– A sentiment after the seventh round of Music Colloquium
Zark Browning, a Music Composition professor from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, came to our Music Colloquium with a flutist and a pianist to give us a lecture on May 26, 2009. The topic was "Numbers and Music", as a matter of fact, focusing on Golden Sections and Magic Square.
At first, he provided different genres of music and scores, ranging from popular music to classical music, as evidence to prove the existence of Golden Sections and its effect. Then he introduced a composing method, Magic Square, which has been used in his works. Some of his compositions were played by human and machine simultaneously, but the latter one is only a recording, not an interactive program. One of the performers told us that it is always a challenge to play with an absolutely precise part without any cue especially on the connection point, whereas the composer said this kind of tension is tremendously fascinating. Finally, there was a small workshop after the colloquium. He showed the detail of his musical idea structure and let the pianist play each specific element.
"The characteristic feature of art of all kinds is that it combines objective criteria and methods with choice making. The difference between art and algorithm is that deterministic methodology (algorithm) always produces the same result from the same inputs, whereas nondeterministic methodology may produce variable results even with the same inputs." [2] Music, a kind of the nondeterministic methodology, may be something about numbers. Many people have been curious about their relationship for a long time.
Frankly speaking, I was somewhat disappointed with Professor Zark Browning's lecture. I appreciated his compositions but not the content of his speech. First of all, it might result from the topic title, "Numbers and Music". Since he actually wanted to talk about the numeric circumstances such as the ratio and the origin of chosen material, he may as well use "Numbers in Music".
On the other hand, as far as I am concerned, his examples of Golden Sections were little persuasive. The ratio seemed the same, but the context was very different in each piece. Therefore the influence was not surely significant. "Musical cognition implies the simultaneous recognition of a permanent and a changeable element...for the apprehension of music depends upon those two faculties, sense perception and memory; for we must perceive the sound that is present, and remember that which is past. In no other way can we follow the phenomenon of music." [1]
Last but not least, as a composer who loves to play numbers, he was supposed to bring us more mathematical and aesthetic perspectives, rather than several composing tools. "Mathematics is the result of mysterious powers which no one understands and in which the unconscious recognition of beauty must play an important part. Out of infinity of designs a mathematician chooses on pattern for beauty's sake and pulls it down to earth." [3] "Guido d'Arezzo's method shows his concern that music should be subordinate to the sacred Latin text. Schoenberg's combinatorial methods show a desire to deconstruct conventional harmonic expectation. Schillinger's methods followed from his desire to develop generative theories of art. Xenakis' statistical methods reflect his view of the quantum nature of sound. Cage's chance methods serve his aim to deconstruct the expectation of expectation." [2]
"The gulf between the arts and sciences has continued to this day. Some artists rail against reductionist explanations of creativity. Some scientists question whether aesthetic experimentation can be scientific. But methodological analysis reveals that the disciplines of art and science are cut from the same cloth. Comparing Euclid's method with Guido's method, we saw that they are distinguished only by the role of subjective choice–of nondeterminism–in art. Art is not science, but their methods are more alike than different. When applied to music, methodological criticism goes quickly to the core of the artist's intention, allowing us to apprehend the deeper significance of their art." [2]
To make a long story short, I believe that composers are scientists of music art, who have the responsibility to rehabilitate "it". Everyone also has to keep an open-minded learning on purpose to be a whole person. Not only might one narrow his vision, but he might also lose the meaning of being a human if he spends all time on the endless minor details from specific division of knowledge.
References
[1] Aristoxenus. "The Harmonics." in Macran, 1902, 27-30.
[2] Loy, Gareth. Musimathics. Cambridge, Massachuseets: The MIT Press, 2006.
[3] Morse, Marston. "Mathematics and the Arts." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, February, 1959.
Showing posts with label homework. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homework. Show all posts
2009-06-29
2009-06-23
音樂家或音樂家庭
－ 音樂論壇（第三場）心得報告
此次論壇邀請到中國文化大學西洋音樂學系的彭聖錦主任，為同學們介紹數屆華沙國際蕭邦鋼琴大賽中，第一號鋼琴協奏曲第二樂章的不同演奏版本。在這些珍貴的影音資料中，主講人比較了同時期內不同演奏家們，以及同一演奏家在不同時期的呈現內容，讓同學們清楚地辨別出其中所表現的差別及優劣。另外，主講人針對其中幾位較知名或傑出的演奏家，探討了他們的學習背景與人格特質等因素，對於樂曲詮釋所造成的影響，最後並跟大家分享他的教學經驗。
彭主任表示：「蕭邦鋼琴作品之難以演奏，是因為他的每一首作品都有其纖細、浪漫及散發無盡又必須適度的浪漫氣息。即使樂譜很簡單的圓舞曲、馬厝卡舞曲，若演奏者缺乏演奏蕭邦作品應有之才氣，即使彈得滾瓜爛熟，每一個音或節奏都非常精確，其所呈現出來的音樂卻會讓聆聽者索然無味。像在盤穩的樹根基礎上，枝葉隨風飄逸的彈性速度彈法，更是不知打敗了多少手指靈巧、演奏技術高超的鋼琴演奏高手。」
一般而言，藝術家的養成，除了透過自身不斷的學習，亦需要有良好的環境來栽培，而真正達成極高造詣者，往往也被被認定為天賦異稟。然而，與生俱來的天份可遇不可求，就學習、從事、或教導音樂藝術而言，是否有個普世的價值，值得人們去追求？筆者認為，培養一位優秀的音樂家，固然是崇高的目標；但是真正重要的任務，則是造就更多的音樂家庭。心理分析學家佛洛姆曾說：集中化企業以及徹底的勞力分工，使得工作者喪失了個體性，資本主義需要大量高配合度的人員，這些人需要的消耗品愈來愈多，其口味則必須能標準化、易受影響且不難被猜測，此社會須要人們覺得自由獨立，然而又甘願接受命令，成為毫無摩擦的適應者。而在較早之前，席勒就提過：為了文明與國家的發展，人們只能在自己身上發展某些專才，成為與整體沒有多大關係的碎片，導致失去了個人的完整性，因此應該要做的，就是通過更高的藝術即審美教育來恢復這種天性。
「科技始終來自於人性」，然而前者卻不能解決後者的問題；即便期待科技將重新改變人性，那麼隨之而來的新問題恐怕愈來愈難掌握。音樂這般特殊的藝術形式，亦為審美教育的一部份，相較於在音樂院內廣收弟子，倒不如開課給外系的學生來修習或旁聽，更能形成廣泛的影響。子曰：「夫聖人舉事，可以移風易俗，而教道可施於百姓，非獨適己之行也。」音樂愛好者在追求相關藝術價值與成就之外，也應克盡一己之責，為社會做出貢獻。
此次論壇邀請到中國文化大學西洋音樂學系的彭聖錦主任，為同學們介紹數屆華沙國際蕭邦鋼琴大賽中，第一號鋼琴協奏曲第二樂章的不同演奏版本。在這些珍貴的影音資料中，主講人比較了同時期內不同演奏家們，以及同一演奏家在不同時期的呈現內容，讓同學們清楚地辨別出其中所表現的差別及優劣。另外，主講人針對其中幾位較知名或傑出的演奏家，探討了他們的學習背景與人格特質等因素，對於樂曲詮釋所造成的影響，最後並跟大家分享他的教學經驗。
彭主任表示：「蕭邦鋼琴作品之難以演奏，是因為他的每一首作品都有其纖細、浪漫及散發無盡又必須適度的浪漫氣息。即使樂譜很簡單的圓舞曲、馬厝卡舞曲，若演奏者缺乏演奏蕭邦作品應有之才氣，即使彈得滾瓜爛熟，每一個音或節奏都非常精確，其所呈現出來的音樂卻會讓聆聽者索然無味。像在盤穩的樹根基礎上，枝葉隨風飄逸的彈性速度彈法，更是不知打敗了多少手指靈巧、演奏技術高超的鋼琴演奏高手。」
一般而言，藝術家的養成，除了透過自身不斷的學習，亦需要有良好的環境來栽培，而真正達成極高造詣者，往往也被被認定為天賦異稟。然而，與生俱來的天份可遇不可求，就學習、從事、或教導音樂藝術而言，是否有個普世的價值，值得人們去追求？筆者認為，培養一位優秀的音樂家，固然是崇高的目標；但是真正重要的任務，則是造就更多的音樂家庭。心理分析學家佛洛姆曾說：集中化企業以及徹底的勞力分工，使得工作者喪失了個體性，資本主義需要大量高配合度的人員，這些人需要的消耗品愈來愈多，其口味則必須能標準化、易受影響且不難被猜測，此社會須要人們覺得自由獨立，然而又甘願接受命令，成為毫無摩擦的適應者。而在較早之前，席勒就提過：為了文明與國家的發展，人們只能在自己身上發展某些專才，成為與整體沒有多大關係的碎片，導致失去了個人的完整性，因此應該要做的，就是通過更高的藝術即審美教育來恢復這種天性。
「科技始終來自於人性」，然而前者卻不能解決後者的問題；即便期待科技將重新改變人性，那麼隨之而來的新問題恐怕愈來愈難掌握。音樂這般特殊的藝術形式，亦為審美教育的一部份，相較於在音樂院內廣收弟子，倒不如開課給外系的學生來修習或旁聽，更能形成廣泛的影響。子曰：「夫聖人舉事，可以移風易俗，而教道可施於百姓，非獨適己之行也。」音樂愛好者在追求相關藝術價值與成就之外，也應克盡一己之責，為社會做出貢獻。
2009-01-06
制科技而用之
－ 音樂論壇（第八場）心得報告
此次論壇邀請到波士頓大學電子音樂教師，同時也是「當代樂手」（modernmusician.com）商業網站的創辦人張超然博士。起初，主講人都是在介紹電子音樂的發展歷史，以及基本的聲音合成概念，這些內容剛在一年級時的課程學過，所以並無太多收穫；倒是後半場的時候，由於他對Jonh Cage作品所表達的批評，台下部份觀眾無法認同，倒是引發了一點辯論，其中還包括外系同學的參與，這在本課程算是少見但值得鼓勵的。個人認為，現在知識性的材料愈來愈容易取得；相形之下，每位講者累積的經驗和獨到的想法，將顯得更加可貴。因此本課程的每位受邀講者，其實都無需設法在短短的一兩個小時之內，提供太多知識性的內容；而只要讓大家理解最關鍵的背景之後，將剩下的時間拿來從事經驗分享、實作示範、互動討論即可。
論壇之後的研討會，他以抽籤的方式，選到了尚未發表的鋼琴獨奏作品來與大家分享，其主要手法是利用殘響（reverberation）效果器來塑造出另外一種形式的預製（prepared）鋼琴，並產生了多重音量層次的對位手法。在場的楊老師提出了美學上的疑惑，而這個問題也讓我們一直討論到了下課。整體而言，主講人對於思想性的議題似乎較無著力之處，並且注重音樂的氣氛或者情緒感，另外他十分強調學生應勤加鍛鍊基本功，同時就科技發展對社會所造成的影響，他也抱持較樂觀的態度來面對。
科技帶來了便利，卻也讓我們製造了以前不曾產生的問題，然而這些問題究竟是科技本身造成的，還是出自於人性的弱點呢？「以前我們想說如何設計一種沙發，只要上班族回家一坐上去，電視就會自動打開；現在我們又繼續想破頭，想說如何讓上班族坐在沙發上，電視不會自動打開。」「孩子在電腦前面太久，缺乏在奔跑嬉戲的機會，造成身體機能發展不良，主管平衡的前庭覺，或是大小肌肉的發展也受到限制，於是專家就設計一套讓他們翻滾跑跳的流程，準備了一堆用品，用了許多專業術語讓家長相信這套課程是有用的；其實不用那麼麻煩，就讓小孩子有時間儘情地出外去玩就好了。」網路的發達掀起了資訊的革命，「只要有寬頻與雄心，不管你在哪裡，都不會被邊緣化。因為，競爭的立足點變平等了。」不過，時下許多社會上的問題，矛頭也被紛紛指向網路。
伐木斧頭可砍人，採礦炸藥可毀城，科技就是一個工具，要怎麼用都操之在人。雖然帶來了許多好事與壞事，然而誠如本次的主講人所言，「每一代的人們都要面對科技帶來的各種影響，而各個有志之士自然會採取其適當的應對與最佳的行為，成為社會的菁英，做出不同的貢獻，並引領下一個新的方向。」自古以來就一直有不斷創新的發明，最重要的還是在心性的修養，才能制科技而用之。
此次論壇邀請到波士頓大學電子音樂教師，同時也是「當代樂手」（modernmusician.com）商業網站的創辦人張超然博士。起初，主講人都是在介紹電子音樂的發展歷史，以及基本的聲音合成概念，這些內容剛在一年級時的課程學過，所以並無太多收穫；倒是後半場的時候，由於他對Jonh Cage作品所表達的批評，台下部份觀眾無法認同，倒是引發了一點辯論，其中還包括外系同學的參與，這在本課程算是少見但值得鼓勵的。個人認為，現在知識性的材料愈來愈容易取得；相形之下，每位講者累積的經驗和獨到的想法，將顯得更加可貴。因此本課程的每位受邀講者，其實都無需設法在短短的一兩個小時之內，提供太多知識性的內容；而只要讓大家理解最關鍵的背景之後，將剩下的時間拿來從事經驗分享、實作示範、互動討論即可。
論壇之後的研討會，他以抽籤的方式，選到了尚未發表的鋼琴獨奏作品來與大家分享，其主要手法是利用殘響（reverberation）效果器來塑造出另外一種形式的預製（prepared）鋼琴，並產生了多重音量層次的對位手法。在場的楊老師提出了美學上的疑惑，而這個問題也讓我們一直討論到了下課。整體而言，主講人對於思想性的議題似乎較無著力之處，並且注重音樂的氣氛或者情緒感，另外他十分強調學生應勤加鍛鍊基本功，同時就科技發展對社會所造成的影響，他也抱持較樂觀的態度來面對。
科技帶來了便利，卻也讓我們製造了以前不曾產生的問題，然而這些問題究竟是科技本身造成的，還是出自於人性的弱點呢？「以前我們想說如何設計一種沙發，只要上班族回家一坐上去，電視就會自動打開；現在我們又繼續想破頭，想說如何讓上班族坐在沙發上，電視不會自動打開。」「孩子在電腦前面太久，缺乏在奔跑嬉戲的機會，造成身體機能發展不良，主管平衡的前庭覺，或是大小肌肉的發展也受到限制，於是專家就設計一套讓他們翻滾跑跳的流程，準備了一堆用品，用了許多專業術語讓家長相信這套課程是有用的；其實不用那麼麻煩，就讓小孩子有時間儘情地出外去玩就好了。」網路的發達掀起了資訊的革命，「只要有寬頻與雄心，不管你在哪裡，都不會被邊緣化。因為，競爭的立足點變平等了。」不過，時下許多社會上的問題，矛頭也被紛紛指向網路。
伐木斧頭可砍人，採礦炸藥可毀城，科技就是一個工具，要怎麼用都操之在人。雖然帶來了許多好事與壞事，然而誠如本次的主講人所言，「每一代的人們都要面對科技帶來的各種影響，而各個有志之士自然會採取其適當的應對與最佳的行為，成為社會的菁英，做出不同的貢獻，並引領下一個新的方向。」自古以來就一直有不斷創新的發明，最重要的還是在心性的修養，才能制科技而用之。
2009-01-05
Of the Body, By the Body, For the Body ?
– A sentiment after the second round of Music Colloquium
Mrs. Hsin-Ying Chen (陳心瑩) is graduated from "Hochschule für Musik 'Franz Liszt' Weimar" in Germany, and has a professional specialty on "Eugene Rabine's Pedagogy". I have attended her voice recital at the concert hall of Hsinchu City Cultural Affairs Bureau on September 18, 2008. Her voice was pretty colorful and penetrated, and I also admired her ability to switch between different registers almost immediately during her singing. So I was curious about her training and skill since then.
She came to our Music Colloquium to give us a lecture on October 7, 2008, telling us many mechanisms of our body, such as muscle, breathing, speaking, singing, resonance......etc. There was not so much fun to me since I had learned that on Physics course and Human Physiology course a few years ago. But after the knowledge teaching, she always led us to do some simple experiments, sometimes with partner, to test and feel our body. It was quite interesting which I had never tried, because we usually got the theory and did the animal or equipment experiment at classroom or laboratory. She really knew how to practice on human body by oneself. Maybe that's why she could control her voice so precisely.
Not only producing sound, but our body also receives the sound. Scientists study the mechanism of speaking and singing, and they study that of hearing as well. Learning the former can give us the know-how to control our body. Does learning the latter can change our experiences to feel our body ? Psychoacoustics has revealed several facts about our hearing. "As nearly all natural sounds are harmonically complex, the brain attributes related tones to a single sound source, combining them into a single auditory object. This is one of the 'Gestalt principles' the brain uses to decode sounds." [1] Moreover, human beings recognize sound loudness and pitch by logarithmic ways. So we use decibel (dB) to mark the sound pressure level, and the frequency distance between two neighboring keyboard on piano is larger in the higher register. Meanwhile, we feel the same sound pressure level as unlike loudness in different pitch range. There is a famous chart which is called "Equal-loudness Curves" to show this relationship. "Masking Effect" is important, too. Within the "Critical Band", a lot of aspects become undetectable by human body. It gives ways for technology to compress audio data. "Virtual Pitch", "Tartini Tone", and many other phenomena tell us the truth which we may not know or not understand behind the sound we make.
Additionally, neuroscience provides valuable discoveries. Neural connections are formed profoundly according to experience. "Talking to people of all ages, we use falling pitches to express comfort; relatively flat, high pitches to express fear; and large bell-shaped pitch contours to express joy and surprise. Hearing music with an unfamiliar structure, listeners base their emotional reactions largely on such sound features." "Young infants can perceive complex rhythmic structure, but they lose this ability before they are a year old if not exposed to such rhythms." [3] There are more researches in such subjects applying to painting art. Semir Zeki's book "Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain" gives a typical case. He hopes "the book will constitute a modest contribution and a small step in laying the foundations of a neurology of aesthetics or neuro-esthetics, and thus for an understanding of the biological basis of aesthetic experience." [4]
Our biology ability and limitation constrain the possibilities of musical elements, structures, and styles. When Pierre Boulez was asked in 1999 that why most powerful compositions written in the serial style are little played regularly today, he responded: "Well, perhaps we did not take sufficiently into account the way music is perceived by the listener." After all, we should come back to consider both how we construct and recognize. "Music is conceived by our brains, played through our bodies, perceived through our sensory organs and then interpreted by our brains. Thus it is subject both to general constraints of our neural system and to specific constraints of our auditory processing capacities." [3] In another word, I would say one's body can be the owner, the maker, and the customer of music.
Science deals with truth while art is concerned with beauty. The former deals with the inevitable logic while the latter is concerned with the incidental craft. Provided there will comes the neuro-esthetics, can we verily solve the controversy ? Suppose music is of the body, by the body, and for the body, how about the spirit ? "Using cutting-edge research conducted at Princeton, MIT, Stanford, and many other prestigious universities and laboratories, The Intention Experiment reveals that the universe is connected by a vast quantum energy field. Thought generates its own palpable energy, which you can use to improve your life and, when harnessed together with an interconnected group, to change the world." [2] Albert Einstein has told us that mass and energy are interchangeable. Now we need to figure out the essence of body and spirit.
References
[1] Ball, Philip. "Facing the Music." Nature 453, (2008): 160-62.
[2] McTaggart, Lynne. The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
[3] Trainor, Laurel. "The Neural Roots of Music." Nature 453, (2008): 598-99.
[4] Zeki, Semir. Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Mrs. Hsin-Ying Chen (陳心瑩) is graduated from "Hochschule für Musik 'Franz Liszt' Weimar" in Germany, and has a professional specialty on "Eugene Rabine's Pedagogy". I have attended her voice recital at the concert hall of Hsinchu City Cultural Affairs Bureau on September 18, 2008. Her voice was pretty colorful and penetrated, and I also admired her ability to switch between different registers almost immediately during her singing. So I was curious about her training and skill since then.
She came to our Music Colloquium to give us a lecture on October 7, 2008, telling us many mechanisms of our body, such as muscle, breathing, speaking, singing, resonance......etc. There was not so much fun to me since I had learned that on Physics course and Human Physiology course a few years ago. But after the knowledge teaching, she always led us to do some simple experiments, sometimes with partner, to test and feel our body. It was quite interesting which I had never tried, because we usually got the theory and did the animal or equipment experiment at classroom or laboratory. She really knew how to practice on human body by oneself. Maybe that's why she could control her voice so precisely.
Not only producing sound, but our body also receives the sound. Scientists study the mechanism of speaking and singing, and they study that of hearing as well. Learning the former can give us the know-how to control our body. Does learning the latter can change our experiences to feel our body ? Psychoacoustics has revealed several facts about our hearing. "As nearly all natural sounds are harmonically complex, the brain attributes related tones to a single sound source, combining them into a single auditory object. This is one of the 'Gestalt principles' the brain uses to decode sounds." [1] Moreover, human beings recognize sound loudness and pitch by logarithmic ways. So we use decibel (dB) to mark the sound pressure level, and the frequency distance between two neighboring keyboard on piano is larger in the higher register. Meanwhile, we feel the same sound pressure level as unlike loudness in different pitch range. There is a famous chart which is called "Equal-loudness Curves" to show this relationship. "Masking Effect" is important, too. Within the "Critical Band", a lot of aspects become undetectable by human body. It gives ways for technology to compress audio data. "Virtual Pitch", "Tartini Tone", and many other phenomena tell us the truth which we may not know or not understand behind the sound we make.
Additionally, neuroscience provides valuable discoveries. Neural connections are formed profoundly according to experience. "Talking to people of all ages, we use falling pitches to express comfort; relatively flat, high pitches to express fear; and large bell-shaped pitch contours to express joy and surprise. Hearing music with an unfamiliar structure, listeners base their emotional reactions largely on such sound features." "Young infants can perceive complex rhythmic structure, but they lose this ability before they are a year old if not exposed to such rhythms." [3] There are more researches in such subjects applying to painting art. Semir Zeki's book "Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain" gives a typical case. He hopes "the book will constitute a modest contribution and a small step in laying the foundations of a neurology of aesthetics or neuro-esthetics, and thus for an understanding of the biological basis of aesthetic experience." [4]
Our biology ability and limitation constrain the possibilities of musical elements, structures, and styles. When Pierre Boulez was asked in 1999 that why most powerful compositions written in the serial style are little played regularly today, he responded: "Well, perhaps we did not take sufficiently into account the way music is perceived by the listener." After all, we should come back to consider both how we construct and recognize. "Music is conceived by our brains, played through our bodies, perceived through our sensory organs and then interpreted by our brains. Thus it is subject both to general constraints of our neural system and to specific constraints of our auditory processing capacities." [3] In another word, I would say one's body can be the owner, the maker, and the customer of music.
Science deals with truth while art is concerned with beauty. The former deals with the inevitable logic while the latter is concerned with the incidental craft. Provided there will comes the neuro-esthetics, can we verily solve the controversy ? Suppose music is of the body, by the body, and for the body, how about the spirit ? "Using cutting-edge research conducted at Princeton, MIT, Stanford, and many other prestigious universities and laboratories, The Intention Experiment reveals that the universe is connected by a vast quantum energy field. Thought generates its own palpable energy, which you can use to improve your life and, when harnessed together with an interconnected group, to change the world." [2] Albert Einstein has told us that mass and energy are interchangeable. Now we need to figure out the essence of body and spirit.
References
[1] Ball, Philip. "Facing the Music." Nature 453, (2008): 160-62.
[2] McTaggart, Lynne. The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
[3] Trainor, Laurel. "The Neural Roots of Music." Nature 453, (2008): 598-99.
[4] Zeki, Semir. Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
2008-05-27
錄音師的角色
－ 音樂論壇（第八場）心得報告
此次課程邀請亞門錄音（位於台北市長安東路松江路口附近小巷）的老闆前來，其為自學出身的的資深古典音樂錄音師，除了自己的錄音室以外，也跑遍各處做現場錄音。在課堂上，他與我們分享了自己從喜歡錄音、精通錄音、到對錄音產生疑惑、以及開始從事攝影的心路歷程；最後並且當場請同學上場演奏，由他親自示範並錄製不同的麥克風擺位所產生的效果。這是一次難得的機會，由錄音師與演奏家們當面探討錄音的功能與角色，並現場快速展示錄音科技所能達到的成果，對於渴望仰賴錄音技術卻甚少接觸的部分同學來說，或能帶來相當多的啟發與省思。
科技的發展，提供了不同的創造工具，而人類為了保存藝術的發明，到頭來也改變了藝術本身。早在 Thomas Alva Edison 發明留聲機之後，人們便得以保存所聽到的聲響，但是滾筒式的記錄方式非常不利於複製，這點在 Emile Berliner 發明的圓盤式留聲機中獲得了解決，也創造出了錄音科技的商業化利基。而錄音磁帶的發明，則提供了剪接的便利性，影響 Pierre Schaeffer 創造出了「具象音樂」作品。錄音訊號數位化之後，非線性剪輯的功能更大大改變了錄音的過程，「混音」的角色逐漸提昇，除了作曲家寫下樂譜以外，如何詮釋聲音的決定權不再只由演奏家來掌握，（混）錄音師也成為其中能夠發揮重要影響力的一環。
起初，音樂唱片的錄製是每次都從頭到尾演奏一次，再從多個結果當中挑選最滿意的當成最終版本，其中仍難免有些許的不完美之處；現在的錄音則只需完整演奏一次，然後針對不滿意的部分重新演奏並錄製，其選擇的段落長度可能小至一個樂句或其中幾個音，並透過混音編修的方式，天衣無縫地安插在原來的錄音之中，也就是在不同時間演出的各個小片段，竟可被拿來架構出連續的線性時間。音樂自詡為時間的藝術，如今卻以這般的手段來形塑自我，令唱片聆聽者不禁產生誠信問題的疑惑；然而當人們扮演將要被記錄的那個對象時，又往往冀望留下最完美無暇的聲音。儘管科技帶來了便利，人們該如何面對自我，仍然是最根本的課題。
當天主講人對於錄音師這個角色所透露出的疑惑，正顯示出了符合規範、熟稔技術與力求完善皆不代表存在思想，而此情況下所構築的美感將更形空洞與虛幻，除了音樂上的作曲、演奏與錄音以外，在大量使用科技從事各種應用的時代，更是值得反省的課題。
此次課程邀請亞門錄音（位於台北市長安東路松江路口附近小巷）的老闆前來，其為自學出身的的資深古典音樂錄音師，除了自己的錄音室以外，也跑遍各處做現場錄音。在課堂上，他與我們分享了自己從喜歡錄音、精通錄音、到對錄音產生疑惑、以及開始從事攝影的心路歷程；最後並且當場請同學上場演奏，由他親自示範並錄製不同的麥克風擺位所產生的效果。這是一次難得的機會，由錄音師與演奏家們當面探討錄音的功能與角色，並現場快速展示錄音科技所能達到的成果，對於渴望仰賴錄音技術卻甚少接觸的部分同學來說，或能帶來相當多的啟發與省思。
科技的發展，提供了不同的創造工具，而人類為了保存藝術的發明，到頭來也改變了藝術本身。早在 Thomas Alva Edison 發明留聲機之後，人們便得以保存所聽到的聲響，但是滾筒式的記錄方式非常不利於複製，這點在 Emile Berliner 發明的圓盤式留聲機中獲得了解決，也創造出了錄音科技的商業化利基。而錄音磁帶的發明，則提供了剪接的便利性，影響 Pierre Schaeffer 創造出了「具象音樂」作品。錄音訊號數位化之後，非線性剪輯的功能更大大改變了錄音的過程，「混音」的角色逐漸提昇，除了作曲家寫下樂譜以外，如何詮釋聲音的決定權不再只由演奏家來掌握，（混）錄音師也成為其中能夠發揮重要影響力的一環。
起初，音樂唱片的錄製是每次都從頭到尾演奏一次，再從多個結果當中挑選最滿意的當成最終版本，其中仍難免有些許的不完美之處；現在的錄音則只需完整演奏一次，然後針對不滿意的部分重新演奏並錄製，其選擇的段落長度可能小至一個樂句或其中幾個音，並透過混音編修的方式，天衣無縫地安插在原來的錄音之中，也就是在不同時間演出的各個小片段，竟可被拿來架構出連續的線性時間。音樂自詡為時間的藝術，如今卻以這般的手段來形塑自我，令唱片聆聽者不禁產生誠信問題的疑惑；然而當人們扮演將要被記錄的那個對象時，又往往冀望留下最完美無暇的聲音。儘管科技帶來了便利，人們該如何面對自我，仍然是最根本的課題。
當天主講人對於錄音師這個角色所透露出的疑惑，正顯示出了符合規範、熟稔技術與力求完善皆不代表存在思想，而此情況下所構築的美感將更形空洞與虛幻，除了音樂上的作曲、演奏與錄音以外，在大量使用科技從事各種應用的時代，更是值得反省的課題。
2008-04-15
具象音樂的發展
一、前言
「『具象音樂 (musique concrète)』的定義是：以各類聲音被捕捉、被固定後的錄音，即『聲音體』(objet sonore, sound objects；或譯聲音物件)，作為素材，加以各式技術調製（如迴圈、拼貼、反行、移調變速等）而創作出的音樂作品。」[09]其在電子原音樂的發展歷史中，是極為重要的一個部分，並且至今仍對不同的音樂帶來影響；然而，「聽來感覺反而相當抽象」的反應，往往顯示出人們對於如何欣賞存有許多疑惑。本文將簡介具象音樂的技術與類別，並探討其美學與創作理念。
二、具象音樂
「數千年的抽象音樂，五十多年的具象音樂，其發展順序恰與人類美術史完全相反。」[09]科技的發展，提供了不同的創造工具，而人類為了保存藝術的發明，到頭來也改變了藝術本身。自留聲機問世之後，已有作曲家利用這種器具，在樂曲演奏中配合播出預錄的聲音；但是要直到1948年，才有法國的Pierre Schaeffer從事系統性的實驗，並且留下了完整的資料。他以為音樂應該以具象的聲音本體為主體，而非使用抽象的音符，作曲家應該利用所有可用的聲音當成素材，而非侷限於傳統的樂器聲響。挾著電子工程師的背景與電台播音員的身份，他大量地嘗試利用各種錄音器材與技術從事聲音實驗，使用存在於生活週遭環境的具象聲音為素材，剪輯成異於傳統演奏聲響的音樂。其中五種基本的磁帶操作技術[03]分別為：
1. Tape loops：迴圈。實現不限次數且完全相同的反覆。
2. Cutting and splicing：剪接。除了段落式的線性剪輯之外，還能透過細緻的剪接來達成聲音封波曲線(envelope)的改造。
3. Speed change：速度轉換。藉由播放速度的改變以調整音高、音色、音值。
4. Direction change：方向轉換。倒帶播放的方式可以創造出大異原貌的聲響。
5. Tape delay：延遲。用以塑造殘響或迴音的效果。
由於傳統的五線譜對具象音樂的創作以不敷使用，因此他的第一首作品「火車習作 (Etude aux cheminsde fer)」使用了結合時間、音樂結構與技術方法的圖表作為記譜，「Lowell Cross曾表示此曲之意義來自下面四個方面的特性：
1. 創作活動透過科技處理完成。
2. 可被完全相同精確無誤被演出（播放）無數次。
3. 作品演出非依賴人類。
4. 由於基本素材為具象的，因此它提供聽者一個相當不同於辨認傳統「抽象」音樂的聽覺模式 (audition mode)。」[10]
1951年，他成立了Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC)，致力於各種磁帶技術與聲音性質的研究。1952年，他出版了Esquisse d'un solfège concret，文中略述了這四年來的發現，並定義了二十五種「聲音體 (objet sonore)」的性質與基本操作方法。1958年，該團隊更名為Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM)，雖然Piere Henry另立工作室，但Schaeffer的團隊獲得了Luc Ferrari與Francois-Bernard Mache的加入。在此之前，曾參與該團隊的作曲家包括Jean Barraquè、Pierre Boulez、Miche Philppot與Hermann Scherchen，而Yves Baudrier、Marcel Delannoy、Henri Dutilleux、Karel Goeyvaerts、Jean-Jacques Grunenwald、Andrè Jolivet、Olivier Messiaen、Darius Milhaud與Karlheinz Stockhausen則曾經來訪，由此可以看出Schaeffer及其具象音樂對後世作曲家的影響之廣。然而真正令人嘆為觀止的乃是他於1966年出版的Traitè des objets musicaux，書中將聲音的本質分為三大領域[02]：
1. Mèlodique：時間軸上的頻域分布。
2. Dynamique：單一頻率在時間軸上的振幅模式。
3. Harmonique：單一時間點上各頻率的振幅強度。
其中每大類均有各自的代表型式與操作方法，這些成果與音響心理學和聲音合成皆有密切的關係。
法國具象音樂與德國電子音樂本是立足於完全不相容的出發點上，前者採集現有聲響再加工出成品，後者則直接以機器調變出心中想要的聲因。「而具象音樂之風格在1960年之後，逐漸起了一些變化，電子音樂的技術，逐漸被具象音樂接受與使用，此改變明顯地是受了Cologne及Milan工作室的影響，雖然Schaeffer的具象音樂作曲理論強調聲源從它的前後關係中抽離，把具象聲音透過操作變化而抽象化，但後來之具象音樂常探索尋求聲音之非音樂意涵之表達。」[10]後世的Iannis Xenakis、Luciano Berio、Barry Truax、John Cage、Toru Takemitsu、Hildegard Westerkamp與Eduardo Reck Miranda等作曲家均有具象音樂方面的創作，具象音樂也出現分支並逐漸融合到其它音樂種類之中。
三、分支一：聲文作品 (Sound Poetry or Text-sound)
純粹錄製人們說話的語音，間或加上具象音樂的變形手法加以處理，其重點不在文字的語義或句法，而是人們唸字所產生的聲音。二十世紀初的未來主義與達達主義份子乃是首先創作此類作品的先驅，達達主義更將此種作品分為以下三類[06]：
1. Bruitist poem：語音詩。由Richard Huelsenbeck發明。
2. Simultaneous poem：使用不同的語言、韻律、語調、講者，在同一時間唸同一首詩。由Tristan Tzara發明。
3. Movement poem：以簡單的運動當作伴奏，或能達成語音中更強烈的律動感。
錄音範例可上http://ubu.com/sound/index.html網站聆賞。
四、分支二：音景作品 (Soundscape)
搜錄自然環境或者生態系中的各種聲響，做為代表各地景色的聲音，並可提供環境變遷的對照，其中的基本元素分為[07]：
1. Keynote sounds：以關鍵的聲響表現作品的「調性」，也就是作品所處的背景或環境，其不一定會有意識地被聽到，而且也可以實行「轉調」。例如天地水火風山澤雷、飛禽走獸或者交通工具等的各種聲音。
2. Sound Signals：有意識地被聽到的前景聲響。例如鈴、哨、號、笛等等。
3. Soundmark：地標聲響，也就是一個地區當中獨特的代表性聲音。
1960年代，加拿大音景作曲家們更發起了世界音景計畫 (World Soundscape Project)，進行大規模且持續的音景記錄活動。
五、分支三：唯聲作品 (Acousmatic)
使用錄製好的格式儲存作品聲音，並透過擴音器等電子裝置還原聲響，其強調的是「只聽到聲音，而看不見發出聲音的來源」，不在意聲音素材的種類，例如是合成或者樂器的聲音。1955年，法國作家首先以「bruit acousmatique」來表達具象音樂中聲響與其來源的分隔；Schaeffer則在其1966年的書中提到具象音樂作曲家創作時，就如同Pythagoras隔著布幕向學生授課一般，要求對聲音的絕對專注。其作品演出時不需要特製的舞台或場地，但會有作曲家設計的擴音器陣列，再透過這些音響器材重現錄製於儲存媒體中的原音。
六、具象電腦音樂
在電子計算機逐漸蓬勃發展與數位信號處理技術臻於成熟之後，具象音樂的各種手法均可以在數位系統上實現，類比手法的具象音樂逐漸消失，轉而呈現的是全程電腦化的操作型態。儘管如此，聲波數位化之後的許多變形方法，仍然是根據從前在錄音帶上所創造出的方式，因此可說是保留了類比時期的手段，但是以數位運算的方式來實現。著名的代表作曲家有Francis Dhomont、Jonty Harrison、Hans Tutschku與Paul Koonce。
七、結語
「在聽眾的角度來看，能引起某種記憶或感官經驗的一切，便可稱之為具象。這樣的具象可以是單一的聲音，抑或是某些句法或符號等等，與記譜法或寫作風格等皆無關。……敝業師所提倡的『音響陌生化』法則，許多人將之解讀為在樂器上使用不尋常的演奏法，大部分牽涉到到噪音─然而它的終極目標卻是避免引起具象感官經驗，而非一味試圖開發新的聲響語法。」[08]具象音樂的素材雖然取自於生活周遭，但是經過碎片化與各種手法的變形之後，也將成為新的與獨特的抽象聲響；而可辨認的真實世界聲音，則易於組織出敘事性的音樂。這兩種傾向並非絕對兩極，某種程度上尚能夠予以融合。Schaeffer晚年曾說：「我花費了將近四十年嘗試在傳統的DoReMi音樂之外尋找我心目中的新音樂，但這些年下來，我發現它的背後並不存在任何新的創作方式。」[10]
不過，儲存媒體與資料傳輸管道的躍進，使得具象音樂的定義與型態正在擴張以及改變。「在聲音保存與複製技術發明以前，我們擁有的抽象音樂、古典音樂全是拷貝，且是與原版相差甚遠的、可能連摹本都不見得談得上的倣本（摹本是指對照著原作臨摹，而倣本是指以原作精神再倣造）。而有了錄音及複製之後，我們擁有的搖滾流行爵士民族唱片，好像全是拷貝，其實全是原版。而搞得最複雜的，西洋古典樂的唱片，則又都是原曲摹本倣本的複製原版。……愛樂者從未像今天這樣搬運移送過如此巨量的音樂。而你我成天大量搬運的就是一堆堆具象聲音體。」[09]我們所聆聽的究竟是抽象還是具象音樂，竟不只於作曲家的創作理念，還可由聽者本身的意圖與思想而產生探討的空間。具象音樂的發展，或許又將開創出嶄新的一頁。
八、參考資料
[01] Simon Emmerson and Denis Smalley. "Electro-acoustic music". Grove Music Online ed. Laura Macy, April 15, 2008.
[02] Peter Manning. Electronic and Computer Music. Oxford University Press, 2004.
[03] Barry Schrader. Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music. NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982.
[04] "Acousmatic music". Wikipedia, modified on 3 April 2008, at 22:13.
[05] "Musique concrète". Wikipedia, modified on 2 April 2008, at 04:40.
[06] "Sound poetry". Wikipedia, modified on 26 March 2008, at 04:02.
[07] "Soundscape". Wikipedia, modified on 24 March 2008, at 18:12.
[08] 任真慧，〈從《松下》談具象與抽象思維〉。
[09] 姚大鈞，〈泛具象音樂論〉。
[10] 曾毓忠，〈從具象音樂到具象電腦音樂〉。
[11] 曾毓忠，〈談Acousmatic音樂的創作〉。
「『具象音樂 (musique concrète)』的定義是：以各類聲音被捕捉、被固定後的錄音，即『聲音體』(objet sonore, sound objects；或譯聲音物件)，作為素材，加以各式技術調製（如迴圈、拼貼、反行、移調變速等）而創作出的音樂作品。」[09]其在電子原音樂的發展歷史中，是極為重要的一個部分，並且至今仍對不同的音樂帶來影響；然而，「聽來感覺反而相當抽象」的反應，往往顯示出人們對於如何欣賞存有許多疑惑。本文將簡介具象音樂的技術與類別，並探討其美學與創作理念。
二、具象音樂
「數千年的抽象音樂，五十多年的具象音樂，其發展順序恰與人類美術史完全相反。」[09]科技的發展，提供了不同的創造工具，而人類為了保存藝術的發明，到頭來也改變了藝術本身。自留聲機問世之後，已有作曲家利用這種器具，在樂曲演奏中配合播出預錄的聲音；但是要直到1948年，才有法國的Pierre Schaeffer從事系統性的實驗，並且留下了完整的資料。他以為音樂應該以具象的聲音本體為主體，而非使用抽象的音符，作曲家應該利用所有可用的聲音當成素材，而非侷限於傳統的樂器聲響。挾著電子工程師的背景與電台播音員的身份，他大量地嘗試利用各種錄音器材與技術從事聲音實驗，使用存在於生活週遭環境的具象聲音為素材，剪輯成異於傳統演奏聲響的音樂。其中五種基本的磁帶操作技術[03]分別為：
1. Tape loops：迴圈。實現不限次數且完全相同的反覆。
2. Cutting and splicing：剪接。除了段落式的線性剪輯之外，還能透過細緻的剪接來達成聲音封波曲線(envelope)的改造。
3. Speed change：速度轉換。藉由播放速度的改變以調整音高、音色、音值。
4. Direction change：方向轉換。倒帶播放的方式可以創造出大異原貌的聲響。
5. Tape delay：延遲。用以塑造殘響或迴音的效果。
由於傳統的五線譜對具象音樂的創作以不敷使用，因此他的第一首作品「火車習作 (Etude aux cheminsde fer)」使用了結合時間、音樂結構與技術方法的圖表作為記譜，「Lowell Cross曾表示此曲之意義來自下面四個方面的特性：
1. 創作活動透過科技處理完成。
2. 可被完全相同精確無誤被演出（播放）無數次。
3. 作品演出非依賴人類。
4. 由於基本素材為具象的，因此它提供聽者一個相當不同於辨認傳統「抽象」音樂的聽覺模式 (audition mode)。」[10]
1951年，他成立了Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC)，致力於各種磁帶技術與聲音性質的研究。1952年，他出版了Esquisse d'un solfège concret，文中略述了這四年來的發現，並定義了二十五種「聲音體 (objet sonore)」的性質與基本操作方法。1958年，該團隊更名為Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM)，雖然Piere Henry另立工作室，但Schaeffer的團隊獲得了Luc Ferrari與Francois-Bernard Mache的加入。在此之前，曾參與該團隊的作曲家包括Jean Barraquè、Pierre Boulez、Miche Philppot與Hermann Scherchen，而Yves Baudrier、Marcel Delannoy、Henri Dutilleux、Karel Goeyvaerts、Jean-Jacques Grunenwald、Andrè Jolivet、Olivier Messiaen、Darius Milhaud與Karlheinz Stockhausen則曾經來訪，由此可以看出Schaeffer及其具象音樂對後世作曲家的影響之廣。然而真正令人嘆為觀止的乃是他於1966年出版的Traitè des objets musicaux，書中將聲音的本質分為三大領域[02]：
1. Mèlodique：時間軸上的頻域分布。
2. Dynamique：單一頻率在時間軸上的振幅模式。
3. Harmonique：單一時間點上各頻率的振幅強度。
其中每大類均有各自的代表型式與操作方法，這些成果與音響心理學和聲音合成皆有密切的關係。
法國具象音樂與德國電子音樂本是立足於完全不相容的出發點上，前者採集現有聲響再加工出成品，後者則直接以機器調變出心中想要的聲因。「而具象音樂之風格在1960年之後，逐漸起了一些變化，電子音樂的技術，逐漸被具象音樂接受與使用，此改變明顯地是受了Cologne及Milan工作室的影響，雖然Schaeffer的具象音樂作曲理論強調聲源從它的前後關係中抽離，把具象聲音透過操作變化而抽象化，但後來之具象音樂常探索尋求聲音之非音樂意涵之表達。」[10]後世的Iannis Xenakis、Luciano Berio、Barry Truax、John Cage、Toru Takemitsu、Hildegard Westerkamp與Eduardo Reck Miranda等作曲家均有具象音樂方面的創作，具象音樂也出現分支並逐漸融合到其它音樂種類之中。
三、分支一：聲文作品 (Sound Poetry or Text-sound)
純粹錄製人們說話的語音，間或加上具象音樂的變形手法加以處理，其重點不在文字的語義或句法，而是人們唸字所產生的聲音。二十世紀初的未來主義與達達主義份子乃是首先創作此類作品的先驅，達達主義更將此種作品分為以下三類[06]：
1. Bruitist poem：語音詩。由Richard Huelsenbeck發明。
2. Simultaneous poem：使用不同的語言、韻律、語調、講者，在同一時間唸同一首詩。由Tristan Tzara發明。
3. Movement poem：以簡單的運動當作伴奏，或能達成語音中更強烈的律動感。
錄音範例可上http://ubu.com/sound/index.html網站聆賞。
四、分支二：音景作品 (Soundscape)
搜錄自然環境或者生態系中的各種聲響，做為代表各地景色的聲音，並可提供環境變遷的對照，其中的基本元素分為[07]：
1. Keynote sounds：以關鍵的聲響表現作品的「調性」，也就是作品所處的背景或環境，其不一定會有意識地被聽到，而且也可以實行「轉調」。例如天地水火風山澤雷、飛禽走獸或者交通工具等的各種聲音。
2. Sound Signals：有意識地被聽到的前景聲響。例如鈴、哨、號、笛等等。
3. Soundmark：地標聲響，也就是一個地區當中獨特的代表性聲音。
1960年代，加拿大音景作曲家們更發起了世界音景計畫 (World Soundscape Project)，進行大規模且持續的音景記錄活動。
五、分支三：唯聲作品 (Acousmatic)
使用錄製好的格式儲存作品聲音，並透過擴音器等電子裝置還原聲響，其強調的是「只聽到聲音，而看不見發出聲音的來源」，不在意聲音素材的種類，例如是合成或者樂器的聲音。1955年，法國作家首先以「bruit acousmatique」來表達具象音樂中聲響與其來源的分隔；Schaeffer則在其1966年的書中提到具象音樂作曲家創作時，就如同Pythagoras隔著布幕向學生授課一般，要求對聲音的絕對專注。其作品演出時不需要特製的舞台或場地，但會有作曲家設計的擴音器陣列，再透過這些音響器材重現錄製於儲存媒體中的原音。
六、具象電腦音樂
在電子計算機逐漸蓬勃發展與數位信號處理技術臻於成熟之後，具象音樂的各種手法均可以在數位系統上實現，類比手法的具象音樂逐漸消失，轉而呈現的是全程電腦化的操作型態。儘管如此，聲波數位化之後的許多變形方法，仍然是根據從前在錄音帶上所創造出的方式，因此可說是保留了類比時期的手段，但是以數位運算的方式來實現。著名的代表作曲家有Francis Dhomont、Jonty Harrison、Hans Tutschku與Paul Koonce。
七、結語
「在聽眾的角度來看，能引起某種記憶或感官經驗的一切，便可稱之為具象。這樣的具象可以是單一的聲音，抑或是某些句法或符號等等，與記譜法或寫作風格等皆無關。……敝業師所提倡的『音響陌生化』法則，許多人將之解讀為在樂器上使用不尋常的演奏法，大部分牽涉到到噪音─然而它的終極目標卻是避免引起具象感官經驗，而非一味試圖開發新的聲響語法。」[08]具象音樂的素材雖然取自於生活周遭，但是經過碎片化與各種手法的變形之後，也將成為新的與獨特的抽象聲響；而可辨認的真實世界聲音，則易於組織出敘事性的音樂。這兩種傾向並非絕對兩極，某種程度上尚能夠予以融合。Schaeffer晚年曾說：「我花費了將近四十年嘗試在傳統的DoReMi音樂之外尋找我心目中的新音樂，但這些年下來，我發現它的背後並不存在任何新的創作方式。」[10]
不過，儲存媒體與資料傳輸管道的躍進，使得具象音樂的定義與型態正在擴張以及改變。「在聲音保存與複製技術發明以前，我們擁有的抽象音樂、古典音樂全是拷貝，且是與原版相差甚遠的、可能連摹本都不見得談得上的倣本（摹本是指對照著原作臨摹，而倣本是指以原作精神再倣造）。而有了錄音及複製之後，我們擁有的搖滾流行爵士民族唱片，好像全是拷貝，其實全是原版。而搞得最複雜的，西洋古典樂的唱片，則又都是原曲摹本倣本的複製原版。……愛樂者從未像今天這樣搬運移送過如此巨量的音樂。而你我成天大量搬運的就是一堆堆具象聲音體。」[09]我們所聆聽的究竟是抽象還是具象音樂，竟不只於作曲家的創作理念，還可由聽者本身的意圖與思想而產生探討的空間。具象音樂的發展，或許又將開創出嶄新的一頁。
八、參考資料
[01] Simon Emmerson and Denis Smalley. "Electro-acoustic music". Grove Music Online ed. Laura Macy, April 15, 2008.
[02] Peter Manning. Electronic and Computer Music. Oxford University Press, 2004.
[03] Barry Schrader. Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music. NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982.
[04] "Acousmatic music". Wikipedia, modified on 3 April 2008, at 22:13.
[05] "Musique concrète". Wikipedia, modified on 2 April 2008, at 04:40.
[06] "Sound poetry". Wikipedia, modified on 26 March 2008, at 04:02.
[07] "Soundscape". Wikipedia, modified on 24 March 2008, at 18:12.
[08] 任真慧，〈從《松下》談具象與抽象思維〉。
[09] 姚大鈞，〈泛具象音樂論〉。
[10] 曾毓忠，〈從具象音樂到具象電腦音樂〉。
[11] 曾毓忠，〈談Acousmatic音樂的創作〉。
2008-04-06
The Concept of Noise
– A sentiment after the first round of Music Colloquium
On February 26, our teachers invited Professor Gordon Kampe from Folkwang Hochschule Essen at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Ruhr in Germany. He showed us a few pieces of Helmut Lachenmann and discussed the composer's "noise esthetics". As a former musical composition and now music technology student, I have been curious about contemporary music and keep learning the new concept to compose. I found composers always try to create new material from one generation to another, especially focus on timbre in recent decades. "The composer's intention was to explore a new sound world and to create compelling and logical musical works based predominantly on sonorities which had remained unused and hence uncontaminated in the past."[2] In my opinion, obviously, the extreme result is the use of noise.
Timbre is merely the combination of pure tones in different vibration frequencies. If we can freely control the frequencies (the pitches) and add them to be a complex tone, we can make any timbre. Thus the timbre is actually pitches. "The need for and the search for the simultaneous union of different sounds (that is to say of its complex, the chord), came gradually: the assonant common chord was followed by chords enriched with some random dissonances, to end up with the persistent and complicated dissonances of contemporary music."[3] After the most dissonant amalgams of sound, "we are approaching noise-sound."[3]
Traditionally, noise means the sound without identifiable pitch; music could be only constructed mainly by "musical sounds" but "noises". There are many "musical instruments" which can be reduced to only several categories even in the most complicated orchestra. "Music marks time in this small circle and vainly tries to create a new variety of tones."[3] Some composers tried to play the instrument in different ways, on surprising parts, and by strange tools; others tried to create the whole new instrument. With the advent of electronic machinery, there came the Electro-acoustic music. Non-musical sounds had more and more important role in composer's piece. "Subjectively, noise is any sound one doesn't like."[4]
"Lachenmann's analysis of hitherto unexploited aspects of the 'anatomy of sound' was at first largely confined to the mechanical and physical conditions of its production."[2] "Today, when science is equipped to help the composer realize what was never before possible (all that Beethoven dreamed, all that Berlioz gropingly imagined possible),"[4] we now have a good chance and abilities to reveal the mystery and to accomplish many possibilities. Former masterpieces could teach us something and give us many ideas, but how to develop from but not depend on those things is our difficult mission. "The musical principles remain the same whether a composer writes for orchestra or tape. Rhythm and form are still his most important problems and the two elements in music most generally misunderstood."[4] Everyone can have the free fancy, but he may not craft or even compose materials artistically if he has insufficient skills to control the basic ingredients within some limitations. Imagination could be the preterhuman power, but only with the understanding to realize it.
"This new art is still in its infancy, and I hope and firmly believe, now that composers and physicists are at last working together and music is again linked with science as it was in the Middle Ages, that new and more musically efficient devices will be invented."[4] Nowadays, in the age of technology, an artist should encourage himself to overcome technical difficulties for the accomplishment of new art. "The present methods of writing music, principally those which employ harmony and its reference to particular steps in the field of sound, will be inadequate for the composer who will be faced with entire field of sound."[1] However, there is already too much noise in our postindustrial society. They have been connected with something else in one's memory. Notwithstanding we can make any new sound, it is possible to be categorized to some kinds of noise in real life. From the audience's view, it becomes the imitation but not the creation. Thus we may fail to aviod the concrete sense experience. Furthermore, we need more noise endlessly, or sometimes prefer the "simple harmonic motion"(not really means the movement of mass on a spring)? Experiment evidence on the effects of different sounds (noise) from the researches in Auditory Physiology and Psychoacoustics is urgent for our complete consideration since there have been convincible facts for Mozart's classical music.
References
[1] Cage, John. "The Future of Music: Credo" from Silence. Wesleyan University Press, 1958.
[2] Mosch, Ulrich. "Lachenmann, Helmut". Grove Music Online ed. Laura Macy, April 03, 2008.
[3] Russolo, Luigi. "The Art of Noise"(1913). A Great Bear Pamphlet, 1967.
[4] Varèse, Edgard. "The Liberation of Sound".
On February 26, our teachers invited Professor Gordon Kampe from Folkwang Hochschule Essen at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Ruhr in Germany. He showed us a few pieces of Helmut Lachenmann and discussed the composer's "noise esthetics". As a former musical composition and now music technology student, I have been curious about contemporary music and keep learning the new concept to compose. I found composers always try to create new material from one generation to another, especially focus on timbre in recent decades. "The composer's intention was to explore a new sound world and to create compelling and logical musical works based predominantly on sonorities which had remained unused and hence uncontaminated in the past."[2] In my opinion, obviously, the extreme result is the use of noise.
Timbre is merely the combination of pure tones in different vibration frequencies. If we can freely control the frequencies (the pitches) and add them to be a complex tone, we can make any timbre. Thus the timbre is actually pitches. "The need for and the search for the simultaneous union of different sounds (that is to say of its complex, the chord), came gradually: the assonant common chord was followed by chords enriched with some random dissonances, to end up with the persistent and complicated dissonances of contemporary music."[3] After the most dissonant amalgams of sound, "we are approaching noise-sound."[3]
Traditionally, noise means the sound without identifiable pitch; music could be only constructed mainly by "musical sounds" but "noises". There are many "musical instruments" which can be reduced to only several categories even in the most complicated orchestra. "Music marks time in this small circle and vainly tries to create a new variety of tones."[3] Some composers tried to play the instrument in different ways, on surprising parts, and by strange tools; others tried to create the whole new instrument. With the advent of electronic machinery, there came the Electro-acoustic music. Non-musical sounds had more and more important role in composer's piece. "Subjectively, noise is any sound one doesn't like."[4]
"Lachenmann's analysis of hitherto unexploited aspects of the 'anatomy of sound' was at first largely confined to the mechanical and physical conditions of its production."[2] "Today, when science is equipped to help the composer realize what was never before possible (all that Beethoven dreamed, all that Berlioz gropingly imagined possible),"[4] we now have a good chance and abilities to reveal the mystery and to accomplish many possibilities. Former masterpieces could teach us something and give us many ideas, but how to develop from but not depend on those things is our difficult mission. "The musical principles remain the same whether a composer writes for orchestra or tape. Rhythm and form are still his most important problems and the two elements in music most generally misunderstood."[4] Everyone can have the free fancy, but he may not craft or even compose materials artistically if he has insufficient skills to control the basic ingredients within some limitations. Imagination could be the preterhuman power, but only with the understanding to realize it.
"This new art is still in its infancy, and I hope and firmly believe, now that composers and physicists are at last working together and music is again linked with science as it was in the Middle Ages, that new and more musically efficient devices will be invented."[4] Nowadays, in the age of technology, an artist should encourage himself to overcome technical difficulties for the accomplishment of new art. "The present methods of writing music, principally those which employ harmony and its reference to particular steps in the field of sound, will be inadequate for the composer who will be faced with entire field of sound."[1] However, there is already too much noise in our postindustrial society. They have been connected with something else in one's memory. Notwithstanding we can make any new sound, it is possible to be categorized to some kinds of noise in real life. From the audience's view, it becomes the imitation but not the creation. Thus we may fail to aviod the concrete sense experience. Furthermore, we need more noise endlessly, or sometimes prefer the "simple harmonic motion"(not really means the movement of mass on a spring)? Experiment evidence on the effects of different sounds (noise) from the researches in Auditory Physiology and Psychoacoustics is urgent for our complete consideration since there have been convincible facts for Mozart's classical music.
References
[1] Cage, John. "The Future of Music: Credo" from Silence. Wesleyan University Press, 1958.
[2] Mosch, Ulrich. "Lachenmann, Helmut". Grove Music Online ed. Laura Macy, April 03, 2008.
[3] Russolo, Luigi. "The Art of Noise"(1913). A Great Bear Pamphlet, 1967.
[4] Varèse, Edgard. "The Liberation of Sound".
2008-01-01
相知相惜
－ 音樂論壇（第六場）心得報告
在當天的課程中，老師們邀請到國家交響樂團中資深的企劃組長，主講人首先簡報了她的碩士論文研究成果，其中有多項問卷調查的統計分析，顯示出音樂會聽眾的人口分布與消費習性，具有指標性的意義，作為第一線演出人員的我們，其實能夠從中理解到真實市場的整體趨勢，可惜此次參與人數不多，但也正有利於主講人進行接下來的活動。她將學生們分成四個小組，各自設計獨創的音樂會海報，每組必須虛擬出自己的音樂會主題、內容、特色、行銷的管道與手法，再藉由說明與展示互相觀摩，並聽取主講人的意見。儘管大家並不缺乏舉辦個人或小型音樂會的經驗，但是主辦大型音樂會必須顧及許多的層面與細節，其所需要的知識和經驗绝非一蹴可及，光是海報就讓每個小組絞盡腦汁，而且事後仍會發覺存在許多問題，即使我們並沒有動手撰寫詳盡的企劃書。這樣的經驗可以幫助我們了解到藝術行銷領域所必須解決的疑難雜症，而這些東西很多都是我們現在或未來會直接面對的挑戰。
現今的表演藝術團體，幕後幾乎都有行政人員，與藝術家分工合作，維持一個組織的運作。試看公營的國家交響樂團，或者民營的雲門舞集，都有自己嚴密的架構存在，確保每個人都能扮演好自己的角色，達成整個單位的健全發展。不過具有獲利性的交易，時常必須面對以犧牲顧客、員工、經銷商或供應商作為代價的狀況，然而，藝術領域與行政領域的人員，難免因為各自的不同考量，產生意見的分歧。通常我們希望彼此之間都能理解對方追求的目標與遭遇的困難，如此方能增進溝通的效率與便利，因此本身具有演出經驗或者藝術背景的行政或管理人才，常是表演藝術團體希望與之共事的對象。
但是，除了要求對方之外，藝術工作者自己是否也能試著了解行政工作中的實際情形，並且與之互相協助而促成更多的成果呢？筆者個人覺得，就台灣的現況而言，藝術工作者在這方面所做的尚嫌不足，而這些知識與經驗尤其需要在學生時代的時候就去吸收，提早了解投入演出事業後，現實社會中將要面臨的課題，這將有利於往後與他人的合作過程，不論當事人參與的是否為大型演出團體。
除了專業的藝術行政或市場行銷之外，其實很多觀念都是可以共通與利用的，譬如將行銷概念運用在個人包裝，或者從群眾行為之不可預測性中看出潛藏的邏輯等等，皆對個人日常生活或研究領域會有所助益。感謝此次演講激發了各組成員的創意，也給了我們更廣泛深厚的思考觀點！
在當天的課程中，老師們邀請到國家交響樂團中資深的企劃組長，主講人首先簡報了她的碩士論文研究成果，其中有多項問卷調查的統計分析，顯示出音樂會聽眾的人口分布與消費習性，具有指標性的意義，作為第一線演出人員的我們，其實能夠從中理解到真實市場的整體趨勢，可惜此次參與人數不多，但也正有利於主講人進行接下來的活動。她將學生們分成四個小組，各自設計獨創的音樂會海報，每組必須虛擬出自己的音樂會主題、內容、特色、行銷的管道與手法，再藉由說明與展示互相觀摩，並聽取主講人的意見。儘管大家並不缺乏舉辦個人或小型音樂會的經驗，但是主辦大型音樂會必須顧及許多的層面與細節，其所需要的知識和經驗绝非一蹴可及，光是海報就讓每個小組絞盡腦汁，而且事後仍會發覺存在許多問題，即使我們並沒有動手撰寫詳盡的企劃書。這樣的經驗可以幫助我們了解到藝術行銷領域所必須解決的疑難雜症，而這些東西很多都是我們現在或未來會直接面對的挑戰。
現今的表演藝術團體，幕後幾乎都有行政人員，與藝術家分工合作，維持一個組織的運作。試看公營的國家交響樂團，或者民營的雲門舞集，都有自己嚴密的架構存在，確保每個人都能扮演好自己的角色，達成整個單位的健全發展。不過具有獲利性的交易，時常必須面對以犧牲顧客、員工、經銷商或供應商作為代價的狀況，然而，藝術領域與行政領域的人員，難免因為各自的不同考量，產生意見的分歧。通常我們希望彼此之間都能理解對方追求的目標與遭遇的困難，如此方能增進溝通的效率與便利，因此本身具有演出經驗或者藝術背景的行政或管理人才，常是表演藝術團體希望與之共事的對象。
但是，除了要求對方之外，藝術工作者自己是否也能試著了解行政工作中的實際情形，並且與之互相協助而促成更多的成果呢？筆者個人覺得，就台灣的現況而言，藝術工作者在這方面所做的尚嫌不足，而這些知識與經驗尤其需要在學生時代的時候就去吸收，提早了解投入演出事業後，現實社會中將要面臨的課題，這將有利於往後與他人的合作過程，不論當事人參與的是否為大型演出團體。
除了專業的藝術行政或市場行銷之外，其實很多觀念都是可以共通與利用的，譬如將行銷概念運用在個人包裝，或者從群眾行為之不可預測性中看出潛藏的邏輯等等，皆對個人日常生活或研究領域會有所助益。感謝此次演講激發了各組成員的創意，也給了我們更廣泛深厚的思考觀點！
2007-11-24
Harmonized Minds
– A sentiment for the third round of Music Colloquium
On October 23, our teachers invited Alex Cheung (張藝生) to our class. He showed us many modern theaters which were directed by him and led us to play a trust-building game in small groups. After the class, we had another workshop to experiment with physical interaction which includes sound improvisations. All those are good experiences for us. Actually, through those practices, we have had harmonized minds because of the concentration and interaction by each other.
Just as contemporary music, modern theater comes much differently from the classical drama. The new dramaturgy contains "liveness, participation, improvisation, legitimation, and manifest will" (Hilton 1993: 11). It is found there are indeed something in Alex’s works, especially the participation and the improvisation. For example, in one theater which he had shown us, there had been a dog lying aside. The dog can perform whatever it wanted to do notwithstanding the script had been fixed. In this way, Alex still added improvisation elements into the theater. The dog actually charmed the audience, and therefore we heard some laughs surrounding.
"Drama is a medium in which one group of bodies watches another group of bodies. The theater is a place that exhibits what a human body is, what it does, what it is capable of. It requires special things of bodies, putting pressure on its audience as well as its performers. It creates and manipulates pleasure in relation to bodies." (Shepherd 2006: preface) We saw several plays without any sentence presented by Alex. Their theatric tensions were mostly built on body movements and facial expressions. "Negotiation around bodies is important, I think, because many ideas about what is good, right, natural and possible are grounded in assumptions about what the body is, what it needs how it works. Social, moral and political values attach themselves to body shape, size colour, movement. They also inhabit distinctions made between body and non-body, whether that be mind, spirit, object or society." (Shepherd 2006: 1) While playing musical instruments, performances, especially the conductor, needs such negotiations to interact and even integrate with each other.
During the workshop, we were grouped into a big team, and all of us should imitate the chosen leader’s actions. Next game, two persons formed a group, and one should response the other’s sound instructions by body movements with closed eyes. Both games tested our potential for hearing dedication and body expression. I was lucky to catch Alex’s attention because I have learned some fundamentals of martial art. I thought it can improve the ability to present our body movements under the inner will and had felt the benefit when I learning orchestral conduction at undergraduate school.
The final game, Alex let us to use one musical instrument which not must be the one we were already familiar with. When some ones played, the others went into a delimited circle with empty hands and acted their body. This time was a huge interaction between all players. Hence there were many sound and body-movement materials which had to be controlled. To be obvious, we messed it up sometimes since all of us did not have enough unspoken consensuses, lacked the skill to listen and understand, and fell short of the drill to organize the sounds we made in a cerebral way.
As William Benzon explained, "The phenomenon of synchrony observed in fireflies and other organisms may play an important role in the social coordination and trust-building behaviors that are still observed in religious and social musical and dancing rituals. Working together in coordinated activity is enabled by the uniquely human use of language, and may have been key to its evolution – and music may have been a precursor to complex language behavior. Making music together involves close listening and modeling of the activities of others, setting up internal neural resonances and mental models that can serve as the fundamental processes for building up more complex and instrumental social interactions. The use of the human body as a musical instrument and for performing music with external instruments – may be an important and largely unexplored key to the evolution and maintenance of complex social behavior." (Benzon 2002) I think it is evidenced more obviously when we play the trust-building or the interactive games under Alex’s guide because we not only need to trust other classmates and receive complex messages from them but also must send out some actions to response, vice versa. Although we still could not handle the process cleverly, we did accomplish some part of it. When the concentration we taking, the other key point Alex has tried to train us, are efficiently enough, we have harmonized minds which are very important for such players of performance arts.
References
Benzon, William. Beethoven's Anvil: music in mind and culture. Perseus Books Group, 2002.
Hilton, Julian. New Directions in Theatre. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1993.
Shepherd, Simon. Theatre, Body and Pleasure. Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2006.
On October 23, our teachers invited Alex Cheung (張藝生) to our class. He showed us many modern theaters which were directed by him and led us to play a trust-building game in small groups. After the class, we had another workshop to experiment with physical interaction which includes sound improvisations. All those are good experiences for us. Actually, through those practices, we have had harmonized minds because of the concentration and interaction by each other.
Just as contemporary music, modern theater comes much differently from the classical drama. The new dramaturgy contains "liveness, participation, improvisation, legitimation, and manifest will" (Hilton 1993: 11). It is found there are indeed something in Alex’s works, especially the participation and the improvisation. For example, in one theater which he had shown us, there had been a dog lying aside. The dog can perform whatever it wanted to do notwithstanding the script had been fixed. In this way, Alex still added improvisation elements into the theater. The dog actually charmed the audience, and therefore we heard some laughs surrounding.
"Drama is a medium in which one group of bodies watches another group of bodies. The theater is a place that exhibits what a human body is, what it does, what it is capable of. It requires special things of bodies, putting pressure on its audience as well as its performers. It creates and manipulates pleasure in relation to bodies." (Shepherd 2006: preface) We saw several plays without any sentence presented by Alex. Their theatric tensions were mostly built on body movements and facial expressions. "Negotiation around bodies is important, I think, because many ideas about what is good, right, natural and possible are grounded in assumptions about what the body is, what it needs how it works. Social, moral and political values attach themselves to body shape, size colour, movement. They also inhabit distinctions made between body and non-body, whether that be mind, spirit, object or society." (Shepherd 2006: 1) While playing musical instruments, performances, especially the conductor, needs such negotiations to interact and even integrate with each other.
During the workshop, we were grouped into a big team, and all of us should imitate the chosen leader’s actions. Next game, two persons formed a group, and one should response the other’s sound instructions by body movements with closed eyes. Both games tested our potential for hearing dedication and body expression. I was lucky to catch Alex’s attention because I have learned some fundamentals of martial art. I thought it can improve the ability to present our body movements under the inner will and had felt the benefit when I learning orchestral conduction at undergraduate school.
The final game, Alex let us to use one musical instrument which not must be the one we were already familiar with. When some ones played, the others went into a delimited circle with empty hands and acted their body. This time was a huge interaction between all players. Hence there were many sound and body-movement materials which had to be controlled. To be obvious, we messed it up sometimes since all of us did not have enough unspoken consensuses, lacked the skill to listen and understand, and fell short of the drill to organize the sounds we made in a cerebral way.
As William Benzon explained, "The phenomenon of synchrony observed in fireflies and other organisms may play an important role in the social coordination and trust-building behaviors that are still observed in religious and social musical and dancing rituals. Working together in coordinated activity is enabled by the uniquely human use of language, and may have been key to its evolution – and music may have been a precursor to complex language behavior. Making music together involves close listening and modeling of the activities of others, setting up internal neural resonances and mental models that can serve as the fundamental processes for building up more complex and instrumental social interactions. The use of the human body as a musical instrument and for performing music with external instruments – may be an important and largely unexplored key to the evolution and maintenance of complex social behavior." (Benzon 2002) I think it is evidenced more obviously when we play the trust-building or the interactive games under Alex’s guide because we not only need to trust other classmates and receive complex messages from them but also must send out some actions to response, vice versa. Although we still could not handle the process cleverly, we did accomplish some part of it. When the concentration we taking, the other key point Alex has tried to train us, are efficiently enough, we have harmonized minds which are very important for such players of performance arts.
References
Benzon, William. Beethoven's Anvil: music in mind and culture. Perseus Books Group, 2002.
Hilton, Julian. New Directions in Theatre. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1993.
Shepherd, Simon. Theatre, Body and Pleasure. Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2006.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)