Christian Maclay - Night Music
The Materialism of Sound
Experimental Sound Synthesis, Sp 2024
American composer
(1932 - 2016)
Deep Listening Practice
To hear physically means that vibrations or waveforms that are within the range of human hearing (in frequency typically 16hz to 20,000hz and amplitude 0.05dB to 130dB) can be transmitted to the auditory cortex by the ear and perceived as sounds. However, the word hear has many more dynamics and meanings within a cultural history that is continually changing.
To Hear, according to the Miriam Webster Dictionary, can mean “to listen attentively, or that information has been received especially by ear, or to hear somebody or something, or to consider something officially as a judge, commissioner, or member of a jury, or to fully understand something, or to attend Mass or hear confession in a Roman Catholic Church”.
Listening has very little definition compared to hearing. Though the two words are often used interchangeably, their meanings are different. To listen according to the Miriam Webster Dictionary means “to give attention to sound or sounds or to perceive with the ear, to hear with thoughtful attention, to consider seriously.
Name 10 sounds you heard during the session
2. Michel Chion and the Modes of listening
Musique Concrete and the concept of “Sound Objects”
Basis of the sampling culture, utilizes recorded sounds as musical materials
The recorded raw sounds are often manipulated to form new compositional materials
A practice developed by French composer Pierre Schaeffer in early 1940s, as an alternative to the Germanic elecktroniche musik (synthesized sounds)
Sound example: Etude aux chemin de fer (1948)
The Concept of “Sound Objects”
“This unit of sound [sound object] is the equivalent to a unit of breath or articulation, a unit of instrumental gesture. The sound object is therefore an acoustic action and intention of listening” Schaeffer
Believes that sound objects should be free from its sonic origin (i.e. non-causal understanding, “let sound be sound)
This understanding of sound forms the basis of acousmatic music (Sound that is heard without the origin being seen => music that is composed to be performed/perceived via speakers)
Sampling -The Orchestra Hit
Fairelight CMI
C. 1975, Australia, Peter Vogel
First synth, sampler, and DAW
Allows visual sequencing and sampling in real time using the a digital pen
Sound Library on 8-inch floppy discs
Popularized by users such as Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush in the 80s
This one is housed in MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio) Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia
Orch 2 sample
Sampled in:
Planet Rock (Afrika Bambaataa,
The Soulsonic) 1982
Something 2 Dance 2 (N.W.A) 1992
Lucky (Britney Spears)2000
Finesse (Bruno Mars, Cardi B) 2017
……etc. More than 50,000 samples to date
The list goes on and on
Sampling as a sonic
assemblage
Found Object aesthetics
Collage
Sound as Objects
Time-Based Assemblage
Herbie ->
Sound: Oscillation in pressure (caused by stress, particle displacement, velocity.. etc.)
Oscillation in pressure
Sound source
Sound source
Sample Rate
The number of times the audio is captured per second
Bit Depth
Number of “bits” captured in each sample per second
#bits = level of precision
8 bits= 1byte
24 bits is the standard for audio recording (concerns with amplitude ie. loud/soft, dynamics)
8-bit audio vs 16-bit
MULE theme synthesized on Commodore 64
Mario Brothers 3, NES
Synthesized sounds from basic waveforms
Buffer Size
Buffer size is the amount of time allowed for your computer to process the audio of your sound card or audio interface.
A higher buffer size will result in greater latency (delay) and the higher it is set (larger number), the more noticeable it will become. The lower buffer size (smaller number) will take less time to process sound and the latency (delay that you hear) will be decreased, making it less noticeable.
The lower size will also require the computer to use more resources to process data so the correct level should be set according to the computational power of the device.
Different types of Microphones
- Cardioid
Typically robust,
cheap
Figure 8 (bidirectional)
Relatively flat frequency response, but fragile, often expensive
Omnidirectional
XY Pattern
x/y, 2 cardioide
Stereo Image
Class activity