W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 5-2017 A Spectralist Approach to the Vibrations of the Universe Kevin M. Kay College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Part of the Composition Commons, Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory Commons, and the Music Theory Commons Recommended Citation Kay, Kevin M., "A Spectralist Approach to the Vibrations of the Universe" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 1074. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1074 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Spectralist Approach to the Vibrations of the Universe A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Science from the College of William and Mary in Virginia by Kevin M. Kay Accepted for (Honors, High Honors, Highest Honors) Sophia Serghi Brian Hulse Eugene Tracy Williamsburg, Virginia April 24, 2017 Kevin Michael Kay Subatomic Vibrations for septet and live processing Technical Notes: This is a score in C. Piccolo sounds an octave higher than written. Instrumentation: Flute/Picc. B Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Altob Saxophone Violin Cello Piano Percussion tom tom (Drum sticks or hard mallets) bass drum (bass drum mallets and rubber mallet head) tam tam, triangle, wood block (drum stick or hard mallet), maracas, glockenspiel (hard mallets), crotales (Hard mallets) cello bow Program Notes: I have a desire to capture the natural and physical world around me and create specific aural experiences. Subatomic vibrations was created from this motivation, but had a specific purpose - to hear what nothing can. In this piece, I gathered together a soundworld made up of the frequencies of subatomic particles (fermions and bosons). These frequencies were calculated using the Compton-Wavelength Equation (λ = h/(mc)) where λ is the wavelength, h is the Planck constant, m is the rest mass of the particle, and c is the speed of light. Using the equation c = vλ, where v is the frequency, an equation could be derived that calculates the frequency of a particle using its rest mass (v = (mc^2)/h). The frequencies were then scaled down many, many octaves to place the pitches in our human aural range. String theory also played its role in this piece. I treated particles as bound strings, allowing each pitch associated with each particle to be thought of as a fundamental pitch, capable of vibrating at all possible harmonics. Physics lets me explore how objects in our natural and physical world create and permeate sound, and from this information, art is made. Extended techniques: Woodwinds - Clack keys (alternate right and left hand). Feathered beaming is used to show quickening and slowing of notes. Play the indicated note faster and faster. strings and percussion - Begin tremolo very slowly, then increase speed to a rapid tremolo. This can be reversed too. Glissandi, (harmonic glissandi or regular glissandi) over complicated durations will include noteless stems to help indicate duration. (do not re-articulate for each noteless stem - Always slur the entire glissando). In a passage like this, the glissandi happen right off of the note. There is no need for noteless stems to indicate duration. A triangle notehead indicates an undetermined high pitch. Piano extended techniques: hit two of the wood beams inside the piano with the Touch the string inside the palms of your hands piano corresponding to the (Alternate right and left). note being played. the sustain pedal The further from the line from should be pressed the note, the further down the during this. piano on the string. The pianist is not asked to make any preparations in the instrument. The pianist is also not asked to play specific harmonics that would require markings on the strings. Microtonality: L l # - 100 cents sharp µ 50 cents sharp If two musicians are playing lower the pitch Raise the Pitch the same microtonal pitch, K ~25 cents k ~25 cents - 100 cents flat 50 cents flat it is noted who to tune to. b B J j Live Processing Each Instrument should have a microphone set up in front of them. For percussion, keep the microphone in front of the wood block and maracas. The signals from the 8 microphones will be routed to a laptop where someone will command a max Patch. Playback from the laptop will be routed to stereo speakers, placed on the left and right sides of the stage. -The max patch will contain settings for each instrument (the list of settings are shown below). -live processing effects for each instrument are notated in the score for the person running the max patch. Reverb (baseline setting, increased setting) Granulation (low and High density settings on a slider) Delay (setting 1 and setting 2) -Setting 1: Fast occurrence of delays, lasts ~3 seconds -Setting 2: One delay, begins after ~3 seconds Pitch shift for harmonics (settings 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) -Each setting adds the pitch of the harmonic assigned to that setting number (e.g. Setting 7 adds the 7th harmonic of the natural harmonic series to whatever note is being played). The 3 is not shifted any octaves, 5, 7 and 9 are shifted down 1 octave, and 11 is shifted down 2 octaves. Kevin Michael Kay Subatomic Vibrations © Kevin Michael Kay 2016-2017 ≈ 8" q = 60 rit. a tempo Baseline Reverb ON U Flute 4 ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ Ó Œ & 4 ≈nœ. Baseline Reverb ON tune to Vc. π 3 Clarinet in B U b 4 ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ Œ j & 4 Kœ ˙. w Baseline Reverb ON tune to Vc. π 3 U Alto Sax 4 ∑ ∑ ∑ Ó Œ Œ j Œ Ó & 4 Kœ w w w œ ‰ > π Baseline Reverb ON Í tom-tom P wood block 3 3 Percussion 4 y ‰ Œ Ó Ó Œ ‰ ‰ y Ó Œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ ≈ Œ Ó ã 4 > ∑ ∑ > ∑ ∑ ƒ ƒ p f Baseline Reverb ON U & 4 ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ Piano ƒ ƒ 3 U ? 4 Œ Ó ∑ ∑ Ó Œ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ œ ‰ ‰ ‰ œ + + loco Baseline◊ Reverb ON arco ° sul tasto ◊ to sul pont. sul pont. to ord. ord. * pizz. tune to Vc. 6 Violin 4 & 4 K ‰ Œ Ó ∑ K œ nw w œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ w w w Baseline fReverb ON p F pto sul pont. sul pont. to ord. ord. W boson sul tasto Kw Uw w w ˙ œ Kœ œ œ œ œ œ w w w Cello ? 4 4 6 p Í F p Subatomic Vibrations tune to Vc. 9 Fl. > & 43 4 w w w œ ‰ Œ Ó ∑ ∑ œ œ K˙ w œ ‰ ‰Kœ œ œ ˙. P π Delayf 1 ON DelayP 1 OFF p π 3 B Cl. y y y y b Œ 3 4 y y y y ‰ ‰µ . ‰ Ó & w œ œ ‰ ≈Kœ. w 4 ˙. 4 œ ˙ w w œ œ P n π π P π f f F 3 5 A. Sx. Œ Œ j 3 4 Œ Ó Ó & Kœ ˙ w w 4 ˙. 4 Kw w w œ ‰ ≈ ≈ œ. œ w > P maracasf P p π π 9 Perc. 3 4 )æ æ) ã ∑ ∑ ∑ 4 ∑ 4 n ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ f Delay 1 ON Delay 1 OFF 9 √ œ œ œ œ #œ 3 4 #œ œ nœ ≈≈≈ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ∑ ∑ ≈ œ ≈ œ ≈ 5 Œ ∑ & 4 4 5 6 Pno. n P f ? ∑ ∑ ∑ 43 ∑ 4 ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ° to sul pont. sul pont. to ord. ord. 9 6 6 Vln. & 43 4 µ˙. w w w ˙ œ nœ K˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ Kw w w w œ > F P P Z boson to sul pont. sulf pont. to ord. Pord. f P o I. w ˙ œ. œ œ w ˙ œ œo œo œo œo œo w> w w w œ K˙. w Vc. ? 3 4 5 4 6 4 6 P π P f P f P F P 7 Subatomic Vibrations Reverb increase Reverb increase piccolo ON OFF to piccolo 19 œ w Fl. y y y y ‰. & ∑ y y y y ∑ ∑ Ó Œ Reverb increase Reverb increase Í ON p f OFF tune to A. Sx. B Cl. y y y y K b ∑ y y y y ∑ ∑ ∑ Ó Œ Œ œ & 3 J p f π A. Sx. Œ Ó Ó ≈ ≈Kœ. œ w w & w w œ ‰ 5 π π f f rubber mallet head 19 on bass drum Perc. w Ó Œ ‰. y ã ∑ ∑ ∑ > ∑ p f √ ƒ 19 œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ aœ Nœ œ #œ œ œ œ œ aœ nœ œ #œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ aœœ nœœ ≈ #œ œ œ œ≈ œ≈ œ Nœ œœ ∑ ∑ ≈ œ œ ≈ 6 œ ≈ œ 6 6 ≈œ œ ∑ & #œ 6 5 6 5 5 #œ aœ Nœ 5 5 œ œ œ œ Pno. P F P p 6 6 ? ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ œœ#œ nœœ ∑ f ƒ * ° to molto sul pont. molto sul pont. ord. 19 tune to A. Sx. Vln. Ó Œ Œ Kœ & w w w w œ œ œ œ œ 3 J f p ƒ to molto sul pont. molto sul pont. pord. tune to A. Sx. w w w w œ œ œ œ œ Kœ Vc. ? Ó Œ Œ 3 J f p ƒ p 8 Subatomic Vibrations to flute flute 25 L w ˙. œ w- w w œ w Picc. ‰ ‰ & 45 ∑ 4 45 Œ Ó Œ 4 f π p f S w- w w œ B Cl.