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Keller, Damian.
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© 2000 ISAST LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 10, pp. 55–60, 2000 55
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S logically feasible parameter ranges and variables are observed. That is, the sig- bitrary amplitude envelopes do not en-
& should take into account the interaction nificant unit of observation is the event gender perceptually meaningful trans-
M between an active individual and an ever- defined by ecologically meaningful formations. The concept of the ecologi-
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A changing environment, which deter- boundaries. As we will see below in the cally feasible event is necessary both
N mines a process of pattern formation. section on compositional methods, the from an epistemological and a practical
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C.F. Michaels and C. Carello argue concept of the event in ecologically point of view. For composers concerned
that time is directly related to the infor- based composition has a direct impact with sonic structure, their material
mational structure of the stimulus: on the organization of temporal layers shapes the techniques they use and
and on pattern-formation processes. these techniques serve as tools to gener-
Time is not chopped into an arbitrary
succession of nows, but is organized ate new material.
into naturally occurring events of vary- Traditional music theory chooses to
ing duration. . . . If time is viewed as an
MUSICAL STRUCTURE work with a unit that maps easily onto
abstraction from change we might as VERSUS EVERYDAY SOUND? Western music notation, i.e. the note.
well question the value of that abstrac-
From the discussion above we can infer Unfortunately, sound organization by
tion. After all, change itself (events in
space-time) is of interest to a behaving that a musical work is shaped by the per- means of algorithmic tools, or percep-
animal, not absolute time. . . . The no- ceptual processes involved in listening, tual processes triggered by musical
tion of absolute time is given up in fa- though at the same time it modifies the stimuli, do not necessarily correspond to
vor of space-time on the belief that per- individual’s perception of music and en- discrete, invariant signs on a musical
ceivers do not perceive space and time,
but events in space-time [18]. vironment. Therefore, a useful repre- staff. Models that use spectral and micro-
sentation of musical structure has to temporal information [20] can be orga-
Against the assumption of absolute tackle both perceptual and social issues. nized in units that map onto higher lev-
time as separate from actually occurring Compositional processes involve sev- els of musical structure. This approach
events, I have developed compositional eral levels of organization. Parsing the could eventually lead to a more flexible
models that parse time into event-de- sound material at the level of the note is representation of musical sound models.
pendent chunks [19]. This creates a sys- not appropriate for the complex micro- Composers concerned with perceptual
tem that is reconfigured whenever it and meso-structure of everyday sound. issues, such as T. Murail and G. Grisey,
finds new information. Change acquires At the other extreme, independent pa- have written and experimented with vari-
a new meaning: it is not simply the fluc- rameters such as frequency (within the ous spectral and temporal configura-
tuation of variables; it dictates how these context of Fourier-based models) or ar- tions, applying spectral models both to
instrumental writing and electronic
sound. The use of consistent strategies to
Fig. 1. touch’n’go/toco y me voy, text-and-tape piece published as an enhanced CD, 1999. organize spectral material and macro-
(Graphic design: Tanya Petreman. Photo: Andrew Czink. © earsay productions.)
temporal structures addresses a key prob-
lem in late twentieth-century composi-
tion, namely, the lack of meaningful
units to manipulate musical structures.
Authors in related fields have em-
braced the idea that a dissection of com-
plex auditory stimuli qualitatively
changes the underlying perceptual pro-
cesses [21,22]. Thus, various alternatives
have been devised to overcome the limi-
tations of atomistic approaches. Broadly
speaking, they are: (1) experimental aes-
thetics, which studies the social factors
governing aesthetic trends [23]; (2)
acoustic communication, which concen-
trates on the compositional use of envi-
ronmental sound within specific cul-
tural contexts [24]; (3) cognitive
approaches that study perception from a
functional and information-based per-
spective [25]; and (4) ecological acous-
tics, which focuses on auditory percep-
tion within a Gibsonian paradigm [26].
Cultural context and social dynamics
are a rich source of data for music mod-
els. Linking an acoustic sound structure
to the music pattern-formation pro-
cesses within a given cultural context of-
fers a broader perspective than that pro-
vided by traditional music theory. In this
light, the assumption of a “universal mu-
sical language,” implicit in most cogni-
Section English title Spanish title CD tracks at each bifurcation. The road chosen be- M
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1 Pandemonium Pandemonio 1,8,14 comes the traveler’s reality, and all other A
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2 Realpolitik En Vías de Desarrollo 2 potential futures are lost. S
3 Action to Be Taken ¡Qué Quemo! 3 This idea is not explicitly explored in
4 Farewell, Welfare La Partida 4 any section of touch’n’go but permeates
5 Let Me See . . . How Can I Word It? Palabras 5,7 the structure of the music and the text.
6 Least, but not Last Todo Pasa 6 The form of the piece is created as the
7 A Waltz in a Ball Como Bola sin Manija 9 listener/reader “walks” through its sec-
8 sCRATch El Escrache 10 tions. The path can be laid out by using
9 Coin a Name (Me) Río de la Plata 11 the shuffle mode on a CD player or it
10 Spill, Spiel, Spoil No al Derramamiento 12
can be set by the user while listening to
11 Vox Populi Vox Populi 13
the tracks.
tive literature on music [27], can only explored through its hypertext links Text
be grounded in a nineteenth-century (Fig. 1). In each musical section of touch’n’go, short
aesthetic perspective. I propose, how- I chose the enhanced CD format for literary texts complement or develop the
ever, that the processes involved in our the commercial release of touch’n’go ideas presented in the music (Fig. 2). This
perception of sound structure can be based on the formal layout of the piece. format can be seen as an extension of the
applied to musical composition with en- Touch’n’go can be heard as a linearly traditional program notes. Nevertheless,
vironmental sounds as well. In other composed piece, or it can be explored the hypertext presentation opens up a
words, models of musical structure through randomly chosen paths. The more complex interlocking of meanings.
should also deal with sources outside the piece comprises 11 self-contained sec- For example, the words chosen as
instrumental palette. From an ecologi- tions, each of which stand as indepen- hypertext links suggest a specific relation-
cal perspective, this implies a shift in fo- dent compositions. The CD is divided ship with the text to which they lead. Simi-
cus from abstract representations to into 14 tracks. Each track corresponds to larly, the unfolding of text establishes a
sound structures constrained by the in- one section, with the exceptions of Pan- dynamic form of poetry that is hard to at-
teraction of the individual with the envi- demonium—separated into three tracks— tain on plain paper (e.g. Coin a Name,
ronment. To implement this epistemo- and Let Me See . . . How Can I Word It?, sCRATch). Most importantly, the explora-
logical turn, concepts such as which has two parts (see Table 1). Its tion of the text becomes a time-based pro-
individual-environment co-determina- structure is based on Jorge Luis Borges’s cess similar in form and dynamics to the
tion, pattern-formation process, finite [28] 1956 short story The Garden of the form-creation process one realizes by lis-
time event and ecological validity need Forking Paths. In this story, Borges de- tening to the piece.
to be incorporated into our day-to-day
compositional activity.
Fig. 2. There are texts in English and Spanish for each section of touch’n’go/toco y me voy,
The following section focuses on the
1999. Texts are formatted in HTML.
impact of ecological concepts on the
compositional techniques I used to cre-
ate my text-and-tape piece touch’n’go/toco
y me voy. First, I explain how ecological
models extend the palette of sound re-
synthesis and transformational methods
in composition. Then I explore further
the concept of the ecologically feasible
sound event. A discussion of source
placement and spatial consistency
rounds out the section.
COMPOSITIONAL PROCESSES
IN TOUCH’N’GO/TOCO Y ME VOY
touch’n’go/toco y me voy (1998–1999) is a
piece for eight-channel computer-gener-
ated tape and hypertext. Depending on
the venue, touch’n’go has been played as
a tape solo piece with an eight-speaker
diffusion system, as a stereo piece with
hypertext markup language (HTML)
and as a live performance work for actor
and tape. In its live version, the text can
be interpreted by one bilingual actor or
by two actors who share the Spanish and
English texts. As a WWW page, it can be
sample as source material. This sample is The key contribution of the ecological spaces created depended on the limits &
“walked” by two pointers at different models to this piece is the organization of of our auditory system in discriminating M
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rates, producing an ever-rising or ever- spectrally complex samples into feasible sounds coming from different reverber- A
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falling sound, depending on the param- meso-temporal patterns. Furthermore, ant spaces. The other method I utilized S
eters input to the model. These param- the consistency among meso and macro for virtual sound placement is phase-
eters are randomly generated within levels unveils new properties resulting controlled granulation. This type of pro-
dynamically changing ranges. The sound from the interaction of these levels. For cessing increases the volume of the
produced is akin to a combination of example, the rising pitch produced by source sound, as defined by Truax [43],
Shepard tones with self-similar events two bottles bouncing against each other by superimposing several granulated
that occur at ever-expanding time spans. results from amplitude modulation of the versions of the processed sound. If the
Although Farewell, Welfare does not make accelerating, resonant glass impacts [38]. phase-delay among these streams is kept
use of everyday sound models, it ex- Likewise, the wind-like sound of high- constant, the effect is akin to the reflec-
plores a sound space generated by a syn- density water-drop textures is produced tions produced by a reverberant space.
thetic instrument consistently with the by the overlap of granular decays, which The number of “reflections” is roughly
methods employed in other sections. are heard as slowly varying formants [39]. proportional to the number of streams.
Specifically, sound results from the inter- As used here, the method is somewhat The “structured rain” in least, but not last
action of an excitation process with a similar to formant wave function (FOF) was produced using these techniques.
resonant system. Here the system does synthesis [40]. Ecological consistency guided my or-
not represent a real-world model, but its At the basis of the ecological models I ganization of the eight-channel diffusion
behavior produces a sonic result consis- use lies a set of constrained random al- of the piece. I used Harmonic Functions’
tent with the concept and the algorith- gorithms that generate constantly vary- DM8 computer-controlled diffusion sys-
mic structure of the piece. ing parameters within predetermined tem [44]. Actions that suggest move-
The model I developed for Vox Populi ranges. The constraints applied approxi- ment, such as breaking, rolling or scrap-
uses a small pool of conch shell sound mate the range of variation in environ- ing, were diffused through dynamically
samples. These samples have a har- mental sound classes. I obtained ranges changing patterns. I gave environmental
monic spectrum with some noise con- of parameter variation by synthesizing background sounds produced by static
tent. When combined randomly, they hundreds of instances of each sound sources—e.g. water and distant horns—
approximate the behavior of choir-like model and comparing the aural results wide diffusion settings and very little or
formants [36]. These formants result to various examples of recorded sounds. no movement. I treated the human voice
from the interaction of the samples at a I further tested the recognizability of re- as a single source by placing it on a ste-
meso level. Thus, the effect at the macro synthesized sounds through an informal reo field. The circular speaker layout al-
level is qualitatively different from the listening sessions with both musicians lowed me to explore a variety of sound
characteristics of the source sounds. and non-musicians. trajectories: front-to-back, back-to-front,
A similar phenomenon can be ob- Ecological models produce statisti- diagonal and side-to-side movement.
served in the “structured rain” material in cally constrained sound classes instead This disposition disrupted the hierarchy
least, but not last, which makes use of a of a single deterministic sound. As sim- of front as the only important reference
three-stage process to generate this plistic as it may seem, this is what allows and kept the audience constantly sur-
sound. First, I produced several types of algorithmic models to simulate the be- rounded by consistently placed sources.
drop sounds using convolution. Convolu- havior of ever-changing environmental
tion consists of applying the spectral dy- sonic worlds. No sound in the environ-
namics of a source sound to those of a tar- ment exists twice in the same configura- CONCLUSION
get sound [37]. I then organized the tion. Therefore, no sound in an ecologi- Ecologically based composition makes
drops as constrained random meso-level cally based piece should be literally use of everyday sound models that are
events. Finally, I distributed the meso repeated. By the same token, each real- constrained to perceptually meaningful
events in a slightly irregular rhythmic pat- ization of the piece is unique in its mi- parameter ranges. Complementarily, it
tern by employing a slowly evolving dy- cro- and meso-level characteristics [41]. provides references to the social context
namic process. The result was a sound In touch’n’go, all sounds “live” in fea- in which the music is created. The char-
that resembled wind and rain with metal- sible spaces. I used two methods for acteristics of the source material inform
lic reverberations in the background. placing events within a virtual acoustic the development of techniques for re-
Least, but not last makes use of two con- field: convolution of granular samples synthesis and transformation of environ-
trasting spaces—metaphorically speak- and control of phase synchronicity mental sounds. My synthesis methods
ing, the space of the living and the space among granular streams [42]. A convo- make use of ecologically feasible time
of the dead. I produced the first space by lution-designed grain consists of an eco- patterns and finite sound events. Thus,
mixing a recording of a big, open build- logically meaningful short sound, such both materials and formal processes are
ing; the enclosed space was created as a water drop or a bubble, which is closely related to the listener’s experi-
through convolution of granular samples. convolved with the impulse response of ence within a specific sound environ-
The sound event as a basic musical unit a cavern or any other reverberant space. ment. Given that the sonic environment
is the driving principle of the synthesis When distributing these grains as meso- and the listener are engaged in a pro-
and organization of material in touch’n’go. level time patterns, the result is a stream cess of mutual determination, ecologi-
No sound in this piece includes an eco- of events that occurs within the space cally based composition provides us with
logically impossible attack or decay. Exci- defined by the impulse response used; tools to shape the sounds that surround
tations arise from using grains extracted for example, bubbles inside a cavern. us and to change the way we perceive
from real-world sounds: water drops, Given that I could use several types of these sounds.
9. R.M. Schafer, The Tuning of the World (New York: 35. K. Karplus and A. Strong, “Digital Synthesis of granular phase synchronicity, or phase-controlled
Knopf, 1977). Plucked-String and Drum Timbres,” Computer Music granulation—a technique developed by Keller and
Journal 7, No. 2, 43–55 (1983). Rolfe (1998) [45] that uses the phase among grain
10. B. Truax, “Composing with Time-Shifted Envi- streams as a synthesis parameter.
ronmental Sound,” Leonardo Music Journal 2 (1992) 36. D. Keller and C. Rolfe, “The Corner Effect,” Pro-
pp. 37–40. ceedings of the XIIth Colloquium of Musical Informatics parsing (or segregation)—the process of separating
(Gorizia, Italy, 1998); X. Rodet, “Time-Domain sound events from the constant flow of auditory
11. H. Westerkamp, Transformations, empreintes stimuli. From a compositional perspective, parsing
Formant Wave Function Synthesis,” Computer Music
DIGITALes Compact Disc (Montreal, 1996). is defined as the process of selecting sounds that
Journal 8, No. 3, 9–14 (1984); B. Truax, “Discover-
ing Inner Complexity: Time Shifting and Transpo- fulfill ecological constraints.
12. B. Truax, “Soundscape, Acoustic Communica-
tion and Environmental Sound Composition,” Con- sition with a Real-Time Granulation Technique,”
pattern formation—refers to the emergence of
temporary Music Review 15, No. 1, 47–63 (1996). Computer Music Journal 18, No. 2, 8–48 (1994).
higher-level forms or behaviors from the interac-
37. C. Roads, “Sound Transformation by Convolu- tion of two or more systems. From a biological per-
13. J.J. Gibson, The Senses Considered as Perceptual Sys- spective, Varela et al. [46] define it as the process of
tems (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1966). tion,” in C. Roads, S. T. Pope, A. Piccialli and G. De
Poli, eds., Musical Signal Processing (Lisse: Swets & mutual adaptation between the individual and the
14. W.H. Warren and R.R. Verbrugge, “Auditory Zeitlinger, 1997) pp. 411–438. environment.
Perception of Breaking and Bouncing Events: A macro-time—level of sound structure composed of
Case Study in Ecological Acoustics,” Journal of Ex- 38. D. Keller and B. Truax, “Ecologically Based
Granular Synthesis,” Proceedings of the International several events. Forms of organization at this level
perimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor-
Computer Music Conference (Ann Arbor, MI: ICMA, usually result from interactions among lower-level
mance 10 (1984) pp. 704–712. processes.
1998); <http://www.sfu.ca/~dkeller>.
15. W.H. Warren, E.E. Kim and R. Husney, “The
39. Keller and Rolfe [36]. meso-time—level of sound structure ranging from
Way the Ball Bounces: Visual and Auditory Percep-
a few grains (centiseconds) to several seconds. Most
tion of Elasticity and Control of the Bounce Pass,” 40. Rodet [36]. ecologically feasible events can be resynthesized by
Perception 16 (1987) pp. 309–336.
using meso-time patterns.
41. D. Keller, “. . . soretes de punta,” in Compact Disc
16. D.P.W. Ellis, Prediction-Driven Computational Au-
Harangue II, earsay productions (Burnaby, BC, micro-time—level of sound structure lasting be-
ditory Scene Analysis, Ph.D. thesis (Cambridge, MA: 1998); <http://www.earsay.com>. tween a few nanoseconds to a few milliseconds.
MIT Press, 1996); see also Bregman [5].
42. Keller [19]. soundscape—a term coined by composer R.M.
17. Michaels and Carello [2] p. 9.
Schafer [47] to describe the acoustic environment.
43. Truax [36].
18. Michaels and Carello [2] p. 13. spectral—related to the spectrum of a sound, i.e. its
44. Harmonic Functions is the company that manu- frequency content.
19. D. Keller, touch’n’go: Ecological Models in Composi-
factures the DM8 system. See C. Rolfe, DM8 Auto-
tion, master of fine arts thesis (Burnaby, BC: Simon
mated Diffusion System (Burnaby, BC: Harmonic time-patterns—temporal structures of sound
Fraser University, 1999); <http://www.sfu.ca/sonic- Functions, 1996). events.
studio/EcoModelsComposition/Title.html>.
45. Keller and Rolfe [36].
20. P. Ru and S.A. Shamma, “Representation of
Musical Timbre in the Auditory Cortex,” Journal of 46. Varela et al. [1]. Manuscript received 1 March 2000.
New Music Research 26 (1997) pp. 154–169.
47. Schafer [9].
21. R. Aiello, ed., Musical Perceptions (New York:
Oxford Univ. Press, 1994).
22. J.A.S. Kelso, Dynamic Patterns: The Self-Organiza- Damián Keller was born in Buenos Aires, Ar-
tion of Brain and Behavior (Cambridge, MA: MIT
Glossary
gentina. Since 1997 he has been working on the
Press, 1995). abstract music—music in which the sound organi- ecological approach to composition. His works
23. North and Hargreaves [7]. zation strategies avoid extra-musical references.
Most “serious” European and North American mu- include tape pieces, music for theater, film and
24. Truax [12]. sic falls within this category. installations.