Review: [untitled]

Author(s): Denis Smalley

Reviewed work(s):
What's the Matter with Today's Experimental Music? Organised Sound Too Rarely Heard
by Leigh Landy
Source: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1992), pp. 120-121
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513227
Accessed: 10/11/2008 23:12

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 nar (in the editions in Russian) as well
as a list of the publications of Soviet
authors in Leonardo.
REPRESENTATIONSOF
MUSICAL SIGNALS
by Giovanni de Poli, Aldo Piccialli
and Curtis Roads, eds. MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. 488 pp., illus.
ReviewedbyMarcBattier,IRCAM,31,
rue Saint-Memi,F-75004 Paris,France.
Italy seems to be a place of choice for
speculation on the concepts of music
representation. There, in 1982, in the
context of a symposium on Musical
Grammars and Computer Analysis or-
ganized in Modena, Curtis Roads pre-
sented a substantial survey on this
topic. Several years later, Roads,
along with several Italian researchers,
gathered many computer-music prac-
titioners in Sorrento, a town on the
cliffs of the Mediterranean Sea. Sev-
eral papers from this gathering have
been collected for this book, al-
though they have been considerably
revised and augmented; other papers
were specifically commissioned. The
book is a new addition to a series,
dedicated to recent advances in the
field of computer music, published by
MIT Press.
The topic of representations of mu-
sical signals is intensely observed and
researched these days. In a way, com-
puter music has alwaysbeen preoccu-
pied by it. After all, the seminal work
of Max Mathews in sound synthesis
and, more generally, in the design of
acoustic compilers presented a par-
ticular view of the question, a view
shared with the electronic instrument-
builders of its time: Olson and Belar,
creators of the RCA electronic synthe-
sizer, and Hugh LeCaine, inventor of
various sound synthesis devices [1].
Representations of Musical Signalsis
composed of 14 previously unpub-
lished texts, gathered into five sections:
Time-frequency Representations of
Musical Signals (four texts), Granular
Representations of Musical Signals
(two texts), Physical Model Repre-
sentation of Musical Signals (three
texts), Architecture and Object Repre-
sentations of Musical Signals (three
texts) and Parallel Distributed Proc-
essing Representations of Musical Sig-
nals (three texts). These sections are
clear reflections on the nature of mu-
sical signals and the variouswaysto con-
sider them. To help the reader grasp
120 Reviews
these various approaches, each cate-
gory is introduced by one of the edi-
tors.
Some papers present an overview
of a topic: in a very coherent manner,
each of the five categories has a paper
that to some extent can be consid-
ered a survey paper. Among the
broadest is the one byJean-Claude
Risset, a renowned composer and pio-
neer in computer music, on timbre
analysis by synthesis. His paper has a
substantial bibliography. Also of wide
scope, the article by Guy Garnett, a
composer and researcher from the
Center for New Music and Audio
Technologies (CNMAT) at the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley, deals
in a methodical fashion with the ques-
tion of time and temporal procedures
in the various aspects of music and sig-
nal representations. Because it is a
thorough and knowledgeable paper,
one can only wonder why the work of
recognized importance achieved by
Stephen Pope in this domain, which
has appeared in various publications,
is not explicitly mentioned.
The book has a comprehensive in-
dex section, composed of a name in-
dex and a wide subject index. Both in-
dexes are quite impressive in both
size and choice of entries.
Note
1. For more on the life and inventions of Hugh
Le Caine, see the review in this issue of Gayle
Young's TheSackbutBlues.
WHAT'S THE MATTER
WITH TODAY'S
EXPERIMENTAL
MUSIC? ORGANISED
SOUND TOO
RARELYHEARD
by Leigh Landy. Harwood Academic
Publishers, 1991. 308 pp. ISBN:
3-7186-5168-8. ISSN: 0891-5415
ReviewedbyDenis Smalley,Schoolof Mu-
sic, Universityof East Anglia, Norwich
NR4 7TJ,U.K
This book is based on the assumption
that over the last 15 years fewer com-
posers, musicians and listeners have
been interested in experimental mu-
sic. The introduction defines 'experi-
mental' and uses the concept of the
'parameter' to help delineate experi-
mentation. Part 2 is concerned with
contextual determinants: the media,
technology, community and accultura-
tion, and the political dimensions of
music. Part 3 reviews topics such as
form and structure, notation and per-
forming techniques and expands on
timbre, space and the media. Part 4 is
concerned with today's trends: elec-
troacoustic music, stylistic fusions,
'neo-' tendencies (neo-tonality, neo-
simplicity, neo-romanticism, the re-
vival of melody, etc.) and asks why
composers like Stockhausen, Boulez
and Berio have become milder. Part 5
exhorts educators, mediators and
composers to work toward educa-
tional change. The author calls for
more compositional participation in
(inter) media, a considered awareness
of technological applications, a con-
centration on local musical values, a
consciousness of political issues, an ex-
ploration of new parameters and
sounds (rather than notes), the devis-
ing of new criteria and terminologies,
more 'clues' in the music so that lis-
teners are helped, more attention fo-
cused on new techniques/notations,
and a search for new exemplary men-
tors. He looks towards an 'experimen-
tal synthesis' based on a reappraisal
of past experience. Part 6 comprises
studies of music considered experi-
mental: works by Ligeti, Berio, Carter,
Xenakis, Reich, Brown, Wolff, de
Leeuw, Risset and Shinohara.
Landy'sdefinition of 'experimental'
(p. 7) is unclear: "music in which the
innovative component (not in the
sense of newness found in any artistic
work, but instead substantial innova-
tion as clearlyintended by a composer)
of any aspect of a given piece takes
priority above the more general tech-
nical craftsmanship expected of any
artwork."
This definition does not correlate
with the works discussed in part 6. In-
novation before craft? Perhaps in the
case of Brown and Wolff. For the oth-
ers it is rather insulting. If I have mis-
understood the craft-innovation rela-
tionship it is because this is not
explained. 'Substantial innovation?'
Some (but not all) of these composers
may have been innovative, but not
necessarily substantially and not neces-
sarily in the works presented. The
trouble is that measuring the dose of
innovation is a difficult historical and
increasingly subjective task. Which his-
torical path does one create?
Landy is not sufficiently careful
with terms and definitions-for in-
stance, 'timbre'. It is loosely discussed
on pages 13, 84-85, 95-97 and 181-
182. Although timbre is one area
(along with space) where Landy pre-
dicts an experimental future, it is
never defined and its potential is not
mapped out even in the most specula-
tive sense. The reader's spontaneous
understanding of the many facets of
timbre cannot be assumed, and the
equation of timbre with 'sound
sources' (the only sense of definition
we get) is too simplistic an approach.
The intimate relationship between
pitch and timbre is not mentioned.
Consider also the term 'param-
eter': "all sound or compositional
components which can be isolated
and ordered" (p. 9, quoted from
Hausler, 1969). The idea of 'isolation'
is difficult when it comes to compo-
site parameters like form or timbre.
And the idea of 'order' is equally un-
comfortable. In how many works has
the 'parameter' space been both iso-
lated and ordered? This old serialist
interpretation of 'parameter' is too
narrow to be helpful.
Although I welcome the airing of
issues and agree with many of the atti-
tudes, whether expressed from the
composer's, performer's or listener's
viewpoint, I am not convinced that at
the book's end we are much nearer
an understanding of the question
mark behind the title. I would have
appreciated fewer rhetorical ques-
tions and a more penetrating analysis
of our postmodern musical condi-
tion. Landy does not assess the func-
tion of innovation in music, nor does
he convince me (a composer-sympa-
thiser) of the inner necessity for a
continuing experimental atmos-
phere. Our cultural climate is such
that art music is not as privileged as it
was, and the idea of progress, which
lies behind innovation and experi-
mentation, is under fire. But if we can
assume that innovation is necessary,
why does Landy not prove its poten-
tial more conclusively? What room is
there for innovation following the
post-war explosion?
Readers such as myself will find
this book superficial. It demands a
knowledge of contemporary music, so
it is not written for the average stu-
dent or musician. In spite of its
length there is not enough explana-
tory depth for the student except in
the work studies, which should prove
useful. It jumps about erratically in its
subject matter (there is only a name
index), yet it is an accessible read de-
livered with enthusiasm. However, I
find it too casual, written in the style
of an improvised talk, too often in a
grammar and syntax that no editor
should sanction. It is intended to in-
cite. I find it irritating, but perhaps
this irritation might incite me to write
about these issues myself, in which
case Landywill have partiallysucceeded.

II. Recordings
programs in his own instrumental
GO'l"TFRIED MICHAEL
and electronic music. Koenig has also
KOENIG: THE written many articles and given radio
ELECTRONIC WORKS talks, lectures and courses about elec-
tronic and computer music.
Acousmatrix 1/2. BV HAAST RE-
All the pieces in the CD set are for
CORDS, Amsterdam, the Nether-
tape only and follow the tendency of
lands, 1990. Double Compact disc
Cologne to use only electronically pro-
9001/2. 50 DG plus 9 DG handling duced sounds. In fact, the first three
fee.
pieces were produced in that studio.
II is a dem-
ReviewedbyAdolfoNiiuez, LIEM-CDMC, Klangfiguren (1955-1956)
onstration of the possibilities of organ-
Santa Isabel52, 28012 Madrid,Spain.
izing and manipulating sound by ab-
About 40 years ago the new availabil- stract criteria, such as the duration of
ity of the tape recorder allowed the each section, time-direction (accelera-
possibility of organizing sounds (mu- tion, deceleration, etc.), pitch-direc-
sic) in ways never heard before. The tion (rising, falling, etc.). In Essay
two well-known pioneer studios, Co- (1957-1958) the composer tries to
logne and Radio France, produced "strip electronic music of its instru-
two kinds of tape music, that of elec- mental character" by using sounds
tronically generated sound and that that are always "in a constant state of
of acoustic sound recorded from the flux". In TerminusI (1962), Koenig
world. This two-disc CD set features uses more mechanical production
the early electronic works of Koenig processes than in his previous pieces.
(born in 1926), one of the pioneers The remaining pieces were realized at
in the medium, who started working the Studio of Sonology (Utrecht).
in 1954 at the Studio of Cologne. The method for composition of Termi-
(Stockhausen, Eimert and Pousseur nus II (1966-1967) follows a bottom-
worked there at the same time). From up procedure: starting from a set of
1964 to 1986 Koenig has been the ar- synthesized sound fragments and
tistic director of the Institute of Sonol- their different transformations, he
ogy at Utrecht University (the Nether- puts these fragments and transforma-
lands). Koenig is also a pioneer in tions into a time sequence at the serv-
computer music: since 1964 he has de- ice of an overall form. Output(1979)
veloped the computer-composing pro- is one result of Koenig's PR1XM com-
grams Project 1, Project 2 and, re- puter-composition program-control-
cently, Project 3. He has used these ling the VOSIM sound system, it is a
sort of "piano reduction" (using only
pitch, loudness, rhythm and several
timbres). The second CD contains sev-
eral pieces belonging to the series of
Funktionen:FunktionRot (1968), Funk-
tion Grau (1969), FunktionViolett
(1969), FunktionBlau (1969), Funk-
tion Indigo (1969). These pieces were
produced with a voltage-control sys-
tem developed at the Studio of Sonol-
ogy. That system allowed Koenig new
ways of organizing sound; especially
important to him was the possibility
of using the sound as a control for
shaping other sounds.
From the perspective of the 1990s,
one thing that strikes my attention
when listening to these works is that
Koenig does not try to simulate any
sound space or psychoacoustic behav-
ior at all. Conversely, in the last 20
years one of the main efforts of tape
music has been to try to produce
sounds with 'natural', or 'human',
feeling, achieved by the electronic or
computer simulation of a performer
playing, a vibrating body or the rever-
beration of a room; from that aes-
thetic position, 'electronic' was a fre-
quently pejorative adjective for a
synthetic sound. It is important to lis-
ten to the music of this collection, in
which the composer's only goal is to
present the sounds (electronic, and
why not?) and their transformations,
as abstract as they are, reverberation
being present only at very punctual

Reviews 121