Category Archives: Teaching
Texture Notes
1. (Mostly Greek) terms in traditional music
- Monophonic—Varèse, Density 21.5 (1936)
- Homophonic (or homorhythmic)—The Star Spangled Banner (arr. Sousa c. 1931)
- Melody+accompaniment (or homophonic, if you call the above example homorhythmic)—James Taylor “Sweet Baby James”
- Antiphonal/call-and-response—Miles Davis, “So What”
- Pointilistic—Webern, op. 27, no. 2 (1936)
- Polyphonic/contrapuntal
- Heterophony—”Lonesome Valley” sung by the Fairfield Four
2. Textural devices
- Ostinato/riff/vamp—Holst, The Planets, mvt. 7 Mars, the Bringer of War (1916), Beatles, “Day Tripper” (1965)
- Descant—Mendelssohn, Wesley, et al (it’s complicated), “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”
- Drone—Haydn, Symphony 104, mvt. 4 (1795)
- Fill—Gershwin,Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
- Accent—Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 2 (1934)
- Hocket—Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 5 (1934)
- Pad—Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 6 (1934)
3. Texture can describe one moment or one voice among many
Mozart, Piano sonata No. 16, K. 545 (1788)
Stockhausen, Kontakte (1960) excerpt:
Gesture Notes
1. “Gesture” means something
What does “gesture” mean? Google it.
What does “gesture” imply about a musical sound?
2. Effective gestures are simple but interesting
Simplicity and complexity in gestures
Mozart, Piano sonata No. 16, K. 545 (1788) (listen for the up/down scale runs—where are they going?)
In what quantifiable parameters can a musical gesture exist?
Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 8 (1934)
Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, mvt. 1 (1936) (skip along to points between 0:00 and 4:20)
Britten, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, section H: Double basses (1946)
3. My favorite gesture
Stockhausen, Kontakte (1960)
Aesthetics Notes part 1: The Fresh Minds Festival Orientation
Classification & Representation Notes
1. Traditional ways: what’s vibrating? How does sound start?
Ways of classifying musical instruments
Hornbostel-Sachs classification system
2. Scientific classifications
Quantifiable ways of describing sound in terms of frequency, amplitude envelope, spectrum, etc.
More subjective, expressive ways of describing sound
A composition with a nice variety of isolated sounds to try describing: Varèse, Poème Électronique (1958)
3. Pictograms
Also called graphic scores or graphic notation. See examples here.
Technology-Based Performers
NOTE: Not every work you find at these links will qualify for your case study project, but these are sites where you will find many applicable works. Check the specific criteria for your case study in eCampus!
- Individual artist sites:
- Marina Abramovic (classic performance artist active in 1960s and again recently)
- Maryanna Amacher (composer and installation artist)
- Avatar Orchestra Metaverse (Second Life-based ensemble)
- Bluebrain (installation artists and site-specific composers)
- Cycling’74 artist interviews
- David Bithell (trumpeter, composer, and performance artist)
- Eduardo Kac (known for his telematic and bio art)
- Christina Kubisch (sound artist)
- Gazira Babeli (Second Life-based performance artist)
- Ryo Ikeshiro (audiovisual performer and installation artist)
- Jodi (net artists)
- Tod Machover (composer, creator of hyperinstruments and digital opera)
- Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG (net and installation artists)
- Network Ensemble (performance ensemble)
- Noisefold (audiovisual performers and installation artists)
- Alessandro Perini (composer and audiovisual artist)
- Joseph Butch Rovan (performer and installation artist)
- Second Front (Second Life-based performance art group)
- Laetitia Sonami (musician)
- STELARC (performance artist)
- Troika Ranch (dance company)
- Kristina Warren (vocalist)
- The Yes Men (activist performance artists)
- Art21 (PBS series and website featuring several contemporary artists)
- Rhizome.org
- Turbulence.org
- UbuWeb (collection of hard to find avant garde art)
Technology-Based Performances by TAMU Students
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGj3MQxsNpk
ZenMan X Performance for Video at Texas A&M University
In fall 2010, German Cellist Ulrich Maiß collaborated with TAMU students to create a full concert of new works using technology and improvisation as part of his ZenMan touring program. (Click here to see that performance.)
In spring 2016, Maiß returned to TAMU on his ZenMan X tour. Inspired by the recent release of performance materials by cellist and performance artist Charlotte Moorman, and reflecting on the fact that her work can now be experienced only through its documentation, often scant and poor in quality, Maiß and TAMU’s students created works of “performance for video”—live performances that consider all aspects of the live moment, created with more than just pitches and rhythms, works that were necessarily written for cello (or cellist) in some way, and whose significant features can still be experienced through its video documentation.
The entire performance is below in program order. Click each composer’s name to read artistic statements and portfolios of research, development, and creative work leading up to the creation of this performance. Continue reading
Your Project and Your Portfolio
Your Project and your Portfolio are two separate parts of your course grade. Here are the details on both. They will be due at 8:00 A.M. Wednesday, May 11—this is almost a week after the registrar-scheduled exam time, which was the due date listed in the syllabus.
Technical Rider, part 2 and Rehearsal and Shoot Plans
In addition to your continuing weekly progress reports reflecting any project-specific instructions and advice given in class (mock up recordings of your pieces!), include a the following in your next progress report, due at class time, Tuesday, April 19. Progress report is due Tuesday, April 19, but since I emailed you late about this post, you can take until class time Thursday, April 21 if you need. Continue reading