Electronic music history lesson...

Alexander

Hi there,

I am currently writing an essay for a school assignment and the subject is early electronic music in the Musique Concrete school in Paris and the WDR studio in Cologne..

All information and/or opinions on both these subjects are welcome, but what I am really desperately seeking is information about two ways of electronic composition used in Cologne around that time, namely the 'horizontal' and 'vertical' sound synthesis.

I have a few class notes on the subject and I'll try to post as much info on it as I can find, but I am really stuck, I don't know what to write on the above two terms.
Hopefully there's someone here that could help me out?

Links, opinions, etcetera, are all welcome!!

seraph

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:52 am Post subject:

This rings a bell, but I don´t have the time to open books and find more info right now. Trivia: way back in the 50s some called a pitch oriented approach to "synthesis" to be "vertical".. but right now I am not sure this connects with the Cologne stuff.

Alexander

Kassen · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:58 am Post subject:

I just wanted to say I'm much intruiged by your avatar policies on different sites.

:¬p

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:00 am Post subject:

There is a book released by Wolke Verlag - 1987- written by Martin Supper - title is "Elektroakustische Musik und Computermusik: Geschichte, Ästhetik, Methoden, Systeme"
ISBN 3-923-99777-9
It is basically an overview and history rather than a resource for composers. I remember it covered the Cologne studio pretty well.

As for the Cologne Studio, it was influential, but we are still talking about a rather short period of time. There are claims and ideas that really might sound interesting and plausible, but keep in mind that many of the involved characters were all striving for ultimate greatness, so this is just as much about egos and reinvention rather than solid fact. As for some of the compositions produced, sure... several of the dudes felt they had to create theoretical frameworks in order to justify that they had fun with the new gear.

Do I have other books?

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:06 am Post subject:

Anyway, in order to illustrate what I mean, which is not what you need right now anyway..
try Tim Johnson´s paper from the 2002 EMAC:

http://www.btinternet.com/~tim.johnson77/rambler/LendvaiInCologne.html

Perhaps it is not selfevident, but think about it.

Kassen · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:11 am Post subject:

Sure, Stein, but Alexander studies at the conservatory and there they applaud great concepts and don't you dare to have fun.

You have to retreat from the conservatory carefully then hide in a dimly lit basement bar if you want to discuss music that's actually any fun.

:¬p

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:19 am Post subject:

Hmm.. OK..

Anyway, is Alexander aware that electronic music geeks often have discussed the famous painting "Vertical and horizontal composition" by Sophie Taeuber-Arp within a musical context. I think it was painted approx 1927/28. One of the early takes on it was as an illustration for timbre/pitch versus timeline based rythm variations.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:28 am Post subject:

Die Reihe!

Idea

Keep in mind what Stockhausen thinks he is probably saying in his "how time passes" article. As for the physiscs and tech terms Stockhausen is throwing about, all of that is more or less hogwash. He is however trying to make some points about spectral and temporal characteristics.

But.. if we take this seriously, and some of this is rather cool.. that would be all about auditory stream formation theory and I have been mentioning this in many posts all over the place the last few years.. Very Happy

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:33 am Post subject:

Hey, I gotta look up McAdams on this. He has some way cool stuff on context dependencies.

elektro80

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:44 am Post subject:

Apart from the obvious old stuff on the subject, that guy Koeningsberg has a paper which is pretty damned good.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:47 am Post subject:

Found him!

that would be Christopher K. Koenigsberg at Princeton.

Karlheinz Stockhausen's New Morphology of Musical Time by Christopher K. Koenigsberg

I dunno if the text is revised or not. I have this one as a stack of papers. Well written. As far as I remember he REALLY covers the territory. This you all gotta read NOW!

Kassen · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:56 am Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 6:09 am Post subject:

Indeed, make some coffee and look into the CKK paper. Trust me.

Alexander · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:06 am Post subject:

Thank you very much for the responses!

I will read through the articles provided, they will help me a lot!

@ kassen

Avatars huh? Well, I decided it's time to grow up and no longer hide behind Japanese and Brazilian models, if that is what you were referring to.

(And to comment a bit on your remarks on my conservatory career, I am actually thinking about dropping out after this year, because I am completely sick and tired of the endless stigmatizing and fruitless discussion about the role of sonology within electronic music, my role within sonology, or whatever.. it all really comes down to who is doing what, nothing more. I am not in the conservatory to get brainwashed and become an anal theorist, only interested in composing academic correct music.
I started sonology because I felt I could progress through education on it's level and change the way I enjoy and create music, wether that being electronic, punkrock, ..., the school is filled with asskissers and people dancing to the institute's tune, I don't.
Sorry for the rant, but I had to say it, pressure is getting to me and I just spent two hours at our beloved conservatory trying to have a serious conversation with classmates and a teacher behaving as high school bullies)

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 10:08 am Post subject:

destroyifyer · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 12:18 pm Post subject: uh Subject description: uh

I'm wasting your time

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

i post things that are off-subject.

http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/moog/

also

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4486840
for proof that "teradacto is a totally retarded goofball"

and also, "teradacto is a retarded manifestation of Satan with a thirst for world power that must be deystroyed"...very soon or we will all perish.
and also, "the fact that i am a total dumb-ass" seems to significant to be left out of this post.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 12:22 pm Post subject:

Yes, but this assignment has nothing to do about those.

Alexander · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 12:55 pm Post subject:

Thanks a lot for the "Karlheinz Stockhausen's New Morphology of Musical Time by Christopher K. Koenigsberg " link it's very helpful. I had a look at 'How time passes.." by Stockhausen earlier this year but didn't feel ready for it, maybe a lot of answers to my questions are in there.

The funny thing (and the reason this essay is a bit difficult) is that the teacher who gave me this assignment is actually a composer who worked at the Cologne studios along the likes of Stockhausen in those early days of electronic music. It adds to the fact that whatever I write about it, it better be good, the guy knows a lot of it by heart. Great teacher though!

Well, thanks again, about the stress relief in one of my earlier posts, sorry, it's stressful times and I have a lot more to learn than music history and composition methods!

The essay is due for the 30th of May and I will make sure to conclude the thread with a copy.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:17 pm Post subject:

That paper by CKK is pretty good. He manages to handle many of the issues quite well.
A digression, but .. you do know Bregman´s book from 1990 - The Perceptual Organization of Sound - http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-10914.html ...?

That assignment is tricky. Any clues somewhere in your notes form lectures you have attended? I would have guessed this is pointing to the "how time passes" text.. but I do feel that a modern treatment of the issues raised and the phases of Stockie´s work at the WDR Cologne Studio is pretty dense material no matter what. One very obvious issue is that Stockie is a total disaster when it comes to writing sensible texts. That article looks pretty advanced and impressive, but fact is that the poor guy is raving and ranting about something he thinks is serious fun. Laughing

I do however think that CKK is doing a good job in his "Karlheinz Stockhausen's New Morphology of Musical Time".
I do have more stuff about too. Shocked

But where?

seraph · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:19 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:20 pm Post subject: