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Musical information organisms: An approach to composition
Abstract
This text is the beginning of a formalized reflection on some poetic aspects of my present compositional world. After a brief survey of our historical background, a general conceptual framework, inspired by research in knowledge representation and categorization, is established. Using two complementary representational systems, I develop a microworld paradigm, the paradigm which first sparks my imagination. Higher-level musical structures, considered as evolving societies in morphological spaces, are then examined, including the overall form of a piece. Excerpts from my own work are analyzed in terms of the writing techniques which are adopted. Finally, a few extensions to this compositional approach are succinctly discussed, together with some of the consequences that challenge traditional perception, analysis, performance, and interpretation.
... During his presence at MIT (Cambridge, Mass., USA) between 1984 and 1986, Stroppa followed high-level courses in domains rather far removed from the music field, but which were to boost his fertile imagination: computer music and cognitive psychology, and also artificial intelligence, structured programming, expert systems, etc. He was inspired with musically oriented reflections stemming from his knowledge of professorial work such as Cognition and categorization [7] which induced him to imagine his Musical Information Organisms [8]. ...
... What mattered for Stroppa was the perceived result, taking a precise account of observations drawn from cognitive and psychoacoustic sciences. It is clear that numerous techniques for local or global writing [8] are more or less direct transpositions of these psychoacoustic "rules". But there again, the knowledge of these concepts was contemporary with his writings, often providing a confirmation of his first musical pages as in the first two movements Deviata and Dialoghi, and sometimes in anticipation as in the third movement Contrasti. ...
... Is it a chord, a note, a note spectrum, a rhythm, a 3-minute long process ? " 8 . ...
The purpose of this paper is to show the creative relation-ship that can be established between scientific knowledge and musical innovation, through the example of Marco Stroppa's work performed between 1980 and 1991 in three specific places: Padova CSC (and the Conservatory of Venice), Ircam (Paris) and MIT (USA). The following methodological tools allow to understand the links between Stroppa's technico-scientific innova-tion, and musical invention: an analysis of his training years from 1980 to 1983 and of the main sources of cog-nitive models; a genetic study of the work Traiettoria (1982-1988), that is, the systematic study of traces, sketches, drafts, computer jotters and other genetic docu-ments; written work published by Stroppa between 1983 and 1991; multiple interviews with the composer and wit-nesses of the period; a partial reconstitution under Open-Music (OMChroma workspace) of the electronic part ini-tially performed under Music V. In fact, Traiettoria constitutes what can be labelled a laboratory of Marco Stroppa's "workshop of composi-tion".
... Life sciences. Another important model for Stroppa is that of organisms (Stroppa, 1989). The issue of organisms or more precisely of the organic model (Hautbois, 2000(Hautbois, , 2006Orcalli, 2012) lies at the heart of spectralism. ...
... 51 The teaching of thinking by Nickerson, Perkins & Smith (1985) is also worth mentioning, since E. E. Smith was a champion of 'categorisation' and also one of Stroppa's professors at MIT. During the creative process that resulted in Traiettoria, Stroppa gradually developed and theorised his thought on organisms, which he later delineated in a publication (Stroppa, 1989). ...
... In addition to a preferred usage of tremolos, which help give a more 'natural' dimension to sounds, 67 here are three examples illustrating such a practice. First, a technique endorsed by Stroppa himself (Stroppa 1989), which involves defocusing a chord (or a set of frequency components) by adding clusters around the chord (or around frequency components). To avoid producing stereotypical synthetic sounds with this technique Stroppa used several control parameters: the number of clusters, the position of the clusters around the main note (frequency bandwidth) and finally a random principle preventing similarities. ...
This paper aims to explore Marco Stroppa's compositional workshop through the emblematic workTraiettoriato demonstrate how an underlying trend of spectral thought was present in the composer's mind during the gestation of the work but did not determine his aesthetic orientation. From the study of common filiations and difference between Marco Stroppa and the spectral composers, we intend to show how his years of intensive training in various disciplines crystallise into Traiettoria, giving rise to personal and long-lasting key concepts.
... The sound model is a fundamental concept in Re Orso as well as in most previous works by Marco Stroppa. It is, with respect to the composition of sound, something similar to the idea of Leitgestalt, or more precisely, to the concept of Musical Information Organism developed by the composer in the 1980s for his musical material: a group of sounds "that consists of several components and properties of varying complexity, maintaining certain relationships and giving rise to a particular form" [9]. This concept implies that di erent sounds corresponding to the same model can be recognised as possessing the same identity and, therefore, can express the same sonic potential [10]. ...
... bars 5 to 8, with reduced pitch range), as well as the pedal controllers: short sustain-pedal strokes (represented by the dark rectangles) in the f passages, followed in the pp passages by a combination of una corda (wider rectangles) and shorter sustain-pedal strokes. 9 It is known that the auditory perception of a high sound dynamic is accompanied not only by a higher amplitude, but especially by a wider spectrum. In addition, due to the semitonal approximation, the higher part of the spectrum tends to sound like a chromatic cluster; so filtering out some notes in the soft passages proves to be helpful musically. ...
Re Orso (King Bear) is an opera merging acoustic instruments and electronics. 1 The electronics were realised at IRCAM with the assistance of Carlo Laurenzi. The libretto, written by Catherine Ailloud-Nicolas and Giordano Ferrari, is based on a fable by Arrigo Boito. Every moment of the opera is exclusively inspired by and tightly related to the prescriptions of the libretto and the intimate structure of the drama: there are no vocal, instrumental or electronic sounds that do not have a deep connection to and a musical justification in the dramaturgy. In addition, an important compositional objective was that the electronic material be endowed with a clear dramaturgic role, in order to be perceived as a character on its own (actually, several characters) with a personality that develops during the action. 2 Preceded by a short exordium, Re Orso is divided in two parts of approximately 45' (five scenes) and 30' (three scenes) separated by an intermezzo storico. The ensemble leaves the pit at the end of this first part and the singers remain alone with the accompaniment of electronic sounds. Voice and electronics are therefore essential elements of the dramaturgy and of the composition. Both have been written and organised with computer-aided compositional tools. This text explores some of the representative OpenMusic patches developed for this project.
... The sound model is a fundamental concept in Re Orso as well as in most previous works by Marco Stroppa. It is, with respect to the composition of sound, something similar to the idea of Leitgestalt, or more precisely, to the concept of Musical Information Organism developed by the composer in the 1980s for his musical material: a group of sounds "that consists of several components and properties of varying complexity, maintaining certain relationships and giving rise to a particular form" [9]. This concept implies that di erent sounds corresponding to the same model can be recognised as possessing the same identity and, therefore, can express the same sonic potential [10]. ...
... bars 5 to 8, with reduced pitch range), as well as the pedal controllers: short sustain-pedal strokes (represented by the dark rectangles) in the f passages, followed in the pp passages by a combination of una corda (wider rectangles) and shorter sustain-pedal strokes. 9 It is known that the auditory perception of a high sound dynamic is accompanied not only by a higher amplitude, but especially by a wider spectrum. In addition, due to the semitonal approximation, the higher part of the spectrum tends to sound like a chromatic cluster; so filtering out some notes in the soft passages proves to be helpful musically. ...
... En segundo lugar, se toman las ideas en cuanto a los procesos de modulación tímbrica de Mastropietro (2014). Finalmente, se toman los planteamientos de Saariaho (1987) y Stroppa (1989), en donde el timbre discurre como una red multiparamétrica. (2017), entre otros. ...
... Depending on the context and register, these sounds appear either as composite or as unique elements. From my poetical point of view, they are the synthetic counterpart of the "Musical Information Organisms" (see Stroppa, 1989). The sound class presented here is composed of four embedded layers (fig. ...
Interactive systems are throughly scrutinized in the lengthy article. Of particular interest to the author are the question of space and sound projection, interpretation of electronic sounds and the relationship between performer and technology.
In my music I try to control the chaos inside and outside me. I try to write in the freest way and to realize it in the most consequential manner. Hence, I try to find a balance between the material and its implicit existential possibilities, focusing on the clarity of its elements and the variety of its possible complex temporal evolutions. In this sense, my pieces could be reduced, in most cases, to a set of contrasting original elements that are embedded in the thematic character of the structure of the material. However the theme is at the same time the starting and the fnal point of the composition, a journey in the discovery of the poetical and formal proprieties of the musical idea. The theme is the frst and the last element. I reduce the musical material to a limited number of elements that are developed following a limited number of more abstract categories that allow a control of musical complexity. Tis double bond through an opposition with the material reveals my abstract compositional categories. Tis makes the process of composition a process of dialectic personal awareness of my subjective limits refected through the manipulation of the musical material. In this sense, my music results from an intimate and subjective confrontation with the realization of the musical idea. For this reason the notion of the thematic idea is central. It resumes the pure temporal character of the musical idea and refers to the semantic element of linear profles that I craft in my compositions. Te following analysis highlights the dialectics between the material and the abstract categories that derive from it. In the conclusion I explain my compositional position from the perspective offered by this analysis.
Traiettoria for piano and electronic sounds (1982-1988), by Marco Stroppa, is one of the key works of mixed genre in the period of the 1980s; it is to be considered on a par with Karlheinz Stockhausen's famous mixed genre Kontakte of 1959. Traiettoria, however, is the work of a very young composer. In the early 1980s, at least at the beginning of the project, Stroppa's style was by no means fixed. It was during the elaboration of his first important work that his compositional workshop was firmly established. The compositional procedures employed in Traiettoria then became the composer's normal language. Following step-by-step the progress of the creation of the three movements which constitute his masterpiece, we can observe the evolution of his compositional techniques and processes: the learning phase (both musical and scientific) that was part and parcel of his first creative intuitions, and the final months of the composition, during which Stroppa became lucidly self-conscious of his compositional process. Furthermore, the analysis of the genetic construction of Traiettoria and of various educational and "self-reflexive" documents of Stroppa himself including his academic transcripts, to which may be added observations on the transfer of compositional procedures into his most recent works (using contemporary software), would appear to be essential not only for the comprehension of the work itsef, but also for the comprehension of the nature of the composer's wider compositional laboratory.
This text is a thorough examination of the different approaches to the string quartet in Italy after World War II. Starting from the perspective of the single pieces, the article discusses the features of each author in a more general way. Philosophical and stylistic aspect are considered, with the aim to make clear the main features of the compositional thought.
Categorizations which humans make of the concrete world are not arbitrary but highly determined. In taxonomies of concrete objects, there is one level of abstraction at which the most basic category cuts are made. Basic categories are those which carry the most information, possess the highest category cue validity, and are, thus, the most differentiated from one another. The four experiments of Part I define basic objects by demonstrating that in taxonomies of common concrete nouns in English based on class inclusion, basic objects are the most inclusive categories whose members: (a) possess significant numbers of attributes in common, (b) have motor programs which are similar to one another, (c) have similar shapes, and (d) can be identified from averaged shapes of members of the class. The eight experiments of Part II explore implications of the structure of categories. Basic objects are shown to be the most inclusive categories for which a concrete image of the category as a whole can be formed, to be the first categorizations made during perception of the environment, to be the earliest categories sorted and earliest named by children, and to be the categories most codable, most coded, and most necessary in language.
This chapter discusses a metaphor for musical and psychological research on auditory organization. It is important where music and psychology meet to develop metaphors for communication and cross-fertilization. In the search for a metaphor that embodies the combined aspects of auditory "impressions" from perception, memory and imagination, the notion of the "auditory source image" has proven fruitful in describing the results of auditory organizational processes to composers, musicians and psychologists. To summarize briefly, the auditory image is a psychological representation of a sound entity exhibiting coherence in its acoustic behavior. The chapter considers the application of this metaphor to psychological research on auditory organization. Research on sequential organization of sound is concerned with how the structure of a sequence of events affects the perceived continuity of the sequence.
Six experiments explored the hypothesis that the members of categories which are considered most prototypical are those with most attributes in common with other members of the category and least attributes in common with other categories. In probabilistic terms, the hypothesis is that prototypicality is a function of the total cue validity of the attributes of items. In Experiments 1 and 3, subjects listed attributes for members of semantic categories which had been previously rated for degree of prototypicality. High positive correlations were obtained between those ratings and the extent of distribution of an item's attributes among the other items of the category. In Experiments 2 and 4, subjects listed superordinates of category members and listed attributes of members of contrasting categories. Negative correlations were obtained between prototypicality and superordinates other than the category in question and between prototypicality and an item's possession of attributes possessed by members of contrasting categories. Experiments 5 and 6 used artificial categories and showed that family resemblance within categories and lack of overlap of elements with contrasting categories were correlated with ease of learning, reaction time in identifying an item after learning, and rating of prototypicality of an item. It is argued that family resemblance offers an alternative to criterial features in defining categories.
Studies of similarity
- M Stroppa
Stroppa, M. (1982a) Metabolai. Ricordi Ed. n ~ 133531, Milan.
Stroppa, M. (1982b) Traiettoria... deviata. Ricordi Ed. n ~ 133770, Milan.
Stroppa, M. (1983) Dialoghi. Ricordi Ed., n ~ 134 014, Milan.
Stroppa, M. (9184) Contrasti. Ricordi Ed. n ~ 134261, Milan.
Tversky, A & Gati, I (1978) Studies of similarity. In Cognition and Categorization, E. Rosch & B.B. Lloyd
(eds), pp 81-98, Hillsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.