SHEAF NAVIGATIONS

Logics of Continuity in Music Practice and Theory

Marcin Pietruszewski
MSc Digital Composition and Performance
Edinburgh College of Art
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
EH8 9DF
m.pietruszewski@yahoo.co.uk

August 19, 2013

 Abstract

This document serves two purposes. The first is to provide theoretical, philosophical and tech-

nical context to research project, the second is to provide a description of the compositional and

design approaches of Sheaf Navigations (a composition written for electronics and string instru-

ments) and Pulsaret (a granular synthesis instrument designed in SuperCollider, which can be

downloaded from here: http://supercollider.sourceforge.net/).

The general objective of this research project is to restitute music practice as both a form and as an

act of knowing that is essentially contextual, relational, modal and synthetic [Peirce, 1997]. This

will be conceived through a set of methods including critical interpretation, experimentation and

modelling. The main project activities will comprise of the artistic creation (music composition),

scholarly and aesthetic reflection, technological development (a design of synthesis technique

and a digital instrument) and knowledge exchange.

The project results in a compositional work Sheaf Navigations for electronics, violin and double

bass.
Contents

1 Content of Submission 3

2 Introduction 4
2.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 Background 8
3.1 Peirce’s Pragmatism Maxim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Category Theory and The sheaf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 Ontological and Epistemological Perspectives for Music Theory and Practice . . 14

4 Musical and Aesthetic Models 19

4.1 Temporal Continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2 The Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3 Continuum of Praxis: Composition (Formalisation) and Improvisation (Process) . 24

5 Sheaf Navigation: Composition and Performance 28

5.1 Synthesis Model: Pulsaret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.2 Sheaf Navigations: Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6 Conclusions 33

A Final Project’s Proposal 35

B In stead of a score: the description given to musicians 39

1
List of Figures

3.1 ”General sign” of Pierce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.2 schematisation of Pierce’s pragmatic maxim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 A simple category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Functor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5 The Cube of Musical Ontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2
Chapter 1

Content of Submission

Submission Consist of:

1. A written report of the research project

2. Two mixes of the Sheaf Navigations:
(a) Multichannel 5.0
(b) Stereo
3. Pulsaret - a granular synthesis instrument written in SuperCollider 3.6

3
Chapter 2

Introduction

Each creation changes, alters, clarifies, deepens,

confirms, exalts, recreates or creates by

anticipation all the others

[Badiou and Madarasz, 2006, p. 47]

The scope of this project exemplifies a specific perspective on musical thought and practice. Mu-

sic within this project is considered not in isolation (in the Kantian sense of ”Ding an sich” ) but

as both an act and as a form of knowledge. The process of music making in its essence is occu-

pied with a notion of creativity continuously oscillating and enfolding over mobile frontiers of

conceptual and material realms; over valences of disciplines and practices, between the polari-

ties of the symbolic and physical, formal and emotional, individual and social, systematic and

historic presences. Through this multiplicity of perspectives music practice is a hermeneutic

practice par exellence. Hermeneutics seeks to fuse these perspectives into one coherent horizon

[Gadamer, 2004]. Any research into music practice has to acknowledge and confront this aspect

of its objectives.

The title Sheaf Navigations. Logics of Continuity in Music Practice and Theory designates a point of

convergence between two critical intentions fundamental for the project.

4
CHAPTER 2. INTRODUCTION

The first intention is to exercise the possible methodological and philosophical consequences

of the mathematical sheaf theory for the understanding and practice of contemporary music

composition. The term Navigation1 signifies the epistemological shift from the paradigm of a

”concrete and rigid architecture of concepts” to a dynamic, ever-changing and soft Encyclospace.

The Encyclospace is an interactive body of knowledge, where the concepts are negotiated through

a genuine agitation upon them [p. 201 Mazzola, 1998].

The second intention present in the title is a reflection on the possible figure of continuity of con-

cepts, practices and phenomena, emerging out of an investigation of mathematical and philo-

sophical models.

This approach in art related research practices fits within the frame of the notion of ”art-science”

coined by Georgina Born and Andrew Barry. Music practice in this context rather than simply

contextualising scientific knowledge [see Novotny et al., 2001, for an extensive analysis of the

role of contextualisation in the production of knowledge] could evidence different logics - ra-

tionalising, motivating and justifying interdisciplinary processes [Barry et al., 2008]. A logic of

ontology - the third logic proposed by Born and Barry - is particularly useful in the context of this

research. This logic articulates ontological change in the object of research, the relations between

the research subjects and objects. The ”art-science” performs the mutual transformation of both

the objects and practices of, and relations between science and art [Born and Barry, 2010].

The first part of this report consists of theoretical and philosophical reflection on two models

- Peirce’s pragmatic maxim and the mathematical theory of categories - and their musical ap-

plicability. Following that there will be a discussion of musical and aesthetic models and an

explanation of the compositional process of Sheaf Navigations including description of the de-

sign of the Pulsaret.

Following is a brief explanation of project’s objectives and methodology.

1 Guerinno Mazzola points back to the basic meaning of the term navigation, which etymologically derives from the

Latin navigare, which in turn stems from navis plus agere, which means ”giving motion to a ship”. The present meaning
often tends to be restricted to the passive steering of a vehicle already set in motion by some motor [Mazzola, 2002, p.
43]

5
CHAPTER 2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 Objectives

Knowledge, at its basic level, involves two components: information and its organisation [Shope,

1983]. Bracketing information for the sake of organisation could connote ”the zero state of phi-

losophy” as described by Hegel in Science of Logic and result in an empty structure without

substance [Hegel, 2010]. Subsequently the opposite would lead to the excess of the inchoate

and uncontrollable substance without means of retrieving the desired information. An essential

aim of knowledge is to build concepts and to conceive means to be able to navigate - access,

retrieve and modify - through these concepts. The general objective of this research project is to

restitute music practice as both a form and as an act of knowing that is essentially contextual,

relational, modal and synthetic (against absolute, substantial, determined and analytic) [Peirce,

1997]. Music with ontic, epistemic as well as aesthetic modes of appreciation could offer unique

perspectives on knowledge. The main objectives are:

Objective 1 What could be the nature of the object in making music within the scope of the

models studied?

Objective 2 What type of knowledge and understanding is embodied in music practice?

Objective 3 Do these models propose a new structural organisation of musical material?

2.2 Methodology

The methodology of this project is based on integrating Grounded Theory [Glaser and Strauss,

2009] , an inductive approach to create new hypotheses from observations on collected concepts,

with more recent works on practice-led research [Smith and Dean, 2009; Borgdorff, 2006; Strand,

1998]. A practice-led method, along with models for synthesis approaches, spatialisation, and

user-task interaction will be developed by looking at a body of mathematical and philosophical

concepts. Methods employed here will address valences with associated cultures of art practices

and research, with attention given to processes of learning, drafting, exchanging knowledge and

handling complexity. A trio of methods, critical interpretation, experimentation and modelling

6
CHAPTER 2. INTRODUCTION

will comprise the main project activities, which are artistic creation, scholarly and aesthetic re-

flection, technological development and knowledge exchange.

7
Chapter 3

Background

Like the contrast continuous/discrete, the equal

and the diverse are the results of a polarization.

(...) It is a matter of finding the articulation

that makes it possible to pass continuously

from the equal to the diverse

[Châtelet, 1993, p. 167]

The following chapter offers theoretical and philosophical reflection on two models: Charles

Sanders Peirce’s pragmatism maxim and the mathematical theory of the sheaf.

This chapter will be divided into three sections:

1. Peirce’s Pragmatism Maxim

2. Category Theory and the Sheaf
3. Ontological and Epistemological Perspectives for Music Theory and Practice

8
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

3.1 Peirce’s Pragmatism Maxim

Charles Sanders Peirce’s pragmatism1 and the scope of knowledge delineated principally as a

semiotical and logical process of thought forms the starting point of our discussion. An analysis

of the general structure of Peirce’s sign and the pragmaticist maxim will serve as a key model

for further reflections on the nature of conceptualisation and simultaneously serve as a reference

point when introducing musical and aesthetic examples.

Within the Peircean project the known is only available to us through signs and we can only

comprehend those signs through diverse correlations of their conceivable effects in the context

of interpretation. A sign consists of three interrelated parts: a representamen, an object, and an

interpretant.

Figure 3.1: ”General sign” of Pierce. Source: Zalamea [2001]

For the sake of simplicity, we can think of the representamen as the signifier e.g. a written word

or an utterance. The object, on the other hand, is best thought of as whatever is signified e.g.

the object to which the written or uttered word is attached. The interpretant, the most innova-

tive feature of Peirce’s account and that which distinguishes it from Ferdinand de Saussure’s

semiotics [see De Saussure, 2011], is best thought of as the understanding that we have of the

representamen/object relation. The importance of the interpretant for Peirce is that significa-

tion is not a simple dyadic relationship between sign and object: a sign signifies only in being

interpreted2 .

The Peircean maxim, or pragmaticist maxim, provides us with a model that is of central impor-

tance to the reflections undertaken at this stage of the project.

1 Also called ”pragmaticism” by Peirce to distinguish it form utilitarian interpretation such as this presented by John

Stuart Mill [Mill, 2010, see]

2 It is an extended variant of the medieval generic substitution principle (aliquid stat pro aliquo); a sign here is something

9
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

Figure 3.2: schematisation of Pierce’s pragmatic maxim. Source: Zalamea [2001]

The figure 3.2 displays an actual sign, represented in multiple possible contexts of interpretation,

and whose behaviour in each context yields its partial comprehension.

We can only attain knowledge through signs and we can only attain knowledge of said signs

through the diverse correlations of their effects in various interpretive contexts. We come to

know signs according to certain “general modes” and through recognising their “different pos-

sible circumstances” [Peirce, 1974, p. 438]. The process of understanding proposed by Peirce’s

maxim passes through a triad of realms: the actual, the possible and the necessary. To gain

knowledge of a given sign (the realm of the actual) we must traverse the multiple contexts of

interpretation capable of interpreting that sign (the realm of the possible) and, in each context,

study the practical imperative consequences associated with each one of those interpretations

(the realm of the necessary) [Peirce, 1997].

Peirce’s pragmatic maxim opens attractive channels for dialogue between philosophy, logic and

mathematics, and can play a useful role in the process of concept building within a general

reflection on knowledge. Its full value stems from its equal treatment of any point of view or

fragment of language [De Waal, 2007]. The strength of the maxim lies in its power to compare

which substitutes something for something else

10
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

diverse perspectives within a multiplicity of horizons, languages and contexts. The imperative

here is to compare and then interlace the diverse rather than suppress it.

In general, the maxim can be seen as a sophisticated way of oscillating between two polarities:

analysis - whose concern is to differentiate, and synthesis - realised through the act of integration.

This movement constitutes the most significant outcome of the Peircean project and can be seen

as a continuity of a long standing philosophical reflection on the nature of the relation between

the Many and the One [for a comprehensive discussion on the topic see Badiou and Feltham,

2005]. The philosophical basis of such a problem can be referred back to Plato’s Philebus and its

dynamic reading as proposed by Albert Lautman and Paul Gerhard Natrop. Their interpretation

of Plato is open to the study of the correlative, of change and transition, by weaving between the

differentiation of the One into the Many and the reintegration of the Multiple into the One. The

processual and non-static platonic Idea that emerges from this reading mutates and peregrinates

between the real and the ideal, resulting in the dynamic frontier of knowledge reflecting the

undulating frontier of the world [Lautman and Duffy, 2011; Natorp, 1918].

The process of differentiation and integration attains a high level of methodological precision in

the mathematical theory of categories3 .

3.2 Category Theory and The sheaf

Category theory has reached substantial significance in its own right within contemporary math-

ematics. Its use in the context of this project lies in accentuating both its applicability to the

general realm of knowing and its possible methodological and philosophical consequences for

music practice 4 .

Contrary to the Cantorian set-theoretical project [see Dauben, 1990; Boolos, 1971, for an extensive

introduction and analysis of Georg Cantor’s theory of sets], category theory captures objects
3 This theory’s deep proximity with the Peircean project has been intensively studied by Fernando Zalamea [see

Zalamea, 2001]. In the next section we will take a closer look at the categorical environment and the concept of the sheaf
4 Many of the examples and much of the practical understanding of mathematical theory of categories within this

project come from the functional programming language Haskell. A good practical introduction to the topic can be
found on http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Haskell/Category_theory

11
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

through their external behaviour. It focuses on the interaction of objects with each other within

a neighbourhood.

The following example illustrates the particular aspect of category theory that is of central im-

portance for this project. The figure 3.3 presents a simple categorical environment with three

objects A, B and C. Each of these objects is defined through identity morphisms (idA , idB , idC );

and two morphisms (f: C → B and g: A → B) connecting source and target objects which together

form a composition of morphisms h. Essentially a category has these three components: objects,

identity morphisms and a composition of morphisms (if h is the composition of morphisms f

and g, then h = f ◦ g).

Figure 3.3: A simple category. Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Haskell/Category_

theory.

The method proposed by category theory takes the form of a “quadruple synthetic strategy”

[Zalamea, 2012, p. 122]. A, B, and C stand for different objects in different classes of structures

(logical, algebraic, topological, etc.). Category theory seeks to detect general and universal prop-

erties in between those objects.

At the first internal level these properties (through the process of identification: idA , idB , idC )

characterise a given class in its environment and form a ’concrete’ category (C). At the next

external level of a more general field these properties undergo a process of axiomatisation in

order to extract the universal constructions that can account for characteristics obtained within

’concrete’ categories; these universal constructions form an ’abstract’ category (D). This process

occurs between source and target objects forming a composition of morphisms (h = f ◦ g). A mor-

phism can be thought of as a structure preserving the mapping from one structure to another.

The movement between ’concrete’ and ’abstract’ categories takes the form, introduced above,

of a dialectic of differentiation-integration. Through differentiation we diversify the universal

12
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

constructions established within ’abstract’ categories and localise them in contrasting, ’incar-

nated’ forms across multiple ’concrete’ categories. Conversely, through integration we seek out

common constructors and roots, at the level of ’abstract’ categories, for the great variety of the

special constructions showing up in ’concrete’ categories. This dialectic forms the third level of

our synthetic strategy - a definition of functors of differentiation and integration (see Figure 3.4

). Functors are nothing more than multiple waves of information established between ’abstract’

and ’concrete’ categories - a transformation between them (F: C → D). A close investigation of

these functors makes up the fourth, final and most important level of synthetic strategy [Lein-

ster, 2004, for an extensive introduction to functor categories see]. Categorical thought reveals

that behind the concrete knowledge of certain mathematical objects, and between these objects,

there exists a strong functorial correlation and urges us to integrate these concrete particulars in

higher models of abstract axiomatisations.

Figure 3.4: Functor. Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Haskell/Category_theory.

The paradigm of mathematical theory of categories can be summarised in the following set of

counter-distinctions:

1. morphisms, against objects

2. synthesis, against analysis
3. relational, against substantial
4. contextual, against absolute
5. modal, against determined

These characteristics are authenticated in sheaf theory. Proposed by Jean Leray and developed

during Henri Caratan’s courses in the late 1940s, sheaf theory exemplifies this non-dichotomous

status integrating opposites: ideal-real, analytic-synthetic, local-global and discrete-continuous

13
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

[see Gray, 1979, for a history of sheaf theory]. Sheaf theory and its corresponding logic can

be seen as an exercise of mediation including opposites. As Zalamea observes, these principle

paradigms of the theory refer us back to the ancients’ philosophical reflection on the Many and

the One. The question of ”how to get from the Many to the One?” takes the form of a mathemat-

ical problem; how to get from the local to the global?; how to differentially register the local?;

and how to globally integrate these registers?

3.3 Ontological and Epistemological Perspectives for Music The-

ory and Practice

That pendular weaving between the real and ideal - the concrete and abstract - proposed within

both Peirce’s pragmatic maxim and the mathematical sheaf theory, constitutes an original, sys-

tematically oscillatory manner of creativity - essentially open, mediated and transitory. The final

part of this chapter maps a multidimensional (ontological and epistemological) course between

the models described above and the territory of contemporary music theory and practice [see

Korzybski, 1958, for differentiation between notions of the map and the territory].

The traditional ontological coordinates of what and where taken in an absolute and actual present

form cease to function within the scope of the models presented. Instead the type of being

emerging out of them takes the form of a “transitory ontology” as proposed by Alain Badiou

in Briefings on Existence which forces a change into a modal and relative pronunciation of the

object. This object5 escapes fixed and determined identity. It proceeds to evolve and distribute

itself over the strata of physical and conceptual space [Badiou and Madarasz, 2006, p. 335]6 .

This emphasis on the processual, relational and transitional aspect of the object forms a unique

proposition of both Peircean pragmatism and category theory.

In the field of contemporary musicological research a corresponding ontology has been pro-
5 For the precision Badiou uses notion of the quasi - object [see Badiou and Madarasz, 2006, for deep philosophical

explanation]
6 Ontic qualities of that kind can be compared to conclusions of Jean Petitot’s studies on neurogeometry, where the

object continuously emerges “in the process of being”[Petitot, 2004] or Francis Wiliam Lawvere “ontological transitorines
of mathematical entities” [Lawvere and Schanuel, 2009]

14
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

posed by Guerino Mazzola in The Topos of Music. The object of Mazzola’s reflection isn’t music’s

whatness but music as a concept - a topos, a logical place - conceived within a wider knowledge

system. These are Kantian notions as described in Critique of Pure Reason and their use within the

context of musical thought shifts it into the realm of in-depth reflection of the space where music

as a concept lives [Kant, 1999]. This topographical metaphor for the ontology of concept has its

roots in Plato’s allegory of the cave [Plato et al., 1984] and Aristotle’s Topic [McKeon et al., 2009].

The greek word topos (τ oπoς = location, site) points at this spatial dimension of knowledge sys-

tem. Figure 3.5 presents a topographical cube of musical ontology as constructed by Mazzola. A

topography of that kind offers a set of coordinates and dimensions structuring discourse about

music theory and practice.

Figure 3.5: The Cube of Musical Ontology. Source: [Mazzola, 2002].

Without getting into the complexity of the system it is worth pointing out its basic features and

usage. A musical concept in the sense of topoi has modes of belonging that fluctuate over coordi-

nates of reality, semiosis and communication. ”Being a fact of music means having these three

perspectives or ontological coordinates” therefore omitting any of them “(...) is an abstraction

from the full ontology” [Mazzola, 2002, p. 10]. In this sense the system of coordinates proposed

by Mazzola forms the general structure where the dialectic of differentiation and integration

occurs.

15
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

Correspondingly this ontological model could be applied to an understanding of a new com-

putational paradigm of conversational programming, which is of core importance for the de-

velopment of Sheaf Navigations. As Mazzola points out “in contrast to its name, object-oriented

programming is essentially a categorical access to programming”[Mazzola, 2002]. A program-

ming language classifies as object-oriented when possessing the following features:

1. encapsulation (data and behaviour are packed together)

2. inheritance through classes (object types are organised in a class tree)

3. polymorphism (objects can take many forms)

Such characteristics exemplify a shift from an object based paradigm to a behavioural one. Pro-

gram entities are replaced by the behaviour they show under determined conditions. This shift

can be interpreted within the frame of Nobuo Yoneda’s lemma which, apart from being a tech-

nical tool of category theory, possesses deep implications for the broader sphere of human con-

ceptualisation in general [Herrlich and Strecker, 1973].

Formulated in the 1950s, lemma reestablishes the point as an elementary structure of generic

geometry. In his readings Yoneda goes back to Euclid and his first book of Elements and proposes

a creative extension of the notion of the point. Defined by Euclid as ”having no attributes”,

unlike a ”line which has length and a surface which has length and breadth” [Thomas-Stanford

and Arts, 1926], within Yoneda’s lemma a point takes the form of an ”addressed perspective”,

occupying a specific ontological dimension. A point is redefined in terms of arrows of spectra

[Yoneda, 1954] 7 . A mathematical object is considered here according to the schema of semantics

reduced to ”pure arrows”. There is only the pointing gesture and pursuing the arrows’ path

[Dennett, 1988]. Jean-Pierre Serre emphasised this aspect of thought and called it a ”transit over

a continuous conceptual ground” [Chong et al., 1986].

This alteration brings interesting consequences to the understanding of the object-oriented paradigm

and programming practice in general. Within it the identity of the object is insignificant. The ob-
7 Yoneda’s redefinition can be supported by the original meaning of the word ”point”. ”Point” comes from the latin
”punctum”, a past participate of ”pungere”, to prick which means to ”pierce slightly with a sharp point”. The point
is a result of a movement of an arrow-like instrument, the identity of a point lies exactly in this pointing action, corre-
spondingly English expression ”to point at” holds this essential meaning. This very nature of ”pointing at” establishes
a foundation of Yoneda’s axiomatics

16
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

ject has an interior structure which is hidden to the context of the program and can be accessed

only through the object’s methods. The method functions as a pointer, an arrow to an address

where further data can be accessed. What’s being intensified here is the morphism and transi-

tion - the process rather than the object. The deep impact of this perspective can be apprehended

through a closer analysis of the basic elements of a program and reflection on conversational pro-

gramming, where the role of the processual is fundamental. This will be discussed in the next

chapter.

The shift in posing ontological questions of what and where gives rise to a variation in episte-

mological how. Epistemology in this sense questions the very nature of knowledge and under-

standing; the modes of their accessibility. What emerges is an epistemology of “the pendular

combination” of polarities: the analytic-synthetic, differential-integral, ideal-real forming a type

of “comparative epistemology” [Zalamea, 2012, p. 298]. The notions of glueing, neighbourhoods

and coverings observed in sheaf theory come to play a central role in this epistemology. The

notion of ”productive navigation” in the Encyclospace proposed be Mazzola posseses all of these

characteristics. The Encyclospace is defined as an upgrade of the classical model of the encyclo-

pedia, as developed by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alambert [for comprehensive analysis

of the concept see Lough, 1968]. The upgrade is comprised of three alterations:

1. the replacing of the static structure by dynamically evolving data organism in space and
time;
2. the replacing of the receptive position by instrumental relation to the data organism;
3. the reordering of the traditional alphabetic order into a ”dynamic navigational orienta-
tion”;

Productive navigation responds to the demand for ”dynamic navigational orientation” and

through interacting with the corpus of knowledge, incessantly adds new content to it. The classi-

cal hard-coded knowledge structures confined in books and encyclopedias are confronted here

with dynamic ”records of ever moving knowledge streams” [Mazzola, 2002]. It is a proposi-

tion closely related to what hypertextual and hypermedial strategies insist on: an interactive,

non-authoritative, modal and accessible, dynamically developing data organism with modes of

access that transform it [see Bolter, 2001; Landow, 1997; Liestol, 1993, for comprehensive discus-

17
CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND

sion on the topic].

The following chapters will investigate how the above mention models of Peirce and category

theory can inform musical practice.

18
Chapter 4

Musical and Aesthetic Models

Music is a matrix of ideas, of actions of energy,

of mental processes, reflections in turn of the

physical reality which created us and which

sustains us and our light, lucid and dark,

obscure psychism. Expression of visions of the

universe, of its waves, of its branchings, of its

human beings just as much as the fundamental

theories of theoretical physics, of abstract logic,

of modern algebra (...) Music is the harmony of

the world, but homomorphicized by the domain

of current thought

[Xenakis and Kanach, 2008, p. 57]

The following chapter reflects on a body of compositional works, related aesthetic positions and

technological advancements which directly inspired Sheaf Navigations and whose connection

with the philosophical and theoretical models presented in the preceding chapter will be ex-

plained. For the purpose of clarity of thought the reflection here will be grouped around certain

key notions, such as: composition with microsound and across the different temporal scales,

19
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

the role of space in the compositional process, the continuity of praxis between composition and

improvisation.

4.1 Temporal Continuum

A composer whose practice and writing had the most significant impact on the emergence of

this project was Iannis Xenakis. With mathematics as a tool and guide Xenakis searched for

founding axioms unifying all musical parameters: qualitative, temporal, structural, functional

and spatial.

This all-embracing construct of music reflects the Pythagorean idea of unifying all the elements

of the universe in a sort of cosmological sheaf spanning traditions, contexts and languages [Cohen

et al., 2005]. Xenakis pointed at a strong connection between art, science and philosophy and that

through music practice we could reveal a ”new medium of materialisation and communication”

[Xenakis, 1992, ix]. He embraced science and mathematics in his praxis in a way where ”music

served as a medium for the confrontation of philosophic and scientific ideas on the being, its

evolution and their appearance”[Xenakis, 1992, p. 261]

At the compositional level Xenakis wasn’t concerned with individual elements, but rather their

position against each other; their behaviour within the sonic milieu of the neighbourhood. This

can be seen in works such as Metastaseis (1953-54) and Pithoprakta (1955-56) whose sonic material

results in a mass, a tapestry that is more than the sum of its parts. This scope of shaping music

as a global attribute of a mass or a ”cloud of sound” [Xenakis, 1960] became very apparent in

the 1950s. György Ligeti’s Volumina (1962) for organ can be considered one of the finest early

realisations of this kind of approach. Additionally, his Continuum (1968) for solo harpsichord

challenges the performer’s ability to to play extremely fast sequences of notes on two keyboards.

The notes no longer appear as individual sounds but as part of a sonic continuum. The gaps be-

tween notes are audible, but they become fuzzy, blurry and almost disappear due to high the

speed of the percussive grains and the noise of the strings being rapidly plucked by the plec-

trum. Ligeti’s perceptual study demonstrates David Huron’s principle of temporal continuity,

according to which, “in order to evoke strong auditory streams, [one should] use continuous or

20
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

recurring rather than brief or intermittent sound sources. Intermittent sounds should be sepa-

rated by no more than roughly 800 milliseconds of silence in order to assure the perception of

continuity� [Huron, 2001]1

Electronic music extended the importance and usage of cloud textures allowing their emergence

as an established compositional entity. Trevor Wishart points at some possible domains of their

manipulation: amplitude (crescendi/decrescendi); harmonicity(pitch/chord/cluster/noise); in-

ternal tempo (accelerando/rallentando); density (increasing/decreasing); and spectrum (low/

mid/high) [Wishart, 1994]. Composed of dense granular textures, Xenakis’ tape pieces such as

Concert PH (1958), Bohor I (1962) and Persepolis (1971) opened the compositional process into the

realm of multiscale approaches spanning across the temporal field from the micro, through the

meso up to the macro level.

The moment of the greatest interest in the scope of this project is the recognition of the continuum

between rhythm (the infrasonic frequency) and the pitch (the audible frequency). Their inter-

relationship had been observed already by Henry Cowell who noted that: “Rhythm and tone,

which thought to be entirely separate musical fundamentals (...) are definitely related through

overtone ratios” [Cowell, 1996, p. 46]. The finite structure of the tone has indeed a discontinuous

and quantified character. The perception sets limits on the ability to detect the discontinuous

beneath continuous. The continuous emerges as a “saturation of the discrete”, like in Cantorian

completion of the real line [Dauben, 1990]2

From the micro temporal scale traditional musical notions such as pitch, instrumental timbre,

dynamic marking reveal themselves to be illusionary. Composing at “the micro time scale de-

frosts these categories into constantly evolving morphologies” [Roads, 2004, p. 330]. This pro-

cess requires new tools and a change of compositional vocabulary. The early days of electronic
1 It is worth mentioning the reference of Ligeti’s Continuum to the visual art, especially works of Maurits Escher. Es-

cher proposed a new and radical take on the ancient technique of tessellation. Influenced by mathematics and topology,
Escher implemented concepts like the M�bius strip in order to address an unfamiliar, often absurd take on change,
flow and infinity. Escher’s prints defy the viewer’s understanding of depth, perspective and everyday physics. A large
woodcut print Metamorphosis III finished in the same year as Continuum plays with illusion, symmetry and change along
various grids and organic chequered patterns. Similarly like in Continuum isolating individual notes from the score, at-
tempt to extract discrete objects from the canvas doesn’t contribute to understanding of the process. The purpose of the
triangles, fishes, birds, horses, houses and squares, is to emphasize the emergence of a continuum that chalanges our
intuitive comprehension of spacetime and the way fundamental blocks compose larger entities [Gombrich et al., 1977]
2 is interesting to note how mathematics proposes alternative conceptualisations of the relation continuous/discrete,

like Brouwer’s primordial continuum, from which the discrete is detached and which represent exact revers of Cantorian
process [see Zalamea, 2012; Mancosu, 1998]

21
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

music saw various attempts to organise this new field. The circle of serialist composers focused

around die Reihe i.e. Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Herbert Eimert and Karel

Goeyvaerts proposed a unified system applicable across all temporal scales. Two historic essays

by Stockhausen, ..... How time passes ..... and The unity of musical time outline the serialist concep-

tualisation of the topic. Generally speaking the disadvantage of a serial approach was that it did

not take into account the perceptual differences between the temporal scales [see Grant, 2005, for

an extensive analysis and critique of Stockhausen’s Temporal Theory]. These difficulties were

also pointed out by György Ligeti [Ligeti, 1971]. Category theory could represent an alterna-

tive position. After differentiation and systematisation on the local level (a singular temporal

scale) it is possible to search for correlations between the different levels and integrate them into

a coherent but not unified global model which interlaces the diverse rather than suppressing

it.

In Xenakis’ compositional vocabulary the figure of continuity takes the form of glissandi. Glis-

sandi can be seen here as a sonic gestalt arching across temporal scales as well as a variety of

instruments and timbres. In Metastaseis masses of sound are constructed through complexity

of glissando textures, evolving from one instrument to another and forming a mobile cloud of

sound. A similar approach is used in other compositions such us Terretekhtorh (1966), Nomos

Gamma (1968), Synaphai (1969) and Empreintes (1975). The opening pitch in Empreintes (1975) is

sustained over the first half of the piece and than gradually aerates out by means of a full or-

chestral tutti glissandi towards the end [Fayers, 2011]. A similar evolution can be observed in

György Ligeti’s Lontano (1967). Marcus Schmickler on the album Palace of Marvels the explored

interrelationship of time - pitch continuity by utilising psychoacoustic phenomena such as the

Shepard Tone [Shepard, 1982]. The interconnectedness of time scales can be considered cen-

tral to Sheaf Navigations. The compositional material of the piece oscillates between individual,

micro-scale elements integrated into continuous macro-scale movements and conversely large

scale gestures differentiated into a swarm of particles. It is a sonic realisation of the dialectic of

integration-differentiation observed in the studies of Peircean and categorical models.

22
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

4.2 The Space

The inclusion of space as an equal parameter of the compositional process has acquired an es-

tablished position within today’s music. Spatial techniques however were known at least for

a few centuries e.g. sixteenth century composers such as Adrian Willaert and Andrea Gabrieli

who used spatially separated choirs [see Moretti, 2004, for an interesting analysis of the role of

architectural space in early music ] or Mozart’s compositions for two orchestras (K. 239 and K.

286). Hector Berlioz and Gustav Mahler composed works for multiple orchestras and offstage

choirs.

An acoustic sound by its nature possesses a spatial dimension. The resonating body of an in-

strument - its dynamically varying irradiating surface - and its disposition in an ensemble or

the orchestra, all contribute to produce an ”auditory scene” [Bregman, 1994]. Of crucial impor-

tance in the context of spatialisation is the introduction of the digital medium into the musical

domain. Electronically generated sound material has no inherent spatial dimensions, they have

to be defined, and this forms part of the compositional process. In the field of electronic mu-

sic developments into spatialisation techniques took place place from the 1950s e.g. Karlheinz

Stockhausen’s Gesang der Jüngelinge (1956) and Kontakte (1960), Edgar Varèse’s Poème Electron-

ique (1958) and Iannis Xenakis’ Hibiki Hana Ma (1970) [for a comprehensive list of early composi-

tions and techniques of spatialisation see Roads, 1996]. Those early advancements in the use of

space were however quite limited; spatialisation was treated as an external process, a procedure

applied to works already composed3 . Full integration of spatialisation into the compositional

process as an equal parameter interweaved with the structural, functional, temporal and qual-

itative dimensions, became possible with the advent of the digital medium of the computer. A

vast set of different strategies and algorithms have emerged since. Some of the most prominent

ones include: Chowning’s The Simulation of Moving Sound Sources [Chowning, 1971], Ambison-

ics [Gerzon, 1973; Malham and Myatt, 1995], vector based amplitude panning (VBAP) [Pulkki,

1997] or distance based amplitude panning (DBAP) [Lossius et al., 2009], all of which address

only the question of localization; whilst DirAC [Pulkki, 2006], Wavefield Synthesis [Berkhout,
3 Within the field of acousmatic music or musique concrète the performative role of spatialisation i.e. diffusion acquired

a significant number of artists and a set of specialised techniques [see Schaeffer and Molès, 1952; Smalley, 2007]

23
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

1984], Virtual Microphone Control (ViMic) [Braasch et al., 2008], or Binaural Rendering [Lehnert

and Blauert, 1992; Hammershøi and Møller, 2005] include also the possibility to create a virtual

space [see Lossius, 2007, for a discussion about some of these approaches]. Each of these ap-

proaches imposes certain limitations and offers different ways of designing the space of musical

composition. To design a desired space very often the composer has to combine different tech-

niques. Spatialisation environments such as Spat [Jot and Warusfel, 1995] or Jamoma [Peters

et al., 2009] take this into account. Today several programming languages and synthesis soft-

ware allow complex integration and formalisation of spatial design into wider the compositional

process: PureData [Puckette et al., 1996], Max/Msp [Zicarelli and Puckett, 2002], SuperCollider

[McCartney, 2002]. Correspondingly in the last 20 years there has been the establishment of new

research spaces exclusively devoted to sound spatialisation. The most prominent are: CUBE at

IEM (Graz), Wavefield Synthesis System at Technical University of Berlin (consisting of 2700

speakers on 832 independent channels), BEAST (Birmingham).

Of significant influence for the spatialisation techniques used within Sheaf Navigations was the

author’s participation in the Choreography of Sound project at MUMUTH (Graz), a space equipped

with 105 speakers of which 33 can be freely position around and within the audience. In the com-

position (an improvisatory environment) Rebelious Geometries the author grouped speakers into

sets of constellations of different size, height and orientation. The spatialisation techniques used

during performance included: 3rd order Ambisonic, distance based amplitude panning and the

DirAC algorithm. The performer had the ability to choose and oscillate between them4 .

4.3 Continuum of Praxis: Composition (Formalisation) and Im-

provisation (Process)

The final section of this chapter attempts to point at the continuous nature of the relationship

between composition and improvisation from the perspective of ann emerging conversational

programming paradigm and postulated within it a redefinition of formalisation and process i.e.
4 for more details about the MUMUTH space and the Choreography of Sound project check http://cos.kug.ac.at/index.

php?id=12600

24
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

the basic entities of a program.

A large number of books and articles have been written about the relationship between improvi-

sation and composition [Bailey, 1993]. The scope of this section is not to argue their equivalence

or difference, but to step back and attempt to find their common, sometimes complementary

denominators pointing at their belonging into the wider strategy of the creative process. Very

often the compositional process has an improvisational genealogy and vice versa: an improvi-

sational freedom oscillates between precomposed elements. New paradigms in programming

languages can offer attractive ground for rethinking their relationship.

In Musical Creativity. Strategies and Tools in Composition and Improvisation Mazzola points at the

concept of time as a way of integrating creative the perspectives of improvisation and compo-

sition. Key for our approach is the logical level of time, as termed by Mazzola. At this level the

composer holds two elements: the material of the composition and the rules of its arrangement.

It is the structure of time where thoughts, intuitions and choices are integrated within a process

of shaping the material according to certain rules. Arnold Schoenberg called this ”slow-motion

improvisation” [Schoenberg et al., 1970].

Compositional practice in the second half of the twentieth century has seen the gradual reincor-

poration5 of performance techniques and improvisation e.g. composers such as Earl Brown with

his ”open form notation” [Welsh, 1994] used in String Quartet (1965), Christian Wolff, Cornelius

Cardew and his Treatise (1963 - 67). Wolff’s and Cardew’s involvement with improvised musi-

cians and groups such as AMM [Prévost and Prévost, 1995] can be seen as a prototype of today’s

free improvised ensembles; a prime example being M.I.M.E.O (Music in Movement Electronic

Orchestra) whose members and collaborators consist of original founders of AMM i.e. Keith

Rowe, John Tilbury. The model of a composer-improviser proposed by them and continued by

contemporaries such as Marcus Schmickler played a significant role in the emergence of Sheaf

Navigations and form the very essence of the individual praxis of its author. The genealogy of

this project in the broadest sense can be traced back to the improvisational realm. It is there

where ideas are born and musical structures clarified.

5 It’s worth mention that art of improvisation played a key role in early music (practice of Gregorian chant) or organ

music of 17th and 18th centuries. Derek Bailey’s Improvisation. Its Nature and Practice in Music consist an extensive review
of improvisation throughout different epochs and cultures [see Bailey, 1993]

25
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

This shift within compositional practice to include improvisation and performance techniques

to some extent could be compared with the shift within the computational realm, including

programming activity in in the program’s operation, namely the emergence of conversational

paradigm.

A program is defined simply as the coupling of a formalisation and initialisation of the process.

However simple this definition is it does not reflect the deep implication of interdependencies

and constraints between the main elements of the programming process - the programmer, text

and active process. The relation between programmer, text and active process is not a trivial

one. The formalisation, as the composition, is an anticipation of future events, a plan of how

something is supposed to happen in the form of a system. The result of the formalisation exists

in a synchronous atemporal and constant mode. Conversely the process is happening in time

as the diachronic event in the temporal succession of events, much like improvisation. The

structuring of time by opposing concepts of �abstract time� and �lived time� - the separation

of thought and action - have a longstanding tradition in modern thought. One of the examples

is temps vs.duree proposed by Henri Bergson [Bergson, 2004].

The notion of real time, predominant in the 1990s, coincided with the tendency in mainstream

computer science to regard programming languages first and foremost as tools for building ap-

plications. Approaches of interactive programming coexisted, but remained largely confined

to educational and theoretical contexts.The read-eval-print-loop becomes more than just a way of

specifying a score for the parameters of a synthesis machine, or the testing a ground for scripts

in building an application. It became the basis for improvised sound programming. Such a shift

over the last decade led to the emergence of a broad movement of experimental sound program-

ming. Performing such operations has been made possible by several programming languages

such as Scheme, Objective-C, Smalltalk and Self.

In many fields the program is of interest only for the desired application, conversely in a con-

versational setting “the program is a reflection of thought and an integral part of the reasoning

process� [p. 10 Rohrhuber et al., 2005]. New formalisation implies a new outset, a new process.

For this simple reason to write a program while it runs its virtually impossible. It is possible

although to structure a program in such a way that elements of it can be interchanged dynam-

26
CHAPTER 4. MUSICAL AND AESTHETIC MODELS

ically, its textual form can be arranged to allow rewriting these parts while the whole process

continues. The emergence of conversational and interactive programming in the 1960s [Klerer

and Reinfelds, 1968] and the recent advance of live coding and scientific experimental program-

ming [Vogt et al., 2007] affects fundamentally the temporal delimitations and distributed agency

between formalisation, the process of a program and the programmer’s role within it.

In laptop performance the ability to rewrite parts of the program while it runs offers a “novel

engagement with the notion of algorithm, and the mapping from code to musical resultant”

[COLLINS et al., 2003, p. 1]. The conversational paradigm lies at the core of the design of

Pulsaret. Software design plays a significant role in the emergence of contemporary musical

works. The prime example are designs of Alberto de Campo for Florian Hecker (Speculative

Solution, Acid in the Style of David Tudor) or Zbigniew Karkowski (Cell-0).

Programming in the broader sense can be considered as a dialogue or as symbiosis with �think-

ing mashnie� [Licklider, 1960], a process of external reasoning [Suchman, 2006; Clark and Chalmers,

1998; Iverson, 2007], an �exploratory object� [Guardans, 2010] , or the formation of the �epis-

temic thing� [Rheinberger, 1997].

The final part of this document will consist of the presentation of the key elements of Sheaf Nav-

igations including the design of Pulsaret: a granular synthesis instrument written in the Super-

Collider programming language.

27
Chapter 5

Sheaf Navigation: Composition and

Performance

This chapter consists of an analysis of the compositional process of Sheaf Navigation and a de-

scription of the design process of Pulsaret: granular synthesis instrument written in SuperCol-

lider. Where relevant reference will be made to the theoretical and philosophical models as

well as musical and aesthetic examples which directly inspired emergence of the project and the

composition.

5.1 Synthesis Model: Pulsaret

Fundamental for the synthesis paradigms of Pulsaret and sounding result of Sheaf Navigations

was listening to and analysis of Xenakis’ late electronic compositions GENDY3 (1991) and S709

(1994) both composed using a program called Gendyn at research institute CEMAMu near Paris.

Gendyn can be seen as Xenakis’ ultimate achievement in automated music generation whose

roots could be found in his early ST (1958-1962) compositions [Serra, 1993].

The design and basic structure of the synthesis technique used within this project is based on

28
CHAPTER 5. SHEAF NAVIGATION: COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE

Curtis Road’s Microsound and the Pulsar Generator design by Roads and de Campo [Roads, 2004;

Bohn, 2002]. The Pulsaret redefines the underlying principle of their design through the use

of a modal and conversational paradigm. Every single element of the design (data structure,

synthesis definition, mapping and GUI) can be exchanged on-the-fly without interrupting the

continuity of the process. This has been possible thanks to the Just-In-Time Library for Super-

Collider designed by Alberto de Campo and Julian Rohrhuber [Rohrhuber et al., 2005]. What

follows is a short technical description of the technique.

The name Pulsar Synthesis comes from the spinning neutron stars that emit periodic signals in the

range of 0.25Hz to 642Hz. This range of frequencies - between discrete rhythm and continuous

tone - is of key importance in pulsar synthesis. When the distance between individual pulses is

less then approximately one twentieth of a second the ”forward masking mechanism” [Buser

and Imbert, 1992] can be observed, where the human hearing apparatus starts to perceive a

continuous tone rather than discrete pulses. Conversely as the rate of the pulses slow down

and crosses the level of the infrasonic frequencies, the sensation of continuous tone evaporates

and each discrete pulsar become audible. The mechanism in play here is reminiscent of Ligeti’s

Continuum.

The technique of pulsar synthesis can be described through a set of characterising parame-

ters:

1. a pulsaret waveform w

2. a pulsaret envelope v

3. a period d

4. an interval of silence s

5. a frequency of the repetition or fundamental frequency, defined as: fp = 1/p

6. a frequency of the duty cycle or formant frequency, defined as: fd = 1/d

7. a pulsar masking

The pulsaret waveform w can be considered as a template of spectrum shape that repeats at stip-

ulated fundamental fp and is time scaled by the duty cycle of formant frequency fd . The envelope

29
CHAPTER 5. SHEAF NAVIGATION: COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE

v limit the waveform in time. The shape of v plays a significant role in the spectrum of pulsar

train [for the mathematical analysis of the spectra of simple pulsar envelopes see appendix of

Roads, 2004].

The total duration of the pulsar is then p = d + s, where p is the pulsar period, d is the duty cycle

and s is silent. Repetitions of the pulsar form the pulsar train, a unit of musical organisation on

the time scale of notes and phrases, which can last from few houndred miliseconds to a minute

or more. Typical range of fp is between 1 Hz and 5kHz, the typical range of fd is from 80 Hz to

10kHz. Both fp and fd form a fully controllable variables.

A pulsar masking plays significant role in shaping the train of pulses, this can take a form of

stochastic distribution, burst masking etc.

Pulsaret extends parameters provided in the design of Roads and de Campo. Especially sonically

effective proved to be the flux parameter which consist of microsound amplitude and frequency

modulation. Here, as well as with all other parameters, the core elements such as function of

modulation (Unit Generator [see Mathews et al., 1969, for the definition]) can be replaced in

realtime.

Pulsaret provides the ability of per grain spatialisation; depending on the technique used, a single

grain can be placed at any given point of the spatial image. The conversational paradigm allows

us to dynamically exchange the spatialisation modes and in-built the preset system gives an

opportunity to interpolate between them.

5.2 Sheaf Navigations: Analysis

The overall structure of the piece has a shape of an arc: starting with continuous electronic pas-

sages, through the introduction of double bass glissandi to a moment of dispersion in the middle

and agressively bowed violin, and back to a continuous closing instrumental section.

The compositional process, as has been mentioned in the preceding chapter, has its roots in im-

provisational practice. Throughout a series of sessions the composer improvised with the violin-

ist and double bass players and researched different material, techniques and ways of notation.

30
CHAPTER 5. SHEAF NAVIGATION: COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE

The focus at this stage was to find interesting sonic gestures resembling the characteristics of

granular synthesis technique of Pulsaret. Particularly interesting proved to be use of extended

techniques such as bowing the tailpiece and chinrest of the violin, scrubbing the body of the

double bass with open palm of a hand or overpressure with the bow. A great deal of inspira-

tion came from the lectures and examples from The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance

Techniques [Strange and Strange, 2001] and The Contemporary Contrabass [Turetzky, 1974].

The use of violin and double bass was the first compositional choice. The basic idea behind

it was to take the smallest and the biggest string instruments from the orchestral setting and to

mediate between their sonic capabilities through the digital medium of Pulsaret. The integration

of these two proved to be one of the biggest challenges of the project. Through the process

of improvisation and communication with players the system of adequate musical signs had

been negotiated. Of great help in this context was the book New Music Vocabulary. A Guide to

Notational Signs for Contemporary Music [Risatti and Zonn, 1975]. The ”score” consists of time

slots for the instrumentalists, a graphical and verbal description of desired movements and the

duration.

The purely electronic opening section of the composition (approximately 0’ 00” - 1’ 00”) is a

homage to Iannis Xenakis’ UPIC (Unit� Polyagogique Informatique CEMAMu) [Marino et al.,

1993]. Careful setting of the parameters of the Pulsaret and microscale pitch shift allowed to

acquire this resembling character. The instruments enter (at around 1’ 30”) with double bass

glissandi. The analysis of the shape of this instrumental stream is used in formation of clusters

of electronic glissandi in the preceding section (starting at approximately 3’ 00”). This section

forms of the centre of the piece where the transition from electronic continuum to instrumen-

tal takes place. Through masses of sound grains and swirling sonic clusters the violin becomes

gradually more audible (at approximately 5’30” - 6’ 00” ). This leads to a violin solo (span-

ning from approximately 8’ 00” to 10’ 00”). The material used in this section consists mainly

of slowly bowed, overpressured gestures across the violin, from sul tasto to sul ponticello. This

produces an easily distinguished ”granular” train with an interesting microtonal fluctuations.

The closing part of the piece consists of a leading instrumental ”drone” with electronics in the

background.

31
CHAPTER 5. SHEAF NAVIGATION: COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE

Very important for the composing process was the use of different spatialisation techniques.

Two recordings (5.0 and stereo) exemplify an interesting shift of almost structural importance

for the piece. Where possible it is strongly advised to listen to the multichannel version as this

has a better impact and allows full immersive appreciation of the spatial component of the com-

position. In terms of the string instrument spatialisation the natural modes of the resonation

bodies were taken into account as well as the virtual positioning of the instruments within the

spatial field [see Rossing, 2010, for an extensive analysis of acoustics of the string instruments].

The aim was to create an ”audio scene” occupying the front of the listener as well as gently en-

veloping from the sides, so the listening would become an act of being in the piece’s presence

rather than in front of the speakers.

32
Chapter 6

Conclusions

This chapter includes conclusions related to objectives formulated in the introduction as well as

the challenges related to the compositional process of Sheaf Navigations.

The process of emergence of Sheaf Navigations had a strong connection with the realm of knowl-

edge exchange, primarily as an encounter with fellow musicians through the dialoguing and me-

diating of common ground. In the general realm correspondingly, music composition reestab-

lished itself as a truly hermeneutical activity i.e. focused on interpretation (of musical phenom-

ena, facts and contexts) and as Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur stated ”redefinition of the

interpreting subject” [Gadamer, 2004; Ricoeur, 1981]. This transforming effect of the subject of

the research can be considered a central conclusion of the project.

Without doubt the vast majority of the consequences of the studied theoretical and philosophical

models have been only briefly discussed. Nevertheless the general scope of their applicability

int the field of musical conceptualisation has proved fruitful. The technical consequences, in the

form of a new compositional models or synthesis approaches could form the object of further

research projects. Correspondingly the project could be extended into deeper research of music

notation [this has been deeply studied by Guerino Mazzola in Mazzola, 2002].

The field where the models studied found the most interesting applicability is the conversational

programming paradigm. Understood here as a primarily performative and compositional ac-

33
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS

tivity this paradigm opens new perspectives for music thought and practice. The use of Just-In-

Time approach into the design of Pulsaret expanded the flexibility of the laptop performer and

opened the channels for establishing the laptop as an instrument.

The chosen synthesis approach produced very characteristic sounds. It would be interesting to

investigate further different techniques (non-linear approaches, different granular techniques

etc.) and ways of microscale filtering in order to expand the sonic vocabulary.

The mix of spatialisation techniques proved to be highly effective and produced a highly im-

mersive sonic experience. For the sake of performance it would be useful to investigate non-

standard spatialisation setups with extended number of speakers distributed and oriented in

different directions, positioning the instrumentalists among the audience.

The knowledge embodied in musical practice has a very strong interdisciplinary character. The

understanding of musical practices and phenomena requires from the composer a ”fusion” of

different ”horizons”, an oscillation between polarities and contexts. In this situation the im-

provisational setup proved to be an ideal ground for exchanging ideas, trying new approaches

and instrumental techniques. It could be useful to research further the applicability of category

theory in this context, maybe in the scope of developing new improvisational strategies.

34
Appendix A

Final Project’s Proposal

Introduction

I intend to compose a piece/set of shorter pieces (total duration approximately 30 min) for lap-

top and string instruments (violin and double bass) based on sonification model of a sheaf � a

mathematical concept of incessant mediation, tool capable of integrating a web of correlations

in which aspects both analytic and synthetic, local and global, discrete and continuous are all

incorporated [Gray, 1979]. Final output will consist of a fully developed digital instrument,

compositional tool, music score and will result in a multichannel live performance, as well as

multichannel (4 +) and stereo recordings. Driving motivation for this project was to find a figure

able to encapsulate an array of activities spanning from algorithmic composition, through con-

versational programming, performance practice, sound and software design, to research in mu-

sic cognition, aesthetics and philosophy. Following are theoretical and philosophical contexts

of the project, objectives, research methods, software design and composition descriptions, and

proposed time framework.

Theoretical and Philosophical Context

A contemporary music practice can be thought not only as such (in a Kantian sense of �Ding

an sich�) but as an act conceived in a bimodal correlative evolution between the world and

knowledge. This pendular weaving between the real and ideal - the concrete and abstract - con-

35
APPENDIX A. FINAL PROJECT’S PROPOSAL

stitutes an original, systematically oscillatory manner of creativity; essentially open, mediated

and transitory [Mazzola, 2011]. The philosophical basis of such a perspective can be referred

back to Plato�s Philebus and it�s dynamic reading proposed by Albert Lautman and Paul Ger-

hard Natrop. The interpretation of Plato, attentive to cobelonging of the known and knowing

mind, installs itself in the relative position and opens itself to the study of the correlative, of

change and transition. The Platonic processual and nonstatic idea mutates and peregrinates be-

tween warps of reality and ideality [Lautman, 2011]. In this ancient figure music shared place

with mathematics as a method of mediation. As early as the time of the Pythagoreans, a concept

of relationship between mathematical and musical proportions was acknowledged as consti-

tutional element of the phenomenology of the cosmos [Barker, 2007]. Music and mathematics

where thought as forms of high creativity. The creative proximities between them were reinforc-

ing one another in the general modes of knowing, from a point of view that was formal, dual

and latticial [Francastel, 2003]. The process of being, commensurably in between the webs of

the real and ideal is a fundamental characteristic of the new ontology proposed within contem-

porary mathematics [Zalamea, 2013]. The classical dissociations and exclusions - the either-or

variety - cease to function, instead perspectives of continuity between diverse webs are opened

up. The sheaf theory proposed by Jean Leray exemplifies this non-dichotomous status in the

form of a quasi-object [Badiou, 1998] integrating opposites: ideal-real, analytic-synthetic, local-

global and discrete-continuous. The new body of creativity, both musical and mathematical,

function here with an ontological scope, object phenomenology and epistemic coordinates af-

fording them a whole new dimensionality and enriching the problem at stake. It is a proposition

refraining from architecture cemented and rigid towards dynamic, soft and ever changing one

[Boulez, 1985].

Objectives

The motivating impulse for this research is that through musical practice and sonification pro-

cess we may gain an understanding of the limits of intuition and the character of the correlation

between music, mathematiics, knowledge, cognition and the world. The fundamental questions

are: how does one come from a complexity to the unity, from series of numbers to an under-

standing of the objects, or even to a consistent phenomenology, and conversely, how can this

36
APPENDIX A. FINAL PROJECT’S PROPOSAL

process be represented within the practice of music and sound art? Is music able to make the

abstract and descriptive terms congruent? Could exploration and derivation of acoustic events,

musical and algorithmic structures from emerging mathematical models add an interesting di-

mension into the music thought and practice? The prime aim is to attain an epistemological

exchange between musical practice, composition and the field of contemporary mathematics

through an integration of the constituent components of this research: computer composition

and performance, innovative open-source software design and instrumental practice.

Methodology

The core methodology of this project is based on two elements: 1. A practice-led research as

defined by Roger Dean and Hazel Smith [Dean and Smith, 2009]. 2. A conversational program-

ming methodology as a software design tool and as a digital performance strategy [de Campo

and Rohrhuber, 2011] A practice-led method, along with models of live coding programming

approaches, instrumental techniques and user-task interaction will be developed by looking at

a body of mathematical models, their ontological, epistemological and phenomenological con-

texts.

Software Design

The software design will consist of three elements: - The design of a compositional environ-

ment; - The design of a performance communication and data exchange tools (the listener); -

The design of a digital instrument; I will be using Super Collider 3.6.2 as a main programming

environment, my intention is to submit fully functioning (possibly multiplatform) standalone

application including all extensions and developed classes. The main element of the software

design would consist in the listener application whose role is to analyze incoming data (pitch,

amplitude, envelope following, pattern recognition etc.) and share it with the laptop performer

who will then stream it in to various parameters of a digital instrument and live processes on

acoustic instruments.

Composition and Performance

The compositional process intends to encompass all attributes of the musical object � qualita-

tive, temporal, structural, functional and spatial. The key point of it would be the design of the

37
APPENDIX A. FINAL PROJECT’S PROPOSAL

listener application, a sort of a bridge between acoustic instruments, digital realm and the envi-

ronment of the actual performance. The musical object emerges in the process of being, in transit

between the webs of the system, listener, ambience and phenomena. This approach dwells on

works and thoughts of Agostino di Scipio [di Scipio, 1998].

Time Framework May - The design of a digital instrument; - The design of the listener applica-

tion; - The instrumental studies throughout weekly meeting with violin and double bass players;

- Research in to notation techniques of electronic and acoustic compositions; By the end of the

month I plan to have: - A fully functioning digital instrument; - A first version of the listener

application ready to test in an improvisational context; June - A small scale improvisations with

the instrumentalists; - A refining of the software; - A composition of the work; By the end of the

month I plan too have: - A first sketch of the composition; July - A refining of the composition;

- A recording in the Reid Hall; By the end of the month I plan to have: - The unedited and un-

masterd version of the composition; August - The editing and mastering of the composition; -

26th of August performance at Inspace;

The reading and documenting of the research process will continue throughout the duration of

the whole project.

38
Appendix B

In stead of a score: the description

given to musicians

This is the description given to the musicians.

Each of the musicians should have a stopwatch

Section One At approximately 1’ 30” enter with slow glissandi played at the lowest possible

register. Sustain as long as possible until approximately 2’ 30” and then gradually fade

out

Section Two At approximately 4’ 30” enter with fast hi pitched glissandi (direction UP). Vioplin:

gradually increase the pressure until the point where the continuity of the pitch becomes

disrupted. Simultaneously oscillate in between sul tasto and sul ponticello until approxi-

mately 10’00”. Double bass bow the tail piece and move slightly over the strings to sub

ponticello, Simultaneously introduce short bursts of pizzicati at around 5’00”.

Section Three Play long notes. Two notes each of the instruments. Low pitch. Separated by a

semitone to create a bitting. Continue util 14’00”

39
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