tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post6975964469834890324..comments2024-03-19T02:17:02.381-02:30Comments on → Music Composition Weblog ←: SpectralismClark Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13153382609775397798noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-3701173185202787512023-03-10T23:09:20.259-03:302023-03-10T23:09:20.259-03:30I actually really like the idea of spectralism, wh...I actually really like the idea of spectralism, which doesn’t surprise me, since the emotions and the atmosphere are what I tend to listen for the most in the music that I like, and that is almost all that spectral music seems to be on the surface. I also think that it’s interesting that, assuming you follow the Wikipedia definition with the spectrograms, then there is also a visual component, where you would be linking figures together by the actual electronic visualization of sound. But even despite any technical factors, the colour is really the focal point of the music, which in my opinion lends itself to so many different uses. <br /><br />I also find the disparity between definitions and composers to be funny, because in general, there always seems to be someone who disagrees with other people’s perceptions of the music. In terms of Murail’s opinion, I do think that calling spectralism an aesthetic is fitting, although I would argue that ‘style’ and ‘aesthetic’ go hand in hand to an extent. And personally, while I would agree that music is the active evolving of sound, I would also question the wording of “not so much a set of techniques as an attitude.” Much like my opinion on style and aesthetic, I think attitude can only get you started before it requires a set of techniques to be properly executed, and no piece, especially if it’s just atmospheric, can be truly unified without some sort of underlying technique. I would also be interested in hearing how the composers who disagree with the term ‘spectralism’ think that it is reductive. What is it that they see in their music, and that they feel is being stripped away by trying to give it some sort of classification, no matter how broad?<br />Madison Brayehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170508857396492611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-57670350572306474082022-04-10T15:23:23.970-02:302022-04-10T15:23:23.970-02:30Phenomenal blog post! I find most talk of genre in...Phenomenal blog post! I find most talk of genre in relation to composition a little difficult to relate to, preferring instead to explain what techniques were used; in that way I am very much in agreement with Evan. In fact I personally believe that it is entirely unnecessary to think about genre when composing music purely for yourself (of course, this will not hold true if being commissioned for a specific genre of music). It can only be limiting to think of oneself as a specific type of composer, musician, or any other type of artist, though this is unrelated to understanding what you are skilled at. In general, genres should be applied to a piece of music after it has been fully realised, if only so as to not interfere with the artist creating it. If that artist wants to compose in a certain style then all the power to them, but telling an artist that they ONLY create in a certain style limits them. This all got a bit off-topic from spectralism, which I think is a wonderful technique to use while writing.Liamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11144248089424471493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-36865231511919397502022-03-03T16:50:14.007-03:302022-03-03T16:50:14.007-03:30I kind of like the idea in this blog post that gen...I kind of like the idea in this blog post that genres can be up to your interpretation and don't have to be set by strict rules. If you interpret your music as spectralism, why can't it be? I feel that this gives composers a lot less of a pressure to try and fit into categories and also helps them to expand the direction of genres. <br />I also find it interesting that spectralism is considered more of a compositional style than a genre. This relates to the fact that spectralism is more of a technique for composing music as opposed to a set sound that composers aspire to recreate. <br />I honestly think that finding techniques for composing like spectralism, 12 tone or other styles is a lot better than trying to write in a certain genre because it gives you room to let your own influences shine instead of forcing yourself to write music you may not relate to.Evan Westnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-52290175311591155422020-09-29T01:55:57.913-02:302020-09-29T01:55:57.913-02:30That's very interesting the trueness of how ev...That's very interesting the trueness of how everyone could understand a term and even its definition differently, as what I have understood as spectral music from reading your post on music with no melody differ slightly from all the examples given in this post. I was defining some of the impressionism style music as "spectral", but they definitely are more melodious and conventionally structured.One thing that I noticed in common is the lack of a clear sense of steady meter/pulse, either polyrhythm/compound meter is present or there's no meter or other clear rhythmical restrictions. For example, while I tried to orchestrate Ravel's Oiseaux tristes from Miroirs to achieve the "spectral" quality I hear from this piece, I had a hard time assigning meters to different sections/instruments as there were a lot of meter changes in the original score. Plus there were lots of duple against triple meter rhythms. And the orchestra also had a hard time to sight read it. It was just not the kind of straight forward music that could be sight readable, rather it requires more practice so the players can feel the pulse and the flow of the piece. The examples were very inspiring. Although I think the link to Gérard Grisey's Partiels isn't valid anymore, you may want to update it. I think I would have a try on spectralism, in the way I understand it, with my miniature character piece instead of minimalism, as I think my all Bb movement could already be categorized into minimalism. So thank you for all the great info!Christina Tannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-37015035768823397082020-03-26T20:37:19.735-02:302020-03-26T20:37:19.735-02:30Spectralism is a concept which has intrigued me fo...Spectralism is a concept which has intrigued me for a while, as I never really understood what makes a spectral piece "spectral". Wikipedia's definition is equally confounding, does this mean that composers are taking spectrograms of pieces they write and trying to make something interesting visually there? How does the spectro-analysis inform the composition process? I think the 2003 Istanbul definition is better, but I would argue that there exists lots of music written well before the 70s that focuses on timbre as a driving force of the composition. I think most contemporary composers are interested in the wide world of sounds available on each instrument (I cannot tell you how many times I have googled "extended techniques "), but timbre goes beyond the world of contemporary music and is really one of the things that defines different genres and styles altogether. <br /><br />EX: A jazz saxophonist can play "classical" pitches and rhythms, but it will definitely still sound within the jazz canon because of the embouchure being used by the saxophonist.<br /><br />So I guess all music is in some way spectralist, whatever that actually means.Luke Blackmorenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-18733575825555954782018-01-28T10:49:20.303-03:302018-01-28T10:49:20.303-03:30Music has countless purposes in everyday life: mot...Music has countless purposes in everyday life: motivation, entertainment, communication, storytelling, and so on. However, one of the foundation goals of music is to spread an emotion. When listening to Spectral music (I am listening to Ian Dumitrescu Cogito/Trompe l'Oeil right now) emotion is portrayed very clearly. Despite the fact that this music is not over powering in terms of the number of instruments, and does not have a clear metre, it can very effectively convey an emotion with texture and colour. Since some foundational aspects of music are not present in spectralism the colour of the music dominates and becomes very effective. Spectral music seems would be difficult to compose because of its thin texture and exposure of each pitch, but however difficult the end result is effective! I would like to experiment with spectral music or something similar. Naomi Pinnonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-2051575557523656322017-04-10T23:25:18.328-02:302017-04-10T23:25:18.328-02:30I have tried composing music where the main focus ...I have tried composing music where the main focus was colour and not melody, I did it mostly through electronic sounds which I mixed together and altered using Audacity. In the end I was not as satisfied with these pieces as I usually am with the melody-based pieces I write, but they did produce some interesting results, and were a lot of fun to make. I tried using spectrograms in this music, and I found a free program that will convert an image into spectrogram, allowing you to listen to it: http://www.nicolasfournel.com/?page_id=125<br />I found it particularly interesting to input images of words and use the resulting sound in a piece, this way you can hide messages in it which can only be read by looking at a spectrogram of the piece.Kristin Willsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-22958610699144066462017-03-19T22:21:54.829-02:302017-03-19T22:21:54.829-02:30Spectralism was introduced to me as "music th...Spectralism was introduced to me as "music that is based on the overtone series." Now if that's not vague I don't know what is. But I will say that it is a genre or 'aesthetic' that I am very curious about. I really enjoyed the Murail piece, and loved Andre's comment^^ about his interpretation of spectralism.<br /><br />I'll leave this link to a scrolling score-video of the first "spectral" piece that blew me away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXaNFBzgDWI Gerard Grisey - Vortex Temporum<br /><br />Like Andre said, it's impossible not to hear the "cause-and-effect" temperament of the this music, and the "ripples of sound" are obvious, especially in the opening.<br /><br />Even if you don't plan on writing purely spectral music, you can learn so much about the possibilities of timbre by studying scores or even just listening to these pieces. An excellent way to expand your "composer's toolbox."Robert Humbernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-461477471965743892015-04-14T12:51:29.146-02:302015-04-14T12:51:29.146-02:30I was very recently introduced to this genre of mu...I was very recently introduced to this genre of music. Dr. Staniland lent me a Tristan Murail CD. I really enjoyed the music, and though I wasn't aware that spectralism was a style, I had the impression from listening that this music was more about creating an organism that moves as naturally as possible. To me it seems that though there is no clear melody, all the parts move and are initiated by events. These events are triggering sympathetic ripples in the sound that just continue on. To me, the way it interacts with itself resembles more closely something you would hear or see in nature than any music I have heard before. A very interesting aesthetic. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14120585752969074918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-33404530678244648592013-12-13T11:52:56.522-03:302013-12-13T11:52:56.522-03:30I recently downloaded an app released by Oxford wa...I recently downloaded an app released by Oxford wave research that uses my iPhone's microphone to capture spectrograms. I find myself exploring new sound scapes, looking at overtones that crowds create, it might be applause in a concert hall, the radio in my car, or a walk downtown. It gives valuable insight into the "music" that we hear everywhere in today's busy world. Thinking about creating spectral music is very interesting, and seems quite easy to get the desired effect. The relationship between physical music and mathematics have always interested me, things like proportions and symmetry. This is certainly an idea work exploring.Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14970847374285948602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-22076846707786505892013-12-12T20:11:27.442-03:302013-12-12T20:11:27.442-03:30Something I find about spectralism is that there i...Something I find about spectralism is that there is an electronic component to picking the content of your music that I find too much to get a hold of. What I mean is that I find the technology to be an obstacle, because I am someone who finds it difficult to learn to use technology to its greatest advantage. I find the aesthetic very fascinating, but the technique intimidating.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06802021014032324367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-17701422902450278422012-12-10T01:14:12.843-03:302012-12-10T01:14:12.843-03:30Is it just me, or does it seem that every time a m...Is it just me, or does it seem that every time a musician or musicians come along that end up essentially defining a genre, they reject the label!? So strange. Either way great blog post! I love this kind of music, and have actually been diving into a lot of music that has tone colours as it's primary focus for a few years now. Although, I had never heard the term spectralism exactly which is why I was drawn to this blog post. I think it kind of goes without saying that I believe music does not necessarily need to have a melody or driving pulse in order to feel "structured", but I often feel that timbre is something integral and just as important as melody or rhythm in any piece. It seems to sometimes be that one thing that makes a certain piece successful that you can't put your finger on! <br /><br />Anyways I may be writing a lot for a comment, and I have some new composers to check out now!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347060177132863892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-68215569903816850602012-04-09T23:23:40.232-02:302012-04-09T23:23:40.232-02:30I'd be interested to hear about (successful) m...I'd be interested to hear about (successful) music that was composed due to a complete misunderstanding of its own attempted aesthetic.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11236827511863552339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-75851587731982511612012-03-08T16:52:04.327-03:302012-03-08T16:52:04.327-03:30Thanks for the videos - they are some lovely examp...Thanks for the videos - they are some lovely examples of this type of music. I think we often get too caught up in having something to 'sing in our heads'; experiencing music doesn't just have to be about hearing tunes, but enjoying a shifting soundscape.Bekah Simmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02497105701024316871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-61914510902454127642012-03-01T22:01:01.855-03:302012-03-01T22:01:01.855-03:30Surprisingly, I quite like this type of music (as ...Surprisingly, I quite like this type of music (as usually I'm partial to things that are closer to the "normal" end of compositional techniques). I like the fact that the parts are united by their sound (ie. when the strings are plucking, the piano also becomes very sparse and staccato). I never really considered the possibility of that being a technique to try before.Olivia Buddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01112652421044124470noreply@blogger.com