As one of the first compositions written by computer, you would expect the Illiac Suite to sound mechanical or strange and atonal, but it is neither of those things. In fact, in some spots, it's quite beautiful. It's really exciting that two guys using ridiculously old technology could produce something of this caliber.
The first movement has two distinct sections. The first section is playful, and has each instrument playing their own playful lines with a lot of movement separately, in something that feels like a conversation, or a dance (basic counterpoint). Right at the end thy play in little duets, and they end playfully with a unison pluck. After that is a sound that is very classic to me. It is pretty and slow with a melody in the violin and a countermelody switching between the other parts. Occasionally the other parts will get to play without the violin; it mostly consists of duets, but occasionally all of the parts play together. It has a fairly wide dynamic range. After that it speeds up again, feeling like the beginning of the movement again. I would call it ABA, but it isn't really a repetition of the beginning, although it ends with a pluck like the beginning of the section. Even with the slow middle section, the movement has a very bright quality. It's sweet and light.
The second movement feels very different from the first. First of all, it's slow. It's also homophonic, and for the first part each part seems to be changing notes at the same time, but the lines seem unrelated in terms of notes (although they aren't dissonant). The playing gets more orderly as the song goes on, and a distinct melody and distinct harmonies develop until it has turned into what you would think of as a baroque string quartet. The rhythms toward the end even sound baroque. The mood is also different. Rather than being sprightly and playful, this movement is serene.
The third movement is again very different. While still very consonant, the lines are very different from eachother. Instead of just typical playing, there's plucking, sliding, vibrato, and beating of hands against the instruments (or at least I think that's what that sound is, I don't know enough about strings to give a better description). They're playing with different sounds. This slowly turns into something that I'm going to assume is one the twelve tone scale. The instruments are playing together now instead of independently. Then it goes back to each instrument playing with some different technique, and then they're playing together again. It switches back to the fast disconnected sound one last time, before the cello plays a beautiful slow solo line with the upper parts interjecting occasionally. The third movement is all about the contrasts between the uncontrolled sections and the homophonic sections. Obviously, using the twelve tone scale, it's not meant to be happy, or serene. The twelve tone scale always sounds a little jarring or uncomfortable, but it works really well when trying to create tension or draw attention.
As with the others, the fourth movement is its own piece (in fact, I think they could probably all be performed separately, they all sound so different) There isn't a real sense of key in this movement, but the lines do all seem to relate to one another. They're all playing at the same time, even if the rhythms are a bit different. The mood is also very different. I wouldn't say that it's frenetic, but it's very far from calm, as the fast notes and the lack of resolution show.
All in all, I'd say that this suite was one of my favorite pieces out of all of the assignments. It's beautifully written (by a computer!) and the work that must have gone into getting the computer to produce four completely different styles is more than I can possibly imagine. They're wonderful. Are they ever done anymore?
Hiller/Baker Computer Cantata
I read that this cantata was composed by a computer. That definitely sheds some light on why it's so strange. That being said, I actually kind of like the cantata. I have no eartly idea what any of it means (or does it mean anything if it's written by a computer? I've got it, it's about the triumph of computers over man! Down with the humans! They're obsolete now! Just kidding Dr. Hemmel...) but, it's pretty neat. I mean, the sound is dense enough to keep from boring me, and coherent enough to actually sound like music. It's fun. It's a curiousity. Anyway, on to my attempt at analyzing/reacting....
The first movement is all percussion until about halfway through. I like it, because it's full of sharp rhythmic drum sounds; Drum rolls, cymbols, something that's clicking(Maracas?). My point is that it's rhythmic, and therefore can keep my attention for a bit. Then comes a very steady tamtam and it continues in that vein for a bit before slowing down and quieting down to almost silence. That whole first section starts out loud and then kind of peters out at the end; it's a steady decline. After that is a pretty abrupt white noise entrance followed by some other unpitched electronic sounds, and then in comes the flute and the horns, and the voice with it's crazy lines that jump around. How the soprano was able to sing amidst all that madness, I don't know, but it does sound really cool. The vocal line is really fun to listen to, especially with the high flute and the electronic popping noises. In terms of a melody, the only real theme seems to be ridiculous jumps (the instruments do it some too, and the elctronic sounds slide up)
So in terms of emotion, all I'm going to say is that the soprano is lamenting being the last living human after computers have taken over the world.
Just in the first seconds of the second movement it had my attention because it involved strings sliding around in a way that wasn't quite dissonant, but was far from consonant and pretty. Wow, the second movement really packs a punch in a short time. There's that beginning violin bit that sounds a little like a warm up with some guitar(?) underneath, but in a good way (if that's even possible) then the brass is joining as is the flute, and I think I detect some glockenspiel along with plucked strings. There is a sense of melodic line that kind of drifts between parts, it just changes key between parts. Actually, there isn't really a key. Then suddenly the soprano is singing again with all kinds of fun electronic stuff going on around her. I especially like the electronic sound that slides up or down an octave. The movement confuses me, a lot, but I actually really like the individual lines.
The first thing I thought of when I heard the third movement was car horns. Car horns recorded in a random sequence. But it's not random at all. After the really loud part at the beginning, there's a lot of background sound with loud horn melodies occasionally coming to the foreground, and by horns I don't mean brass, I mean beeping sounds like car horns. I like that section. But then, inevitably, it has to immediately turn into the soprano singing and the whole movement changing (I'd like to point out that there's no real transition between parts of the movement, just like in the second movement. Just as suddenly as she comes in the brass and percussion (basically all of the other musicians) magically come in as well. It's like an entirely different movement. There's something vaguely circus-like about this, maybe it's the playful little lines that stick out in the voice or the flute. It also sounds vaguely like an opera orchestra warming up. The parts don't sound like they absolutely don't belong together, afterall, they are from the same opera, they're just not playing together. It's polyphony.... it's cacaphony.... but it's exciting. That transitions into electronic sound that is coherent. All of the parts are working together. I like the downward moving themes in any number of keys. It's fun.
My conclusion about the point of that movement? The two electronic sections were much more coherent than the section involving real instruments. It's the computers trying to brainwash us into giving them control... look, they're so orderly, and we're a mess!
The fourth movement begins with a sprightly string entrance. This movement is a fun mix of instrumental sounds, voice, and electronic sounds. It involves all of the instruments, I think. This movement is actually kind of tonal, it sounds like they're all playing happy things in the same key. And at about a minute fifty seconds the strings and brass actually start to play togethe, and it seems like homophony instead of polyponic madness, but it's not as happy anymore. This movement's nice because it is very tonal, and does seem pretty coherent except for that voice line (Man, I don't envy that soprano), there's also something really playful about this movement, maybe it's the sweet violin lines that are very tonal, or the playful flute, or even the high little electronic sounds. The bells towards the end add a special youth to it. That's it. It's youthful because of its energy.
Now back to interpretation (this is becoming way too fun). In this movement the computers try a different tack. They figure, if they can't win us over by showing that they're better than us, they'll convince us that they can work with us to create beautiful, fun things, like coherent music.
The voice was much more prominent in movement five in the first section. Again, there is stuff going on under the voice that sounds like a warm up or improvisation, but it's not quite as sprightly. The lines hold notes longer and don't move around quite as much. Then it abruptly changes into a percussion section. I suppose this is a nice change of pace from abruptly going into a voice section. It's also the exact opposite of the firt movement. There are a lot of drum rolls, the cymbol is used a fair amount, and so are the castanets, which really excites me for some reason. At around four minutes it really starts to slow down. Drum rolls become shorter and there are suddenly silences. And then it's over. A complete circle. It ends the way it started. Way cool.
Okay I'm not going to try and turn this movement into the computers trying to take over the world. Really, I'm not. But it's difficult.
The first movement is all percussion until about halfway through. I like it, because it's full of sharp rhythmic drum sounds; Drum rolls, cymbols, something that's clicking(Maracas?). My point is that it's rhythmic, and therefore can keep my attention for a bit. Then comes a very steady tamtam and it continues in that vein for a bit before slowing down and quieting down to almost silence. That whole first section starts out loud and then kind of peters out at the end; it's a steady decline. After that is a pretty abrupt white noise entrance followed by some other unpitched electronic sounds, and then in comes the flute and the horns, and the voice with it's crazy lines that jump around. How the soprano was able to sing amidst all that madness, I don't know, but it does sound really cool. The vocal line is really fun to listen to, especially with the high flute and the electronic popping noises. In terms of a melody, the only real theme seems to be ridiculous jumps (the instruments do it some too, and the elctronic sounds slide up)
So in terms of emotion, all I'm going to say is that the soprano is lamenting being the last living human after computers have taken over the world.
Just in the first seconds of the second movement it had my attention because it involved strings sliding around in a way that wasn't quite dissonant, but was far from consonant and pretty. Wow, the second movement really packs a punch in a short time. There's that beginning violin bit that sounds a little like a warm up with some guitar(?) underneath, but in a good way (if that's even possible) then the brass is joining as is the flute, and I think I detect some glockenspiel along with plucked strings. There is a sense of melodic line that kind of drifts between parts, it just changes key between parts. Actually, there isn't really a key. Then suddenly the soprano is singing again with all kinds of fun electronic stuff going on around her. I especially like the electronic sound that slides up or down an octave. The movement confuses me, a lot, but I actually really like the individual lines.
The first thing I thought of when I heard the third movement was car horns. Car horns recorded in a random sequence. But it's not random at all. After the really loud part at the beginning, there's a lot of background sound with loud horn melodies occasionally coming to the foreground, and by horns I don't mean brass, I mean beeping sounds like car horns. I like that section. But then, inevitably, it has to immediately turn into the soprano singing and the whole movement changing (I'd like to point out that there's no real transition between parts of the movement, just like in the second movement. Just as suddenly as she comes in the brass and percussion (basically all of the other musicians) magically come in as well. It's like an entirely different movement. There's something vaguely circus-like about this, maybe it's the playful little lines that stick out in the voice or the flute. It also sounds vaguely like an opera orchestra warming up. The parts don't sound like they absolutely don't belong together, afterall, they are from the same opera, they're just not playing together. It's polyphony.... it's cacaphony.... but it's exciting. That transitions into electronic sound that is coherent. All of the parts are working together. I like the downward moving themes in any number of keys. It's fun.
My conclusion about the point of that movement? The two electronic sections were much more coherent than the section involving real instruments. It's the computers trying to brainwash us into giving them control... look, they're so orderly, and we're a mess!
The fourth movement begins with a sprightly string entrance. This movement is a fun mix of instrumental sounds, voice, and electronic sounds. It involves all of the instruments, I think. This movement is actually kind of tonal, it sounds like they're all playing happy things in the same key. And at about a minute fifty seconds the strings and brass actually start to play togethe, and it seems like homophony instead of polyponic madness, but it's not as happy anymore. This movement's nice because it is very tonal, and does seem pretty coherent except for that voice line (Man, I don't envy that soprano), there's also something really playful about this movement, maybe it's the sweet violin lines that are very tonal, or the playful flute, or even the high little electronic sounds. The bells towards the end add a special youth to it. That's it. It's youthful because of its energy.
Now back to interpretation (this is becoming way too fun). In this movement the computers try a different tack. They figure, if they can't win us over by showing that they're better than us, they'll convince us that they can work with us to create beautiful, fun things, like coherent music.
The voice was much more prominent in movement five in the first section. Again, there is stuff going on under the voice that sounds like a warm up or improvisation, but it's not quite as sprightly. The lines hold notes longer and don't move around quite as much. Then it abruptly changes into a percussion section. I suppose this is a nice change of pace from abruptly going into a voice section. It's also the exact opposite of the firt movement. There are a lot of drum rolls, the cymbol is used a fair amount, and so are the castanets, which really excites me for some reason. At around four minutes it really starts to slow down. Drum rolls become shorter and there are suddenly silences. And then it's over. A complete circle. It ends the way it started. Way cool.
Okay I'm not going to try and turn this movement into the computers trying to take over the world. Really, I'm not. But it's difficult.
Bernard Parmegiani's Danse
This piece is composed using solely the voice. I'm not sure whether it's because of the age and/or the media (Record) or because of manipulation, but it's very difficult to tell that this is all based off of a voice at all. It really has been manipulated to the point that it all sounds like computer music. Some of the vocal stuff has been reversed, and it sounds like it has been treated with a wahwah sort of effect in some places. Obviously Parmegiani also did a lot of pitch shifting. It's amazing how little it sounds like voice, especially on those long bass notes.
"Danse" was an interesting choice of title, because it doesn't really sound at all dance-like. It's very slow and low, and has no real sense of meter.
"Danse" was an interesting choice of title, because it doesn't really sound at all dance-like. It's very slow and low, and has no real sense of meter.
Ivo Malec's Dahovi
It's interesting that this piece was originally set as part of a film, because I think it would make more sense with pictures. There are definitely devided sections with different musical ideas, and visuals would help define them better.
It uses an interesting range of sound, including something that sounds vaguely like someone hitting a mallet on wood and things that sound a little like running. There's also an airy sound that sounds a little like breathing (which is what Dahovi means) Later some sort of gong sound comes in, followed by something that kind of steel drum like. Still underneath is that in and out of the breath, and when that in and out stops there's this anticipation (brought on by one held note on a slow crescendo) until it starts up again. Then there's a beating of something that sounds like a heartbeat getting louder and speeding up with the breath speeding up underneath.
It uses an interesting range of sound, including something that sounds vaguely like someone hitting a mallet on wood and things that sound a little like running. There's also an airy sound that sounds a little like breathing (which is what Dahovi means) Later some sort of gong sound comes in, followed by something that kind of steel drum like. Still underneath is that in and out of the breath, and when that in and out stops there's this anticipation (brought on by one held note on a slow crescendo) until it starts up again. Then there's a beating of something that sounds like a heartbeat getting louder and speeding up with the breath speeding up underneath.
Luc Ferrari's Tete et queue du dragon
I liked the title of this (head and tail of the dragon) because the song definitely has a very animalistic sound to me. The computer sounds are sometimes like an elephant trumpeting or stomping dragon feet (that low rumble off in the distance). In general it imitated a lot of animal sounds, or just had abrupt sounds that reminded me of an angry beast. Some sounds that caught my eye were these oriental sounding strings (think zither) which was immediately followed by an electronic sound that was strangely gutteral, like a snorting beast. There was a lot of juxtaposition of high sharp sounds against low boomy sounds, and made me think of noises the dragon might make over top of it stomping around angrily. Then there were different sounds in each ear. In one ear there was this keening sort of sound made by strings, and in the other there were those high, fast disjunct electronic sounds. It made me think of one of those Chronicles of Narnia books (I'm not sure which one, maybe The Dawn Treader) where the little boy sneaks into the dragon's cave and sifts through its treasure. Imagine what would happen if you were in the cave looking at all of the jewels and you could hear the dragon noisily stomping its way back in. It's kind of scary, but it's not scary like the Bayle piece. It doesn't disturb me, it's just kind of a nervous feeling.
Francois Bayle's L'oiseau-chanteur
The song title translates literally to "the bird singer," which makes sense considering all of the fluttery bird like sounds and whistles that are in the song. It also incorporates some brass, maybe a trumpet and something lower, what sounds to me like an oboe, and maybe a flute (I'm really quite terrible at guessing that type of thing) I also hear some bells and maybe a vibraphone, and something that could even be a harpsichord at some point. So the music uses a wide range of instruments.
I wasn't sure whether to think this was cute or to be disturbed. It's an odd mix of strange verging on downright creepy and sweet. Some of the bird-like trills and the oboe(?) lines are kind of playful and sweet, but there's the strange brass sliding that is kind of abrupt and off-putting. What's really awful is the laughter(actually another bird sound) that sounds more like an evil, demonic cackle. Creepy! and then some of the bird trills get a little shrill and rushed like they're startled and scared, and I start getting images in my head of some creepy guy attacking poor innocent songbirds. Again, creepy! But then there are long held-out brass notes that make it sound less menacing. Then there's some low droning something that sounds a little like an organ. That interplay between the clarinet(?) trills and the creepy laughter is seriously disturbing.
It's really beautifully written. The musical elements are so pretty, and when spliced together with the electronic sounds they create a definite storyline with a general tone of disturbance. This is another one that's not an easy listen.
I wasn't sure whether to think this was cute or to be disturbed. It's an odd mix of strange verging on downright creepy and sweet. Some of the bird-like trills and the oboe(?) lines are kind of playful and sweet, but there's the strange brass sliding that is kind of abrupt and off-putting. What's really awful is the laughter(actually another bird sound) that sounds more like an evil, demonic cackle. Creepy! and then some of the bird trills get a little shrill and rushed like they're startled and scared, and I start getting images in my head of some creepy guy attacking poor innocent songbirds. Again, creepy! But then there are long held-out brass notes that make it sound less menacing. Then there's some low droning something that sounds a little like an organ. That interplay between the clarinet(?) trills and the creepy laughter is seriously disturbing.
It's really beautifully written. The musical elements are so pretty, and when spliced together with the electronic sounds they create a definite storyline with a general tone of disturbance. This is another one that's not an easy listen.
Michel Philippot's Etude
This was kind of difficult to listen to because the distorted sounds were really jarring in some places, but it was definitely an interesting listen. It was way more musical than most of the musique concrete that I've listened to so far, which is definitely a nice change. It used some pretty familiar instruments in combination with some not so familiar sounds. It used a piano sound frequently, especially with bass sounds, and used all kinds of effects on it, changing the pitch part of the way through the sound, or reversing it, and some strings that were heavily distorted and became almost painful. There was also a gong used both forwards and backwards. The electronic pitched sound used was kind of squeaky, almost, it's really difficult to describe. And on top of so many of the sounds was this awful grating mechanical disrupting sound that I can't even begin to classify. All I know is that it was really overpowering and uncomfortable when it came in. I really did like the booming low piano lines though. I'm not really sure how exactly they were edited, but the slow movement up in pitch sounded really wild. I also really liked when something would be played in one speaker and then repeated in the other in this disorienting stereo canon.
This piece is definitely very musical, but it's also a very uncomfortable listen. I think that's part of the point.
This piece is definitely very musical, but it's also a very uncomfortable listen. I think that's part of the point.
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