DJ's lumbering large amounts of vinyls and CD's to every gig is becoming a thing of the past. With the advances in technology, all they'll need is their laptop and the appropriate software. Suggesting there is a bright future for computer generated music in live performance. Researching into this topic IRCAM, the Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music. It is one of the world’s largest public research centers dedicated to both musical expression and scientific research. It has three principle activities; creation, research, transmission. IRCAM provides the platform for composers and artists from the contemporary stage and it supports contemporary composition. As I research IRCAM it is becoming very apparent that its on the cutting edge of scientific and technological innovations. It's dedication to research, carried out on young people through universities and through international, it ensures they are aiming to please a wide field and the future generation. ICRAM cover a range of scientific disciplines including signal processing, acoustics, computer science (languages, real-time, databases, man-machine interfaces) musicology, and musical cognition. IRCAM also cover other disciplines, such as live performance, fine arts, multimedia. There has been various projects, including multi-disciplinary projects. I'm familiar with this project as last year I was involved in an interdisciplinary project in my course last year. I worked with theatre students and photography students. In our performance I had to queue the music, I had composed at allocated times, with a powerpoint, during the performance. This I feel is an example of how computer generated music in live performance is continuing to progress. Another example of the future of computer generated music in live performances is the revolution of VJ sets. Pete Moraite creates VJ sets, [1] ...I’ve often been asked “well, what do you do?” to which I usually found a sense of pressure to respond with something which people can equate to some sort of profession. So I’ve said things like : “I’m a designer” “I’m a graphic designer” “I’m a motion graphics designer” “I’m an designer, I make animated motion graphics”…
This is an example of a VJ Set - COLOR
Overall it is clear what the future holds for computer generated music in live performances. Live performance is a key outlet for music. The popularity of computer generated music will only increase the demand for computer generated music in live performance. As l [1]http://www.petemoraites.com/vj_sets.shtml
[1] Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.The conventional system uses a five-line stave, generally beginning with a clef, which indicates the position of one particular note on the line. Pitch is shown by placement of notes on the staff and the length of the notes are shown with different note values and dots and ties. Notation is read from left to right. This method of interpreting music has been used for hundreds of years, by different musicians of all genres, and proves to be the most popular form of notation.As technology advances, new innovation lead to life altering changes. There is now programs which you can use to score music you have composed, for example Sibelius, a program I used at A-level.
Notation for electronic music has still not been standardised, but generally uses traditional reference symbols. Staff and clef signs are used in conjunction with specially adapted pitch and rhythm notation.
Here is an example of notation for Gesang der Jünglinge by Karlheinz Stockhausen
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Karlheinz Stockhausen founded the concept of harmonizing sung tones with electronically generated tones. At certain points in the composition, the sung tones are understood as words; at other points, they have only the value of sounds. Between these extremes are reached different levels of word-related clarity.
Edgard Varesewas a French-born composer, who moved to the United States. Varese spent his first few years promoting his vision of new electronic music instruments, conducting orchestras, and founding the New Symphony Orchestra. [3] For the 1958 World Fair in Brussels the architect Le Corbusier commissioned composer Edgard Varese to create what would today be called an immersive sound installation for the Philips Pavilion Le Corbusier was creating. Resulting in the production of Poeme Electronique
Edgard Varese - Poeme Electronique
This is a score of Poeme Electronique
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Due to the technology to create Poeme Electronique was not available to Varsese until the time he composed Poeme Electronique, he realised his vision that he had persued from early in his career using more conventional instruments. [3] When early electronic instruments became available, Varèse was quick to use it towards his goal of "organized sound." These works from the twenties and thirties often anticipated methodologies and aesthetics that would be idiomatic to tape music.
Edgard Varese’s was fascinated and involved with the thriving New York jazz world, prior to the composition of Poème Électronique. Varese worked a series of jam sessions with some of the leading jazz musicians. One of the attendees was John Cage, an important man of electronic music notation.
John Cage the avant-garde composer, also pioneer of electronic music, chance music and utilized non-standard use of musical instruments. Critics have Cage one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. When Cage began composing percussion music and music for modern dance, he used a technique that placed the rhythmic structure of the piece into the foreground. John Cage's revolution was insightful. His piano piece 4'33" is an example of his expression of his philosophy through music. In the piece the pianist does not make a sound at the instrument. Cage's ideas has no need to 'lecture' about them, he presents them and let's their own strength carry.
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Sonata lll takes the form of AABB, it is 8½ bars long. A part is 1 bar long and B part is 3¼. Cage's Sonata pieces were cast in the form of early classical keyboard sonatas and most of them followed the standard AABB structure.
Jean-Baptiste Barrière composed the piece Chréode, in reference to my previous blog What does the future hold for computer generated music in live performance"? I spoke about IRCAM, the Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music. The piece Chréode was created with the CHANT program at IRCAM, using sound synthesis. Chréode is dedicated to the CHANT/FORMES programs.
After researching into the field of electronic music and the notation used it is clear that each musician has their own interpretation of how electronic music should be scored. Composers such as John Cage concentrate on the mathematical way of scoring, whereas composers such as
Edgard Varese, he created imaginative scores. I have found electronic music notation very complex and relative to the composer. In comparison to c
onventional music notation, which is very structured and standardised.
