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The Qualities of the Perceived Sound Forms: A Morphological Approach to Timbre Composition

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10525))

Abstract

In this article, we present and discuss timbre and sound morphology in live electroacoustic and instrumental music from a compositional standpoint. We approach interaction and convergence issues in live electroacoustic music, related to the idea of sound morphology, based on the undulatory and granular sound paradigms. In instrumental composition, we analyze instrumental synthesis based on frequency modulation so as to generate pitches and enable timbre interpolation. Timbre fusion is also addressed, based on concepts of jitter, permeability and timbre of movement (Bewegungsfarbe). For these purposes, some examples of our compositions are addressed to illustrate these sound properties. In order to analyze the generated timbres, we apply time-varying audio descriptors to reveal some characteristics of the generated timbres. We conclude by comparing the analyzed operations with the emerging form of these works considering both the micro and macro temporal aspects. This article is an extended version of the paper “Interaction, Convergence and Instrumental Synthesis in Live Electronic Music”, presented on the 12th CMMR.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We adopt the term electroacoustic as the convergence of both concrete and electronic music into one practice [1].

  2. 2.

    Kontakte, in addition to the mixed version, has an acousmatic version for tape solo.

  3. 3.

    In this recording, the piece was performed by José de Carvalho.

  4. 4.

    Transposed score.

  5. 5.

    Performed by Alexandre Zamith (live recording).

  6. 6.

    Performed by Sophia Vaillant (live recording).

  7. 7.

    Performed by Pedro Bittencourt (studio recording).

  8. 8.

    Performed, in this recording, by the Ensemble L’Itinéraire.

  9. 9.

    Performed by Soli Tutti Vocal Ensemble and Bobigny Conservatoire Contemporary Music Instrumental Ensemble, under the direction of Denis Gautheyrie.

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Acknowledgments

São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP - for the support of this research through the processes 2013/00155-4 and 2014/9548-9.

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Correspondence to Danilo Rossetti .

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Rossetti, D. (2017). The Qualities of the Perceived Sound Forms: A Morphological Approach to Timbre Composition. In: Aramaki, M., Kronland-Martinet, R., Ystad, S. (eds) Bridging People and Sound. CMMR 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10525. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67738-5_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67738-5_16

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