technology and innovation in music notation

8/3/2019 Technology and Innovation in Music Notation

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technology

and

innovation

in music

notation[selected projects]

Maria Rosaria Digregorio


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contents_5_foreword

_7_static notations

____8_Shape of Song___10_AlgoScore

13_dinamic notations___14_Music Animation Machine___16_Visual Scratch___18_Colours are Sounds / Melodies for the Plane___20_Visual Score for Vermont Counterpoint___22_Daft Punk | Around the World___23_Chemical Broters | Stars Guitar

25_notation and interfaces___26_Graphite Sequencer___28_Pianolina___30_Scrapple___32_ReacTable___34_Tenori-On

36_bibliography

38_webgraphy


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Musical notation is any system which representsmusic through symbols.The standard notation for western music developedover several centuries supported by the CatholicChurch. Its based on the five lines staff and on a fullrange of symbols that identify notes, rhythms, tempo,dynamics. It reads in the same way as the prose ofEuropean languages (left-to-right, top-to-bottom)and it applies to any instrument.Nevertheless, also after the consolidation of standardnotation, there have been numerous proposals overtimes for new music notation systems, generally

when, for poetic or technological reasons,the standard solution was felt as inadequate.In 1969 John Cage and Alison knowles editedNotations,a book that holds graphical scores by 269composers, probably the most famous exampleof non-standard notations in the pre-digital culture.Now, with computers and Internet, new toolsare available for music and they are influencing

practice and thought. Together with music, alsoits representation is answering with changesto technological innovation, and new waysof expression keep on coming out.Not always new notations are already a strongsystem that could replace the standard one,sometimes they just point the attention to otheraspects that cant be easily described with usual

means, sometimes they are designed for specificaims, instruments or applications, anyway the aimof this small investigation is not to find out newstandards, is to check on what is happening, tryingto find inspirations and thoughts to ruminate.

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static

notationsAs for the staff, this kindof notation has a fixedsurface, so a staticattitude; to follow themusic you have tochange from surface tosurface, both turning

the page of a paper scoreor scrolling the windowof a website.The medium is the screenand the programming.

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Shape of Song[2001]by Martin Wattenberg

>The diagrams in the Shape of Songdisplay musical

form as a sequence of translucent arches. Eacharch connects two repeated, identical passagesof a composition. By using repeated passages assignposts, the diagram illustrates the deep structureof the composition.< www.turbulence.org/Works/song>> www.bewitched.com/song.html


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Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations

Philip Glass, Candyman 2

Each arch connects two repeated, identical passages of a composition.


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AlgoScore

by Jonatan Liljedahl

>AlgoScoreis graphical environment for algorithmiccomposition, where music is constructed directlyin an interactive graphical score.Graphical objects are placed in a timeline andconnected together. Some objects are fullydependent on user data, while some are generative

and reacts on input from other objects.AlgoScore has a non-realtime perspective, wherethe composer can relate freely to time and constructthe composition outside of time. This also meansthat an object has the ability to access all data ofanother object in a single moment, instead of beinglimited to the streaming data of a current now.< www.bitminds.net/kymatica/index.php/Software/AlgoScore


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This kind of notationhas a real-time attitude;music and notationhappen in the samemoment and flowalong all the whole

composition, that isthe only big surface.The medium is the videoand the programming.

dinamic

notations

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Music Animation Machine[1985]by Stephen Malinowski

>Music moves, and can be understood just bylistening. But a conventional musical score standsstill, and can be understood only after yearsof training. The Music Animation Machinebridgesthis gap, with a score that moves , and can be

understood just by watching.This animated score contains much of theinformation in a conventional score, but showsit in a way that can be understood intuitivelyby anyone, including children.The Music Animation Machine display is a scorewithout any measures or clefs, in which informationabout the musics structure is conveyed with bars

of color representing the notes. These bars scrollacross the screen as the music plays. Their positionon the screen tells you their pitch and their timingin relation to each other. Different colors denotedifferent instruments or voices, thematic material,or tonality. And each note lights up at the exactmoment it sounds, so you cant lose your place.< www.musanim.com


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Johann Sebastian Bach,Brandenburg Concerto #6, third movement

Frdric Chopin,Etude, opus 10, #8

Franz Liszt,Hungarian Rhapsody #2

Eric Satie,Gymnopedie #1


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Visual Scratch

by Jesse Kriss

>The graphics are generated in Processing.

The y-axis position reflects the velocity of theturntable, color is based on the frequency contentof the scratch audio, and the thickness of the lineis based on the volume.< jklabs.net/projects/visualscratch


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Visual Scratch, Baby Scratch

Visual Scratch, Forwards


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Colours are Sounds / Melodies for the Plane[2005]by Pavel Karnaukhov and Creativelab.kiev.ua

>Music is developing in time, while imageis developing in space. However, both music andimage have beginning and end. []Diagonal corresponds to the beginning of musicbar, because it helps the human eye to orientatewhen examining the image. Therefore, the first notewill be laid down on the diagonal. Diagonal, verticaland horizontal intersections through the center

of rectangle correspond to the strong beatsof the bar and time coordinate.Distance from the center to the edge of rectangleis the second coordinate that reflects the pitchof note.


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>The rectangle should be isosceles (square), as thebars are equal by time. Distance from the centerto the edge corresponds to octave; lower notes arelocated closer to the center, while high notes arecloser to the edge of square.The notes are transferred to the plane to theirrespective paths. There are 12 paths for the octave,according to the number of semitones in the octave.< www.creativelab.kiev.ua/eng/theory/graphics/graphics_eng.htm


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Visual Score for Vermont Counterpoint[2007]by Matt Gilbert

>Vermont Counterpointwas composed by SteveReich for 1 live flute and 11 tracks of prerecordedflutes, alto flutes, and piccolo. []Each of the three groups of colored dots represent,from left to right, the three piccolo, the threeflutes, and the three alto flutes. The larger bluedot represents the live part as it participates in the

counterpoint. The three rings represent the canonsplayed by the three main groups of instruments,and each loop on the rings represent one note.The height, openness, and width of the loops aredetermined by their volume, pitch, and duration. []The animations were generated in Processing.< www.mattgilbert.net/article/41/visual-score-for-vermont-counterpoint


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Daft Punk | Around the World[1997]by Michel Gondry

>In the video literally each part of the songis represented by a dancing quartet: the bassby super-tall humans, the spry glissandosby synchronized swimmers, the vocoderized aroundthe world by robots, etc. As the melodies progress,each groups performance evolves.< www.director-file.com/gondry/daft.html#


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Chemical Broters | Stars Guitar[2001]by Michel Gondry

>The video describes a journey as seen from a trainwindow, only the disposition of each passing elementin the landscape is positioned exactly in sync withthe music.Every sound from the track will be illustratedby an element of the landscape that appears eachtime that sound is heard. As the song becomes more

elaborate, there will be a more and more complexlandscape.< www.director-file.com/gondry/chemical2.html#


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notationsand

interfacesWhen theres a music

interface, often a specificlanguage is designed,and it works as anotation. Interfaces havea real-time attitude and,moreover, they can giveto the digital music amore intuitive, interactive

and sometimes eventangible quality.

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Graphite Sequencer[2006]by Caleb Coppock

Graphite Sequenceris an analogue interface thatworks like a music box, but the matrix is modifiable

in any moment just drawing.>Graphite conducts electricity. Two wires brushagainst the surface of a paper disk as it spins.The wires are connected to a simple electronic tonegenerator. When a line of graphite is drawn acrossthe disk, connecting the two wires, a tone is heard.The quality of the line affects the sound. For example,if the line is thick, allowing more current to pass over

it, the pitch changes to a lower tone.< calebcoppock.com/graphseq.html>> http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00013I


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Pianolina

by David Krause, Volker Bertelmann, Fons Hickmann and Simon Gallus

Pianolinais a web project for the Grotrianpianocompany.Piano notes are represented by colored squaresthat you drag and drop into a rectangle, a soundspace affected by gravity.The squares float in this space with different speeds,according to the push they received when they where

dragged into the sound space.They play their note or chord, or musical pattern when they knock against the rectangle borders.By combining notes and movements, a more or lessrandom melody comes out and modifies becauseof the interaction of the squares that can collideand change their direction and speed.

>> www.grotrian.de/spiel/e/spiel_win.html


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Scrapple[2005]by Golan Levin

>Scrappleis an audiovisual installation in whicheveryday objects placed on a table are interpretedas sound-producing marks in an active score.The Scrapple system scans a table surface asif it were a kind of music notation, producing music

in real-time from any objects lying there.The installation makes use of a variety of playfulforms; in particular, long flexible curves allow for thecreation of variable melodies, while an assemblageof cloth shapes, small objects and wind-up toys yieldsever-changing rhythms.Video projections on the Scrapple table transformthe surface into a simple augmented reality, in which

the objects placed by users are elaborated throughluminous and explanatory graphics.The 3-meter long table produces a 4-second audioloop, allowing participants to experiment freely withtangible, interactive audiovisual composition.In the Scrapple installation, the table is the score.< www.flong.com/projects/scrapple


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ReacTable[2003]by Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona

>The ReacTableis a collaborative electronic musicinstrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touchinterface. Several simultaneous performers sharecomplete control over the instrument by movingand rotating physical objects on a luminous roundtable surface. By moving and relating these objects,representing components of a classic modular

synthesizer, users can create complex and dynamicsonic topologies, with generators, filters andmodulators, in a kind of tangible modular synthesizeror graspable flow-controlled programming language.The reactable hardware is based on a translucent,round multi-touch surface. A camera situatedbeneath the table, continuously analyzes the surface,tracking the players finger tips and the nature,

position and orientation of physical objects that aredistributed on its surface. These objects representthe components of a classic modular synthesizer,the players interact by moving these objects,changing their distance, orientation and the relationto each other. These actions directly control thetopological structure and parameters of the soundsynthesizer. A projector, also from underneath the

table, draws dynamic animations on its surface,providing a visual feedback of the state, the activityand the main characteristics of the sounds producedby the audio synthesizer.< reactable.iua.upf.edu


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ReacTables notational system


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Tenori-On[2005]by Toshio Iwai and Yamaha

Tenori-Onis a digital musical instrument.>The interface area of Tenori-On consists of a simplesquare of 16x16 matrix of LEDswitches sourroundedby an alluminium frame. The upper part of thealuminium frame has 2 high sound quality speakers,the lower part of the aluminuim section has a dial

and a lcd, and on both sides of the alluminuim framethere are four function switches that change soundor image. []The back of Tenori-On has a 16x16 matrix of LEDlights that copy the light display produced via the LEDswitches of the control sufrace. This facilitatesa beafutiful light display when Tenori-On is usedduring stage performances. www.global.yamaha.com/design/tenori-on


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Tenori-Ons notational system


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bibliography


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Information Design

Bertin, Jacques. 1967. La smiologie graphique. Les diagrammes, les rseaux,les cartes. Paris: Gauthier-Villars.

Tufte, Edward R. 1983. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.Cheshire CT:Graphics Press.- 1990. Envisioning Information.- 1997. Visual Explanations.- 2006. Beautiful evidence.

Music and Notation

Cage, John. Knowles, Alison. 1969. Notations.New York NY: Something Else Press.

Mller, Torsten. Shim, Kunsu. Stbler, Gerhard. 2005.SoundVisions.Saarbrcken DE: Pfau

Woolman, Mat. Sonic Graphics. Seeing sound.London: Thames and Hudson


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webgraphy


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Intuitive Music Homepageby Carl Bergstrm-Nielsenwww.hum.aau.dk/~carlbn/l1/legno1uk.htmwww.hum.aau.dk/~carlbn/l1/legno1uk_add.htmExperimental Improvisation Practise And Notation, detailed bibliography

Edward Tufte

www.edwardtufte.cominformation design and visualizations, related also to music

Visual Complexitywww.visualcomplexity.com/vc/index.cfm?domain=Musicgallery of complex network visualizations, not only about music

Vispoby Jim Andrewsvispo.com/misc/ia.htm

gallery of interactive audio projects for the web

ReacTable / Relatedreactable.iua.upf.edu/?relatedgallery of tangible musical interfaces

Galleries of scores

Nifty(in Japanese)homepage1.nifty.com/iberia/score_gallery.htm

Notation 21

www.notations21.net/viewscores.html

Pictures of music

www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/picturesofmusic/index2.html

Posts about scores and notation

Bibliodyssey

http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2006/07/visual-context-of-music.html

Dark Roasted Blendwww.darkroastedblend.com/2007/02/we-dare-you-to-play-these-scores.html


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technology and innovation in music notation

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