Spectral Music 2.0

In a previous post I detailed my increasing interest in "spectral music" and the use of FFT analysis for producing very unique sounds and compositions. The "sounds" could be described as being similar to those produced by granular synthesis. The possibilities that FFT analysis offers for live performance is incredible.

Below is a brief definition of Spectral Music -

"Spectral music (or spectralism) is a musical composition practice where compositional decisions are often informed by the analysis of sound spectra. Computer based sound spectrum analysis using a Fast Fourier transform is one of the more common methods used in generating descriptive data. Using FFT analysis, features of a particular sound spectrum can be visualized using a spectrogram. Spectral composition focuses, then, on bringing out these features, interconnecting them, and transforming them. This analytical approach to spectral composition originated in France in the early 1970s and the techniques were primarily developed, and later refined, at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, Paris, and with the Ensemble l'Itinéraire, by composers such as Gerard Grisey and Tristan Murail. However, Murail has described Spectral music as an aesthetic rather than a style, an attitude towards composition rather than a set of techniques - the attitude being that "music is ultimately sound evolving in time" . It has been suggested, however, that a number of major practitioners of this compositional method consider the term inappropriate, misleading, and reductive. More recently (2003) the Istanbul Spectral Music Conference redefined 'spectral music' to encompass any music that foregrounds timbre as an important element of structure or musical language".

There is also an upcoming performance of Spectral Music in October:

Spectrum XXI: international festival of Spectral Music

12, 13, 15 October at 7pm, The Warehouse, 13 Theed Street, London SE1

17 October at 7pm, LSO St. Luke's, 161 Old Street, London ECIV

Compostions by Iancu Dumitrescu, Ana-Marie Avram, Giacinto Scelsi, Iannis Xenakis, Tim Hodgkinson, Costin Cazaban, Horatiu Rodulescu and Mario Diaz De Leon

You can listen live on Resonance 104.4 FM (UK)

http://resonancefm.com/

There is also a lengthy interview with Iancu Dumitrescu in the October 2009 issue of The Wire -

http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/3042/

Shock Tactics

Recently I have begun a compostitional collaboration with MJ Heat of X+X. Our compostion/collaboration is a "game piece" titled 'Shock Tactics'. Heat and I collaborate with an ever-changing lineup of Quad Citites jazz, punk, noise and rock musicians, collectively known as the Shock Tactics Ensemble.

"Game piece is a concept of experimenatl music having its roots with composers Christian Wolff and John Zorn. Game pieces may be considered controlled improvistaion. An essential characteristic is that there is no pre-arranged sequence of events. They unfold freely according to certain rules, like in a sports game. Therefore, game pieces have elements of improvisation. A number of methods can be used to determine the direction and evolution of the music, including hand gestures and shuffled cards, as in his file-card compositions. Zorn's game piece "Cobra", which has been recorded several times for various labels, uses a combination of cards and gestures and can be performed by an ensemble of any size and composition. Zorn's game pieces, written in the late 1970s and mid-1980's, include Cobra, Hockey, Lacrosse, and Xu Feng. His file-card compositions include Spillane and Godard".

http://www.myspace.com/shocktactics1

Fear Of Music - edition one

'Fear of Music - edition one', the first in a bi-weekly series of mixes inspired by my recent reading of 'Fear of Music' by David Stubbs. Each mix will be approx. 30 minutes in length and feature a mix of noise, improv, modern composition and electronic music. In the book 'Fear Of Music', the author poses the question, "why people get Rothko but don't get Stockhausen". The book examines the parallel histories of modern art and modern music and examines why one if embraced and understood and the other ignored, derided or regarded with bewilderment, as noisy, random nonsense perpetuated by, and listned to by the inexplicably crazed.



Tracklisting:



Nic Endo - 'Mask Indentity' (7:23)
Steve Roden - 'Rust' (3:40)
Gert Jan Prins - 'RingFlirtsinterlude' (1:36)
Worms In Dirt - '3' (2:36)
R/S One - '6:51' (6:51)
Kronos Quartet - 'Arioso' (7:24)
Autechre - 'Fold4,wrap5' (3:57)



http://www.archive.org/details/FearOfMusic-EditionOne