The Musicians of Memory – compositional silence and the audio-visuality of sound

As a multi-sensory composer I am concerned with the inter-relationship between the human voice and abstract sound and the use of rhythm, intonation, accent and tone as an original source for compositional exploration. In practice, this represents the use and application of voiced sound recorded in public spaces, including political demonstrations and rhetoric, as the stimuli for computer-aided composition. Using the inherent rhythmic patterns that occur in this context, I am concerned with the creation of a melodic abstract response while engaged in contemporary composition. Representing an opportunist and creative response to rendering sound using digital technologies without imposing pre-determined images, the need to “picture” a response is unnecessary – the imagery is in the sound and individual social, cultural and personal experiences. The Musicians of Memory intends to illustrate how irregular and regular audio phrases pass between generations, creating opportunities to reflect on the potential of digital sound to enhance our sense of space, time and compositional processing. This new work creates opportunities to consider the implications of using digital technologies as a means to a creative end. What is gained from processing sound in this way? What is lost when marginalising the analogue techniques of the past? How are new technologies influencing the ways we interact with and experience sound?

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Joe Osmond

Conference

Publication date: July 2016

Publication date (Print): July 2016

Pages: 49-52

Affiliations

[1 ] Multi-sensory Artist

Alton, Hampshire, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2016.10

SO-VID: 3e5eda3b-bc50-43e2-84d4-34ee0d049f22

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

Conference acronym: EVA

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 12 - 14 July 2016

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2016.10

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

J.J. Bharucha 1984 Anchoring effects in music: The resolution of dissonance. Cognitive Psychology 16 1984 485 518
A.S. Bregman 1994 Auditory Scene Analysis: The Perceptual Organization of Sound: Cambridge Mass MIT Press 1994 475
J. CageR. Kostelanetz 1987 The Aesthetics of John Cage: A Composite Interview: The Kenyon Review, New Series 9 4 Autumn 1987 116
O. ColemanN. Chinen 2006 Ornette Coleman: In His Own Language, Jazz Times 2006 ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://iazztimes.com/articles/17404-ornette-coleman-in-his-own-language">http://iazztimes.com/articles/17404-ornette-coleman-in-his-own-language
B. Eno 2005 Recording Another Day on Earth. ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct05/articles/brianeno.htm">http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct05/articles/brianeno.htm

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[1] J.J. Bharucha 1984 Anchoring effects in music: The resolution of dissonance. Cognitive Psychology 16 1984 485 518

[2] A.S. Bregman 1994 Auditory Scene Analysis: The Perceptual Organization of Sound: Cambridge Mass MIT Press 1994 475

[3] J. CageR. Kostelanetz 1987 The Aesthetics of John Cage: A Composite Interview: The Kenyon Review, New Series 9 4 Autumn 1987 116

[4] O. ColemanN. Chinen 2006 Ornette Coleman: In His Own Language, Jazz Times 2006 ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://iazztimes.com/articles/17404-ornette-coleman-in-his-own-language">http://iazztimes.com/articles/17404-ornette-coleman-in-his-own-language

[5] B. Eno 2005 Recording Another Day on Earth. ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct05/articles/brianeno.htm">http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct05/articles/brianeno.htm

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