Notation as Composition

8/2/2019 Notation as Composition

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MUSIC NOTATION AS

MUSIC COMPOSITION

BY WILLIAM ANDREW BURNSON

Monday, October 10, 11


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Composition

Improvisation

Performance

Notation

Rehearsal

What is the difference between

composition and notation?

Dictation-->

Recordin

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INNOVATIONS IN COMPOSITION

Renaissance Accidentals

Baroque Loud and Soft

Classical Graded Dynamics

Romantic Cresc., Dim., Phrasing, Articulation

Early 20th c. Serial music, Percussion

Post WWII Aleatory, Proportional, Formalization, Graphic, Symbolic,Microtonal, Multiphonics, Textual, Abstract

Technologic Musique Concrte, Music Production Software,Interactive Music



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INNOVATIONS IN NOTATION

Renaissance Accidentals

Baroque Loud and Soft

Classical Graded Dynamics

Romantic Cresc., Dim., Phrasing, Articulation

Early 20th c. Serial music, Percussion

Post WWII Aleatory, Proportional, Formalization, Graphic, Symbolic,Microtonal, Multiphonics, Textual, Abstract

Technologic Musique Concrte, Music Production Software,Interactive Music



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Mycenae Alpha - Iannis Xenakis

Spiral Galaxy (Makrokosmos I,George Crumb)

An example Max/MSP (interactive music) session

An example GarageBand session



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MODERN DAY TYPESETTING



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GRAMMAR(notationally speaking)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of

times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age

of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, itwas the epoch of incredulity; it was the season

of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was

the spring of hope, it was the winter of

despair; we had everything before us, we had

nothing before us; we were all going directly

to Heaven, we were all going the other way.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of

foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was theepoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, itwas the season of Darkness; it was the spring ofhope, it was the winter of despair; we hadeverything before us, we had nothing before us;we were all going directly to Heaven, we were allgoing the other way.

=?

Compare the following renderings of the opening sentence toA Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens):



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GRAMMAR

Letters are different shapes, sizes.Words are not in the same location.

Strictly speaking these two snippets have nothing in common!

(notationally speaking)



of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, itwas the epoch of incredulity; it was the season

of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was

the spring of hope, it was the winter of




It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of

foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was theepoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, itwas the season of Darkness; it was the spring ofhope, it was the winter of despair; we hadeverything before us, we had nothing before us;we were all going directly to Heaven, we were allgoing the other way.

=?

Compare the following renderings of the opening sentence toA Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens):



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GRAMMAR

Though the two passages differed graphically,in the context of a typographic grammar, we consider them the same.




of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it

was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season

of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it wasthe spring of hope, it was the winter of




It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;it was the age of wisdom, it was the age offoolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was theepoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it

was the season of Darkness; it was the spring ofhope, it was the winter of despair; we hadeverything before us, we had nothing before us;we were all going directly to Heaven, we were allgoing the other way.

Just like a written language, music notation also has a grammar.

Visually distinct representations can have the same underlying content.

=

= =



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GRAMMAR

Side Note:In the grammar of language we can also study it from two vantage points:


I know what you mean. I know whatcha mean.

Prescriptive Grammar (English)

Descriptive Grammar (Linguistics)

OK

I know what you mean.I know whatcha mean.

People say this Probably dont hearthis too often...

Bad form:whatcha is not in the dictionaryDirect object is whatcha?Indirect object is whatcha?



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GRAMMAR

Which came first, the style guide or the language?




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GRAMMAR

Which came first, the style guide or the language?


In music notation we face a similar problem.

Many prescriptive music notation guides show recommended practiceas a set of rules.

Emulates conventions established through a centuries-long evolution of anaturally-occurring process of thousands of typesetters and composers

collectively solving a notational problem:

How do you project a multi-dimensional concept such as music(pitch, rhythm, voicing, instrument, dynamics, phrasing, articulation)

onto a two-dimensional canvas?



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Music notation developed organically in response to the needs ofcomposers and typesetters, rather than being authored by any one

person or specific group.

In designing a representation of music notation,we need to know something descriptive about the notational grammar

A prescriptive set of case-by-case rules that handle most casesis not sufficient to represent all notational possibilities that carry meaning.



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REPRESENTATION

Score

Part Measure

A pervasive approach to representing music comprisespart-based (row first) multidimensional containers.

Part-Based Containers (i.e. measures in parts in score)



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REPRESENTATION

Score

Part Instants

Alternatively, a time-based (column first) container can be used

Time-Based Containers (i.e. instants in parts in score)



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REPRESENTATION

Caveats of a container-based representation:

1) Example of Part-Based failure: Ossia Staff

2) Example of Time-Based failure: Grace notes

In what order should the notes appear?

Is this a part with hidden measures?



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GRAPH THEORY

Organizes relational information by nodes and links

Link(or Edge)

Node

(or Vertex)



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GRAPH THEORY

Used to solve a number of difficult problems. For example:

1) Traveling Salesman ProblemGiven a list of cities (nodes) and connecting roads (links), what isthe shortest path that visits each city without any repeat visits.

2) The Map Coloring ProblemGiven a map of countries, what is the fewest number of colorsthat can be used so that no two adjacent countries use thesame color. Answer: 4, but most maps use 5 to make theproblem easier.



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GRAPH THEORY



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BELLE, BONNE, SAGE

Open-source (free) software for typesetting music

Provides support mechanisms for printing

music regardless of the final medium

(PDF, notation software, web, and so on)

Takes form in some current programs:

Chorale Composer (music theory)

Lune (early development,

algorithmic notation)

Baude Cordier

Belle, Bonne, Sage

from 14th Century France

Notation as Composition

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