Sonic

Art presentation


Sonic Art as differing from Music is quite a recent art form. The quest to make music
in new ways and to use new materials has been a driving force behind all western
music. The invention of new instruments that create new sounds or can be used in
new ways has been a constant element in the quest for this new music. Each new
instrument is experimented with and then given a place in the collection of devices
called musical instruments or discarded as unsuitable for musical production. The
concept of Sonic Art arose as the invention and development of electrical
instruments made it more and more possible to create works that many musicians
would not call music. During the invention of these instruments many musicologists
refused to accept the idea that music could be created using the same elements of
music (rhythm, timbre, harmony, pitch etc) and yet not use a musical instrument.
What defines a musical instrument in this case? A description of musical
instruments could simply be an instrument for the making of sound. It is the way in
which the sound produced by an instrument is used that makes the sound musical
or non-musical, the instrument in and of itself is not musical.

A definition of Art could be ‘the choice (including non-choice) and organization
(including non-organization) of elements to a particular end’. Therefore a definition
of Sonic Art could be ‘the choice (including non-choice) and organization (including
non-organization) of sonic elements to a particular end’.

John Cage’s description of Music. A statement made in 1937 that presents the
sources of much of today’s most innovative, experimental and I think our most
accessible music. Strangely enough it is a statement accepted by few musicians and
few musicologists.

The concept of Sonic Art lays open the entire scope of sound and silence as the
palette of the composer. The development of this Sonic Art parallels the exponential
development of technology. Cage had a concept of the direction of the development
of this art form but it has always been at the whm of the development of technology.
As technology advances so too does the scope of Sonic Art and the palette of the
artist.. Today I am going to present some works that mark out some areas of Sonic
Art.


One of the early forms Sonic Art was pioneered by a French Radio Technician, Pierre
Schaffer. Musique Concrete is based upon the manipulation of recordings of real
sounds. Prior to the use of recording apparatus the only way to record or capture
music was through notation. With the invention of recording apparatus it became
possible to capture live sounds, bypassing the concept of notation and in some ways
even performance. Musique Concrete uses fragments of sound, Objets Sonores, that
are manipulated, reconstructed, or superimposed to create sonic canvases or
soundscapes. The purpose of sound objects is not necessarily defined by the choice
of the objects. The objects can (sometimes the purpose of musique Concrete is just
this) take on a completely different meaning when removed from the context of
their original creation. The purpose of musique Concrete is to give Sound
Composers a platform from which that may make a composition with any sound
they wish regardless of its origin.
The exploration of this approach grew out of the futurist movement of the
1920’s and 1930’s and carried throughout the 20th Century by composers such as
John Cage, Edgard Varese and locally Ros Bandt among many others.


Ros Bandt’s FootSteps

“This work explores the theme that where we are and our sense of place govern our
perception. From Western Australia to Florida, from suburban Melbourne to a
collage of the sounds of feet traversing the globe — the pieces are grafted as the
footsteps of different people interweave, cross or separate; much as they do in our
daily lives.” Ros Bandt

Whilst listening to this piece consider the concepts of music. Rhythm, pitch,
harmony, timbre

Many people would differentiate between ‘Footsteps’ and music. Right or wrong I
don’t think that it is important but as a piece of art I think it is very viable.
Kaffe Matthews, Andy Moor “Builder Bloomsberg” Track 4 CD Locks

Developing at the same time as Musique Concrete was Elektronische musik,
stablished by a group of scientists and musicians who founded a centre for its
development. They were led by the composer Herbert Eimert but the best-known
member to emerge from this group was Karlheinz Stockhausen. Principally these
artists were interested in the production of electronic sounds as their compositional
palette. Electrical filters, processors and tone generators were the instruments of
these artists before the advent of the synthesizer. There was an exceptional balance
of technology and musicality driving these innovators. Often a work was conceived
and then a process or a device to aid in the making that piece would be devised.
Stockhausen facilitated the invention of FM synthesis almost as a side track to a
work he was creating. FM synthesis is the basis of one of the main concepts of
electronic synthesis (think Vangelis). Using the new tools available to these
composers, it was possible to create new sounds never heard before, and this almost
unlimited expansion demanded structure. Many mathematical and algorithmic
forms in the tradition of serialist composition were investigated. For others, the
sounds themselves became the inspiration for structure.

To come back to what are musical instruments, the concept of the computer
(synthesis at its most controllable) as a musical instrument is at first an odd one.
When we think of musical instruments we often think of violins, guitars etc. This
piece demonstrates the use of the pc as a viable and unique performance
instrument. Kaffe Matthews is a sonic artist/electronic
musician/performer/violinist/composer/improviser and the list goes on. Andy lock
is a guitarist and improvisor. Together they have created a work in which Lock
plays guitar and Matthews samples the guitar manipulating that sound in real-time.
(Real-time means the processing or manipulation happens now. This is quite a
recent development of technology) Using a program called LISA (Live Sampler)
created by the STEIM institute which we are going to have a look at with Kim,
Matthews creates a new sort of instrument. All the elements of a musical
instrument are present, the creation and manipulation of sound and an interface
with which to control that sound. This excerpt from ‘Locks’ presents not a new
approach to music, nor a new style of music simply music with a new instrument
integrated with an older one. The forms of structure of this piece are based on the
sounds. All the work is improvised relying on the performers reaction and
interaction with the sound and each other.

A further Development of Sonic Art including elements of both musique concrete
and elektronische musik in a performance format that is more akin to fine art than
to music.
From the earliest developments of electronic music works have utilised multi-
channel sound representation to allow more freedom in the placement of sound and
to extend the perceived performance area. The term electro-acoustic music refers
to electronic music presented into an acoustic space. A space that is more than 2d.
This format encourages a breakdown of performance area/audience area and draws
the audience in to that area. The next work demonstrates what is titled Sound
Installation. Generally a site specific format, the acoustics of the space and the
concept of utilising the space inform the performance.
One of the first major performances or installations of a Sound Installation
and was composed by a well known controversial composer, Edgard Varèse. The
piece titled Poème électronique was composed at the Philips Studio at Eindhaven
was commissioned for performance during the 1958 Brussels Worlds Fair. It was
performed inside a pavilion designed by Le Corbusier. The pavilion incorporated
over 400 loudspeakers hidden in the walls and ceilings. Nearly 16,000 people per
day for six months provided an audience for this work of purely taped sounds
incorporating ‘found sound’ and ‘made sound’. The work also featured an early
incorporation of multi-media with slides projected throughout the pavilion. Varèse
often described himself as an ‘organizer of sound’ rather than a composer. This
work is a forerunner to much of sonic arts role in todays mainstream art of
multimedia. Regrettably neither the pavilion nor any other aspect of the installation
exists.

We will now hear an excerpt from Stokey. A sound installation/perfroamce by Kaffe
Matthews. I will show some pictures and text of the sound installation but as you
can imagine this is only a taste of a whole days performance nor is it an accurate
aural picture as the sound would have been enveloping from many sources.