11Science Influencing Musical Creativity

Question 1

Describe the ways in which Pythagoras contributed to music

Answer 1

Pythagoras tuning (syntonic temperament) - simple ratios, string length (e.g. 3:2 - untempered perfect 5th); Pythagorean scale based on stacked perfect 5th & octave (suited to pre-5th century music, based on consonant perfect 5ths; leading to rough 3rds); Harmony of the spheres - mathematical bases for stars & planets movement, matching musical notes

Question 2

Just intonation tuning was attributed to Ptolemy. What is it based on?

Answer 2

Simple integer ratios in all of the intervals (compared to a base note); all the partials are common

Question 3

Equal temperament was developed by Zhu Zaiyu (China) & Simon Stevin (Europe) in 1584-5. What is this based on?

Answer 3

Divides the octave into equal spaced intervals; each successive note is 100 cents higher than the previous note

Question 4

How many tones is the Gamelan based on?;
What about early Chinese music?;
And Arabic?

Answer 4

5 tones;
7 tones;
24 tones

Question 5

What is “limit” theorised as?

Answer 5

Upper bound of the complexity of harmony; prime numbers are subdivided by 3, 5, 7, 11, 13)

Question 6

Various composers have used mathematical influences on musical structure. Describe Schoenberg’s approach

Answer 6

12-tone system (i.e. serialism) - musical set theory (draws on ideas of mathematical logic, rules for sets of pitches: every pitch must be played once before being played again); various parametres can be quantified (e.g. pitch, duration, timbre, etc); used by Berg, Webern & Stravinsky

Question 7

Describe Messiaen’s application of maths to music;

What is the Fibonacci series based on?

Answer 7

Quartet for the End of Time - uses prime numbers; sounds unsettled (composed & premiered in German POW camp);
Adding last number to the next (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc) gives a sense of growth, used by many composers (e.g. Bartok & Debussy)

Question 8

Who developed Chance music & composed “Music of changes” in 1951?;
How was this composed?

Answer 8

John Cage;

By using I Ching to arrive at random numbers for duration, tempo & dynamics

Question 9

Iannis Xenakis’s composition “Pithprakta”, also used chance processes in the compositional process. How was this done?

Answer 9

By using probability theories to determine certain sound elements within sections

Question 10

How did Karlheinz Stockhausen use chance elements within the performance of “Klavierstück XI (1956)?

Answer 10

Events were traditionally precomposed, but the sequence of events was determined during the performance

Question 11

Describe how Morton Feldman (composer of King of Denmark, 1964), replaced traditional notation with graphical notation

Answer 11

He used a grid of sonic events (high, med, low), numbers, letters & symbols, representing articulations & instrument, but the performer determined instrument choice

Question 12

Describe Musique Concréte, developed in the 1940s;

Answer 12

It’s a form of electroacoustic music - uses acoustic sounds (e.g. musical instruments, voice, natural environment) & those created electronically (e.g. using synthesizers & signal processing techniques)

Question 13

What idea developed out of Musique Concréte?

Answer 13

Acousmatic sound - music being heard without seeing the sound source

Question 14

Who developed the compositional practice of Musique Concréte in 1942?;
Around the same time, what was Halim El-Dabh doing in Egypt?

Answer 14

Pierre Schaeffer; he experimented with radiophonic technology of the time, in his Studio d’Essai;
Experimenting with tape composition (The Expression of Zaar)

Question 15

In 1951, Shaeffer teamed up with percussionist, Pierre Henry & sound engineer, Jacques Poullin, to develop what?;
This attracted many classical composers, but what else did it lead to in the jazz domain?

Answer 15

GRM - a broadcasting corporation via an electroacoustic studio in France;
Recorded works incorporating jazz elements & live jazz ensemble with magnetic tape parts

Question 16

What technologies & sound manipulation techniques were used in early Musique Concréte?

Answer 16

Shellac recorders & players (using resin ground from a beetle, to make a layer, then frequencies & amplitudes scratched onto it); mixing desks; mechanical reverb; filters; microphones; & they manipulated sound through transposition, looping, sample extraction, filtering

Question 17

What did Fritz Pfleumer invent in Germany in 1927?;

What did German engineers (from AEG company) then create?

Answer 17

Magnetic tape;

Magnetic reel to reel tape recorder

Question 18

How did composers of Musique Contréte use the magnetic tape?;
Which composition by Pierre Schaeffer & Pierre Henry is an example of this?

Answer 18

They put the tape on a splicing block & cut it up into different patterns, & then stuck them back together;
Apostrophé (Symphony for One Man Alone, 1949-50)

Question 19

Name the four different technologies that were used in Musique Concréte

Answer 19

Morphophones; phonogénes; studio 54 mixing desk; computer interface

Question 20

What are morphophones & how were they used?

Answer 20

Tape loop-delay mechanisms; tape loop was stuck to a rotating disk & the sound was picked up at varying points on the tape by 10 magnetic heads; the resulting sound was passed through a series of bandpass filters & amplified

Question 21

What were phonogénes & how were they used?

Answer 21

Keyboard operated tape machine, designed to play loops; chromatic - tape loop driven by multiple capstans at varied speeds allowing the production of short bursts of tape sounds at varying pitches; sliding - created a continuous tone by varying the tape speed via a control rod; universal - allowed transposition of pitch without altering the duration of the sound

Question 22

Why was the Studio 54 mixing desk so influential?

Answer 22

The synthesiser and desk were combined & organised in a way it could be used easily by a composer; as well as 24 mixing tracks, it had a coupled connection patch, permitting the organisation of the machines & remote controls for operating tape recorders

Question 23

What was the computer interface designed for?

Answer 23

Composers to input their sounds into a computer; the user would launch calculations for new sounds by using processing software & input necessary information through the interface; they’d edit & mix it, then record it on tape

Question 24

What do the Moog & Buchla synthesizers have in common?;

Answer 24

They both have voltage controlled modular components (containing oscillators, amplifiers, filters, ribbon controllers & envelope generators)

Question 25

How do Moog’s & Buchla’s synths differ?

Answer 25

Moog’s was based on a clavier keyboard, uses patch cords to join various components, has 1 sequencer & is used in the recording studio; Buchla’s has 3 sequencer modules so can mix on the fly; instead of a keyboard, it features capacitance plates & their changing voltage levels can be directed to different musical parameters; is better for live performance

Question 26

What do the parametres on a synthesiser, ADSR stand for?

Answer 26

Attack, delay, sustain, release

Question 27

Which artist produced the album, Switched on Bach, using the Moog synthesiser & custom 8-track recorder?

Answer 27

Wendy Carlos

Question 28

Who incorporated synthesizers into jazz ensembles?

Answer 28

Herbie Hancock

Question 29

Name 3 ways in which artists collaborated with live electronic music

Answer 29

John Cage & Merce Cunningham - Variations V (1965); multimedia collaboration - dance, music, live electronics, video; dancers’ movements triggering sounds (others controlled by musicians)

Question 30

What does MIDI stand for?;

When was the technical standard MIDI developed?

Answer 30

Musical Instrument Digital Interface;

1983

Question 31

What does MIDI do?

Answer 31

It’s a communication messaging protocol, digital interface for connecting electronic musical instruments, computers & other devices

Question 32

How many channels of information are communicated via MIDI?;

What kind of information do they convey?

Answer 32

16 in a single link;

Pitch value & associated parametres (e.g. pitch, velocity, amplitude & duration)

Question 33

When was ambient & environmental music first introduced?

Answer 33

1950s-60s

Question 34

John Cage’s 1952 composition, 4min 33s, was initially composed for piano, & later recast for any instrument & duration. What was it based on?

Answer 34

Chance-determined timings for movements; I - 33s; II - 2 mins 40s; III - 1 min 20s; music as silence (conveys the notion that silence doesn’t really exist)

Question 35

Who composed World Rhythms (1975), used tape composition, travelogues of nature sounds, & set pianos on fire?

Answer 35

Annea Lockwood

Question 36

Who composed Music for Airports (1978), & created short pieces of electronic background music?

Answer 36

Brian Eno

Question 37

What did Haverford physicist, Walter Smith develop?

Answer 37

Physics songs - musical physics parodies; a way of remembering physics, periodic tables, etc., through song

Question 38

CERN physicist, Kate McAlpine, wrote & performed the Large Hadron Rap. It contained a musical overview of potential LHC discoveries, such as what?

Answer 38

Nature of particles, constituting matter (particles with mass) & radiation (mass-less particles); CERN’s Large Hadron Collider - Higgs particle (collisions between protons)

Question 39

Which musicologist first proposed that expectation plays an important role in affect aroused through music listening?

Answer 39

Meyer

Question 40

Identify some areas of the brain that would be activated when an instrumental musician reads & plays a musical score & explain why

Answer 40

Occipital lobe (vision); frontal lobe (memory, planning & executive functions); sensorimotor (motor skills); somatosensory (tactile stimulation); auditory cortex in temporal lobes (hearing); amygdala in limbic system (emotion); hippocampus (memory); cerebellum (rhythmic entrainment)