5- Paper and Pencil

The Task

Create a "noise" piece.

1. Create a small library of recordings using only the supplied pencil and paper as sound sources.
2. Compose a piece of music using only this library.

Microphone(s) and recording technique(s) are subject to individual preference.
Source sounds may be manipulated in any way.


Research

Electro-Acoustic music is a form of Avant-Garde modern art music which has split into two main sections.  Musique Concrete is the name of the part that originated in France by Pierre Schaeffer.  Schaeffer (August 14th 1910 - August 19th 1995) is considered to be the father of Musique Concrete.  IN 1942 he created the Studio d'Essai which became the centre of musical activity.  Elektronische Musik is the name of the section that originated in Cologne, Berlin.  The first broadcasts from the NWDR were in 1953.  Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig joined Werner Meyer-Eppled and Herbert Eimet.  The main differences between the two studios is that the French ideology was that the music could be generated from anything including recordings whereas the German idea was to create the music from sine waves, essentially building the sound.  This piece is mainly concerned with the idea behind musique concrete since sounds were recorded then manipulated to create the sound.

The Britannica Encyclopedia's definition of musique concrete is "experimental technique of musical composition using recorded sounds as raw material." (Source 1) The sounds sources can be anything from instruments and voices to electronic sounds and natural sounds occurring within nature.  Pierre Schaeffer was the first to develop this technique beginning in around 1948.  


The Composition

The sound sources were initially recorded onto a Roland R-05 handheld recorder.  Sounds include:

• Tearing paper
• Hitting paper with pencil
• Making flapping sounds with paper
• Drawing on paper using pencil
• Snapping pencil
• Creaking sounds of pencil moving

These sounds were all edited (shortened and cut into single or tiny sections) and put into a library.  The clips were then processed in Cecilia 5 and SoundGrain.  Only around 6 of the final 42 sound were edited as each of these 6 sounds were each edited around 7 times and so the sound source is almost completely unrecognisable.  

The clips were put through a single process then the result of the process was recorded.  The new sound would then be put through another process and that recorded.  One of these processed sounds had undergone the following processes in order to achieve the desired sound:

• Delay
• Degrade
• Wave Harmoniser
• Distortion
• Vocoder
•  Frequency Shift
• Detuned Resonator
• Granulator Synth
• Wave Shaper

The idea behind the techniques used to create the piece is to get a rich texture from each individual sound object before even building the composition.  This ensures that every sound is interesting and developing.  This piece has a design and structure to it; the plot is that you are driving through London and hearing all the sounds of the city.  The beginning sounds are that of the clock tower Big Ben but from a distance, hence the distortion.  The next sound are the tube lines; it sounds like electricity and the tubes have a faint sound of this.  Next are the cars, motorbikes and buses moving through the London streets; the sound of engines. Following that, one can hear a bell tolling; Big Ben.  As you walk away from it, it fades out and you hear instead the sound of a helicopter in the distance and the sound of engines again.  You then hear a revolving door as you move towards some buildings and following that the rain. The helicopter gets louder but then leaves.  You're still hearing the rain as you drive away from London City. 

Critical Analysis

This might be the most advanced piece to date.  It shows form and structure, a keen consideration for texture, rhythm and development.  The sounds are varied and unrecognisable which is one of the main purposes behind Musique Concrete- the ambiguous disguise of sound.  The piece could have had some space in there and also could have been a little longer in order to give each little section more time to develop fully on its own in order to hear more of the individual sound objects.

References

Source 1: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399309/musique-concrete
Date Accessed: 22.4.14]