Week Five 21/10/14

Work in Lecture

Within this lecture we focused on both abstract music and aleatoric music. This followed on perfectly from the previous session as this style of music relates to improvisation and chance writing.

Our groups idea from last week was based on the stimulus we were provided with as shown in Fig.12;

 

Fig.12

Rather than creating an abstract piece, we took something visual and made it literal by creating a concept. We thought that the image resembled a heart monitor so we thought it would be effective to use a heartbeat as the underlying bass line. The concept we created was based on 'life' meaning that we could feature either human sounds or everyday sounds such as cars and busy streets. The lines on the page may resemble life progressing; starting at birth, then increasing in size to show the increase in age and then finally ending on a straight line symbolising death. We got inspiration from a piece named Raindrop Prelude;

 

The recurring raindrop is similar to the idea we want to create with a heartbeat sound. We were asked to consider five questions when evaluating performances;

1. Would you class this as a musical performance?
2. What do you think the composer/performance was trying to communicate?
3. Do you think the group approached the task in the right way?
4. What would you have done differently?
5. Is this their work or the composers?

I believe that our groups idea, when fully devised and created will be a very musical performance with a powerful meaning. The way we create the piece will be extremely effective in terms of what we are trying to communicate. I do not necessarily think that our ideas were the same as the composers as it is a very abstract image and our piece has context, but it is a different way to look at it and create something new. Our group definitely approached the task in the right way but unfortunately we were unable to create the final devised piece due to the fact that it would not be solely our work, we would need to use recorded sounds and organise them to create the piece. If we carried out the task again, I think we could of approached the image in a more abstract manor and simply created what was on the page rather than thinking too deeply into meaning and concept. I have researched into the sound effects we could potentially use within the devised piece. We can use this basis to develop our initial idea further in the future to create a more abstract piece;

Heartbeat sound effect

To symbolise the heartbeat within life. This sound is used as the bass.

 

Baby Crying sound effect

To symbolise birth and the start of the piece.

 

Children Playing Sound Effect

To symbolise life progression into childhood.

 

Traffic Sound Effect.

To symbolise further progression in life and portray how life develops.

 

Conversation Sound Effect.

To again symbolise progression in life.

 

Mobile Phone Sound Effect.

To symbolise the progression of society and life in terms of technology.

 

Heart Monitor Flat Line Sound Effect.

To symbolise the end of life within the piece.

When considering abstract music and its origins, art is the greatest influence; abstract art came first and abstract pieces of music followed. Abstract art and music is thought of as being unusual and different; artists think outside of the box. Within abstract music, there are usually no words or lyrics, as words assign meaning and the pieces do not require any meaning. Pieces are unrepresentational, unique and different with no repetition or recurring themes. This type of music forces the audience to question their thoughts as they are provided with nothing; they need to think and create their own concept behind the music. Musical artists want their audience to appreciate their music and create their own meaning;

'Music seems more abstract than other art forms because it represents emotional states, symmetry and repetition, and other intangibles. But just because you can’t see or touch these things, doesn’t make them any less real. In preliterate societies, music was probably one of the best methods for storing and conveying complex stories and information.' (Ethan Hein 2011)

One very powerful musical example was created by Boris Blatcher in 1953. He devised a German non-verbal opera without a story which involved only very simple movement. A more modern version of abstract music includes computer music with digital sound. Electronic music is now popular in the modern day which shows that the art is still very much alive. An effective example of the development is Maelstrom by Steinvord in 2012.  

Boris Blacher's piece

 

 

 Steinvord's piece

 

 

Aleatoric music is a sub-genre of abstract music which also links to what we looked at last week (chance writing).

 

'Simply speaking, aleatoric music is any music that has certain elements left to chance. Leaving something to chance is not the same thing as making a mistake or creating a new interpretation of an established piece. In aleatoric music, the ensemble, dynamics, rhythm, pitch, or form are randomly generated and performed.' (uremusic 2014)

 

This type of music can be created in three ways;

1. Use of random procedures to produce a determinate, fixed score
2. Mobile Form
3. Indeterminate notation, including graphic notation and texts

Although I struggled to understand the concept of abstract music at the beginning of the lecture, after listening to various different examples and gaining more knowledge on the technique, I feel like I understand the music a lot more. I feel that I am now able to question the music's merits and appreciate other ways that music can be created. In terms of my final performance, I think I may struggle to create a piece that does not necessarily have a narrative. Although learning about this style was extremely interesting, I think I will find it very difficult to create something within this genre myself so I think I will try to avoid it.

Next weeks task involves small groups creating a piece influenced by this session; the piece created needs to be either abstract or aleatoric. We were provided with a stimulus as a starting point. The object we selected was an egg shape with a smaller round object inside which created sound when shaken. Within my group we are going to try to think outside the box and not go for the obvious option; we want our piece to fit the abstract criteria and be interesting for our listening audience. We recorded a short extract of the sound the object makes to inspire our ideas for the piece;

Individual Vocal Work

When working on my individual work, I focused on developing my vocal skills in terms of increasing my range. As a performer I really want to improve so that I am able to sing a wider range of songs and make me more versatile as a vocalist. Two exercises I have used are displayed below;

 

This exercise challenged me in terms of the range used but it helped me to focus not only on the starting and ending notes, but the notes in between. It has assisted me to strengthen my voice and be more confident when reaching more demanding notes within a song.

 

 



 

These exercises also helped me to develop my vocal range, even more effectively than the previous video. You are provided with very in-depth instructions so you are fully aware of what to do and what not to do to ensure that the exercises are carried out correctly. The video then provides music to rehearse the exercise to which I felt was extremely beneficial.