![]() ![]() So, in the end I can't say that I really learned much from the book. I would much rather have seen some (pseudo)-code listings outlining reasonable baseline algorithms for implementing the various techniques discussed in the book. ![]() It pretty much just said "Look, this lets you adjust all of the parameters that we discussed in Chapter X". I also felt that the big chapter on windowed audio analysis was a bit difficult to contextualize only after reading about (and listening to) compositions that used phase vocoders and such in a later chapter did it become clearer.įinally, including an appendix describing the interface of a program that the author admits in the book is likely to be obsolete at the time of publication seems a bit wasteful. As a result, I think they're probably too technical for the casual reader, but not detailed enough for someone interested in implementing anything but the simplest technique. I found that they sit in a weird, uncomfortable spot on the spectrum between "purely descriptive and non-technical" and "full mathematical derivations". That leaves us with the descriptions of the techniques. The discussion of modern microsound compositions and the aesthetics of composition were interesting, even when accepting that of course it must be written with a heavy focus on the author's own works. No complaints there other than that often when I was reading I didn't have a means of listening to the referenced works. The history of microsound stuff is interesting. So all of that could be cut out with no major loss. Whether or not the latter is true (I'm no expert, but based on the sources quoted in the book, I guess it is), it has no impact on how a human composer would arrange sound or how a human listener would perceive it. Speaking of bloated, there is too much effort to link composition of microsounds with some kind of irrelevant physics-derived argument for the atomicity of sound. This interrupts the flow and makes the book a bit bloated. Way too much information is repeated without any acknowledgment of previous mentions, giving the impression that the chapters were written independently of each other. I want to like this but I think the book needs a serious editing session. Covering all aspects of composition with sound particles, Microsound offers composition theory, historical accounts, technical overviews, acoustical experiments, descriptions of musical works, and aesthetic reflections. Today, with the increased interest in computer and electronic music, many young composers and software synthesis developers are exploring its advantages. Distinguished practitioners include Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis. Composers have used theories of microsound in computer music since the 1950s. Sounds coalesce, evaporate, and mutate into other sounds. The sensations of point, pulse (series of points), line (tone), and surface (texture) emerge as particle density increases. Recent technological advances allow us to probe and manipulate these pinpoints of sound, dissolving the traditional building blocks of music-notes and their intervals-into a more fluid and supple medium. Below the level of the musical note lies the realm of microsound, of sound particles lasting less than one-tenth of a second. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |