RicercarePub Date : 2022-08-21DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.3
John Richards, Tim Shaw
{"title":"Against Augmentation","authors":"John Richards, Tim Shaw","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.3","url":null,"abstract":"This article originated from a conversation between John Richards and Tim Shaw. The conversation is a response to the journal’s theme, Augmented Instruments. Instead of focusing on just one instrument, the authors decided to talk more generally about their overall aesthetic and process of making performance-installations. The conversation touches on augmentation, DIY instruments, unpredictability, and offers the reader examples of their own self-made musical devices. The discussion concludes with three emergent themes: Reductionism, Raw Materials, and Fields of Influence. They hope this transcribed conversation provides a useful starting point for readers interested in Richards’ and Shaw’s experimental approach to electronic music and idiosyncratic instrument design.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86840403","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-08-21DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.2
Cristohper Ramos Flores
{"title":"The bodyless sound and the re-embodied sound: an expansion of the sonic body of the instrument","authors":"Cristohper Ramos Flores","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.2","url":null,"abstract":"The development of recording technologies, audio manipulation techniques, and sound synthesis opened new sonic horizons. At the same time, realising or reproducing these new sounds creates issues of disembodiment and/or a total lack of physical-gesture-to-audio relationship. Understanding the impact these issues have on our perception and comprehension of music becomes central in the light of new creative practices, in which developing hardware and software has become part of the creative process. These creative practices force us to re-think the role of performance and the medium (musical instruments) in the essence of the musical work. Building upon previous research, a set of possible configurations for hyperinstrument design is presented in this article with the aim to introduce novel ways of thinking about the relationship of the physical body of the instrument (resonant body), the sonic body (the acoustic phenomena unfolding in a physical space), and performance.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74324182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-08-21DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.6
Hara Alonso Bécares
{"title":"The extended piano(s), the extended body(ies)","authors":"Hara Alonso Bécares","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.6","url":null,"abstract":"The extended piano(s), the extended body(ies) is an ongoing research project on the piano as an extended instrument started in 2014 by the pianist and composer Hara Alonso. Over the years, it has been developed in different directions and forms ranging from composition, improvisation and installation. The research questions are: How can we rethink the piano beyond its history and technology? How can we expand it by incorporating embodied composition methods? This research intends to develop tools to augment the piano qualities in terms of sound (timbre) and the performative-conceptual elements through improvisation, composition, electroacoustic elements, and performance. These enhanced elements have changed and opened up a wide range of possibilities to interact with the piano, both sonically and physically, widening the piano practices. The pianist’s body has a fundamental value in the research as the initiator of the sound, gesture, and intention, becoming the point of departure in this research. The investigation intertwines two axes: 1) The piano as a sound generator and its expansion through digital means, and 2) The pianist’s body is the primary instrument. \u0000This article covers the research period from 2014 to 2021, in which Hara Alonso developed numerous works for extended piano that have been displayed in several public performances.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81971176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-08-21DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.1
Thomas Gardner
{"title":"Between listening and sounding: Exploring the limits of augmented instruments","authors":"Thomas Gardner","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.1","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores some of the changed relationships between body and environment that occur when instruments are augmented by electronic or digital circuits. Taking Gregory Bateson’s theorisation of the schizophrenic body (1973) as its starting point, the paper explores situations in which the relationship between the performer, body, and instrument takes on increasingly separate communicational modes, in which the body and its meanings come to resemble the ‘unlabelled metaphor’ of the schizophrenic. A series of instrument/personas are brought before us, representing both the ‘norm’ of acoustic instrumental performances and the extreme limits of instrumental identity, offering critical insight into the space that augmented instruments occupy and transform. In considering some of these changes, and in reaching towards their extremities, attention is paid to the friction or awkwardness that accompanies the metamorphosis. In the same way that the ability of a language to ‘point’ is fraught with inconsistencies and potentials for misunderstanding, so the transformation in instrumental identities does not happen in a smooth and transparent way. However, the changes do create the potential for new sensibilities and forms of critical and ethical awareness.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81692311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-06-21DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.7
Emma Wilde, Mario Alberto Duarte García
{"title":"A Taxonomy of Musical Interfaces for Use in the Classroom","authors":"Emma Wilde, Mario Alberto Duarte García","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.7","url":null,"abstract":"Instrument taxonomies have been a preoccupation throughout history. Musical interfaces which involve the use of a sound engine (which could be a software) to sonify and translate data from a user to produce a sound result, do not fit into traditional instrument taxonomies. Magnusson argues that it is necessary to determine classification principles of musical interfaces because there are clear benefits of such a taxonomy for inventors, performers, musicologists, and composers. We propose that educators are another group of people who can benefit from a taxonomy of musical interfaces which considers classifications relating to educational use. Several researchers have argued that there is a need to evaluate how and why technology is implemented in the music classroom. Previous taxonomies of musical interfaces have focused on design principals and user interaction and have only partially explored educational objectives. In this paper we propose a taxonomy of musical interfaces which builds on previous taxonomies but extends them into the educational field. Throughout four case studies of recent musical interfaces implemented in educational contexts in four continents, we show how this taxonomy can be employed to classify how and why a musical interface is implemented in the classroom to analyze the educational benefits they can promote.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"284 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81295599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-06-21DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.5
Felipe Tovar Henao
{"title":"light.void~: An Autographic Case Study on Approaches, Constraints, and Affordances with a Light-dependent Musical Interface.","authors":"Felipe Tovar Henao","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.5","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses the strategies, considerations, and implications of designing and performing with a light-dependent digital musical interface (DMI), named light.void~. This interface is introduced as a replica of light thing, an existing DMI designed and popularized by British artist Leafcutter John. The rationale for reproducing this DMI is presented, followed by a discussion around the guiding criteria for establishing data-to-sound mappings, and the kind of affordances that these decisions may bring — including performer control, unpredictability, intentionality, spontaneity, action-sound reactivity, visual interest, and so on. The remainder of the paper focuses on dissecting the nature of this digital musical instrument, using contributions by DMI researchers Miranda and Wanderley as the main analytical framework. The outcome of this process is a semi-improvisational work titled «Umbra», along with the open source documentation for the light.void~ interface. Additionally, some relevant questions emerge with regards to performer expertise, observed vs. unobserved performance, as well as ontological frictions between instrument, composer, performer, designer, and audience.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"105 12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83368258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-06-15DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.8
Sabina Covarrubias
{"title":"Multimedia writing procedures for musical composition, seven case studies","authors":"Sabina Covarrubias","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.8","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this article is to describe the multimedia writing (MW) procedures that have proven to be effective in resolving some of the difficulties faced by composers in: 1. notation of timbre, 2. notation of new performance modes, 3. notation of new vocal techniques, 4. notation of a tonal language in a score, 5. notation of the instructions for the use of the computer programs contained in the work, 6. synchronization of the oral tradition musicians with the audio recordings, and 7. time reduction during the learning of the work. To address these issues, we used MW in six \"experiments\" —composition projects designed to answer specific questions about notation. These experiments and other subsequent projects allowed us to confirm our findings. In our experiments, MW was a set of procedures that allowed information to be represented in different ways simultaneously. The information can be text, sound, still or moving images, among others. These procedures can be used to record a message with the aim of saving it and transferring it from the composer to the performer. The results obtained demonstrated the effectiveness of MW in overcoming the current limitations of the Western music writing system (WMWS).","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86170826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2022-05-13DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.4
Marinos Koutsomichalis
{"title":"Instruments that are more than instruments (and other stories)","authors":"Marinos Koutsomichalis","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2022.15.4","url":null,"abstract":"Partly auto-ethnography, partly explanatory research, and partly an exercise in nontypical academic writing, this treatise focuses on music/multimedia instruments (and making paradigms thereof) that celebrate a more or less radical re-thinking of instrument-hood. ’Stories' of a sort are recounted so as to demonstrate the breadth of the many different (fascinating) ways in which instruments can be indeed much more than what the dominant hylonoetic view suggest. Instruments are discussed in broad thematic sections, raising common concerns and outlining related research veins. The author touches upon a surfacing opposition between hylonoetic and morphogenic perspectives and examines affairs of post or ‘hyper’ optimality in DIY making (recounting one last ‘story’). This treatise concludes with sketches for future work — for playful creative explorations and prospective instruments (that are intended to be ‘more than instruments’).","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81322208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2021-12-10DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2021.14.5
Nicolás Aguía Betancourt
{"title":"La danza de la tierra: el material musical, rito y sacrificio en La consagración de la primavera de Igor Stravinsky","authors":"Nicolás Aguía Betancourt","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2021.14.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2021.14.5","url":null,"abstract":"En este artículo, se examina la concepción adorniana del material musical en la obra de Stravinsky y el análisis del mito que hace el filósofo René Girard en La Consagración de la Primavera. La aproximación teórica desde la concepción girardiana del sacrificio permite reexaminar la obra de Stravinsky y el significado del impacto de escenificar el asesinato fundacional, a inicios del siglo XX. La estructura de la violencia sacrificial que expone Girard expande el análisis de la obra del compositor ruso ofreciendo una lectura antropológica del hecho artístico. De este modo, el horizonte crítico que abre el pensamiento girardiano apuntala una contextualización de la obra que va más allá de una postura respecto a la sedimentación del material musical.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"466 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77527383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RicercarePub Date : 2021-10-01DOI: 10.17230/ricercare.2021.14.4
Juan Manuel Molano Posada
{"title":"Funcionalidad y Recursos Tímbricos en la Guitarra: Clasificación de las Posibilidades Tímbricas del Instrumento para Enriquecer una Propuesta Musical Interpretativa","authors":"Juan Manuel Molano Posada","doi":"10.17230/ricercare.2021.14.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17230/ricercare.2021.14.4","url":null,"abstract":"Este artículo aborda el timbre como un aspecto importante en la interpretación de obras para guitarra, y se enfoca particularmente en un repertorio en el cual no son explícitas las indicaciones tímbricas. Para ello, se define inicialmente el papel que ha ocupado el timbre dentro de la comunidad guitarrística a lo largo de la historia; posteriormente, se determina qué aspectos técnicos del instrumento permiten variación tímbrica; y, por último, se clasifican las funciones que ocupa el timbre dentro del discurso musical a partir de ejemplos de diferentes periodos estilísticos. Esto con el fin de presentar una visión interpretativa, por medio de la cual, el intérprete guitarrista pueda incorporar estos matices de una manera clara, consciente, y coherente con el discurso musical.","PeriodicalId":34433,"journal":{"name":"Ricercare","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86108526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}