of the 'orks 'ithin the fo#io& P#ease read this before #istenin$ or 'atchin$ any of them) as it contains important information about their presentation& Cith some of the 'orks it is appropriate to read the commentary Brst) and in other cases it is beneficia# to experience the 'ork before readin$ about it& +n section 2 I discuss issues that are relevant to the 'ork in the fo#io& Tis inc#udes brief discussions of mu#ti%sensory perception) simu#taneous sound and video) aesthetic imp#ications of contemporary sound and video techno#o$y and process in art and music& +n section 6 I present a methodo#o$ica# overvie' of the process by 'hich I arrived at this fo#io of compositions, in terms of theory) experimenta# practise) self%reflection) expert opinion and performance& +n sections 3 to !! I present commentaries for each piece in the fo#io& Tese are presented in chrono#o$ica# order 'ith respect to the comp#etion of each 'ork& +n each commentary I discuss my ideas and thou$hts prior to comp#etin$ the piece) describe the practica# creation of the 'ork) and discuss relevant aesthetic issues. Te exact structure I use varies 'ith each composition& +n section !2 I present a conc#usion) in the form of a brief summary of the fo#io and the relationships bet'een the 'orks presented& I a#so detai# some current and future pro8ects and their relationship to the 'ork presented here& Trou$hout the commentaries I discuss the a#$orithms at 'ork) but I have chosen not to elaborate on their so>'are imp#ementation& Hevertheless, much of the time spent developin$ the compositions 'as necessari#y spent 'ritin$ the so>'are& Te 'ord /composition/ is often ambi$uous. 0o avoid ambi$uities as much as possib#e I have arbitrari#y chosen to use it in the remainder of the text on#y in relation to tempora# structure& Dence) as a verb) to compose) I use it to mean the act of determinin$ the structure of materia# over time& "s a noun) composition, I use it to refer to some existin$ structure) 'ith respect to time& Trou$hout the text + use the 'ord /music/ on#y to refer to features of sound that mi$ht cu#tura##y or traditiona##y be considered /musica#/& 5 2 Summary of works Tis sections provides a summary of 'orks submitted in the fo#io) 'ith references to the relevant B#es inc#uded on the accompanyin$ DID%R& +t a#so provides some information on #istenin$ to and vie'in$ the 'ork& Notes on listening to and viewing the works Tere are some 'orks in this fo#io) 'here it may be more interestin$ to see the 'ork before readin$ its associated commentary) and in some cases the reverse is true& +f this is the situation I note it belo') in the summary for each 'ork& Because of the simp#e synthesis methods used in many of the pieces, none of them suit p#ayback over headphones or earphones. Most contain #o'%fre=uencies 'hich may be comp#etely inaudib#e p#ayed back over sma##er speakers, such as #aptop speakers. P#ease use $ood =ua#ity monitor speakers that have a fu## and ba#anced fre=uency ran$e& Te video B#es inc#uded fa## into t'o categories. Te ma8ority are direct recordin$s from the computer& Tis is the type of video materia# that is fed direct#y to a pro8ector in a performance or insta##ation situation& "## the video 'orks are intended for p#ayback on #ar$e pro8ected surfaces, and have been composed in this situation& +f this is not a possibi#ity durin$ the vie'in$ process, then p#ease try to use as #ar$e a screen as possib#e& Te t'o video B#es 'hich do not fa## into this category are in the form of video documentation of an insta##ation and performance& Tese are relatively #o'%=ua#ity @#imited by #i$htin$ conditions etc&A) but as documentation are more robust to vie'in$ and #istenin$ conditions than the direct recordin$s. 7ina##y in Summer Mix there are some ima$es inc#uded) 'hich are best vie'ed di$ita##y) rather than printed& "## audio%on#y data is provided in !4%bit) 66 ! DG) stereo C"I format) and can be p#ayed back on any standard media%p#ayer or editor& Iideo B#es are a## in .mov and .mp4 formats. Tey have been tested for p#ayback 'ith !C Media Player 2.#.$ and %pple &uic'Time (#.2( 2. Do'ever) they shou#d 'ork on any recent versions of these p#ayers. &uic'Time is much preferred) as it represents co#ours more consistent#y bet'een formats, and 'i## not distort sound& !C has a tendency to sho' videos 'ith a reduced dynamic ! !C Media Pla"er& 2 QuickTime& 9 ran$e) and bad#y decodes some audio formats. P#ease copy data B#es from the DID%R to disc before #istenin$ or vie'in$& "s 'el# as bein$ =uieter from a hard drive) some of the data%rates in the #ar$er video B#es may be too hi$h to stream direct#y from disc) 'hich 'i## resu#t in 8itterin$& Four 2 1& +nsta##ation 'ork& 6 channel di$ita#%audio) di$ita#%video pro8ected on to 6 7oamex boards. DVD-R Files: 1.Four/Four.mov @!6,33s) Four. Main documentation& Direct sound and video recordin$ of the entire 'ork& 1.Four/Four_Dean_Clough_(excerpts).mp4 @!2,!9s) Four. ;ive foota$e from insta##ation at Room Mode exhibition @excerpts)& Iiaduct Teatre) Dean C#ou$h) Da#ifa() 7ebruary 2 ! & Curator, Iic "##en These excerpts are provided to give an impression o* t+e installed ,or'. 1.Four/Four_Dean_Clough_1.ti!" ..._2.ti!" …_3.ti! Four. Tree photo$raphs of insta##ation at Room Mode exhibition& Iiaduct Teatre) Dean C#ou$h) Da#ifa() U?& 7ebruary 2 ! & Curator, Iic "##en Colour Projections 2 1 J & Performance : +nsta##ation : Screenin$ 'ork& 2 channel di$ita#%audio) pro8ected di$ita#%video& !isten/view -efore reading commentar".