Re: [-empyre-] graphic scores

Ranulph Glanville <ranulph@glanville.co.uk> · Fri, 15 Aug 2003 20:58:16 +0100

I'm not sure how much of this discussion I've missed. I may be teaching 
my grandmother to suck eggs.
Graphic scores were a major thing in the 60s. Many people used them in 
many ways: as notation, as provocation, as metaphor, as improvisation 
promoter, and as instructions/process. I suppose they were an attempt 
to get beyond the structures of "total serialism."
They were used extensively by Cage and Cardew, for instance, as well as 
more bizarre people like Haubenstock Ramatti. Cardew's massive Treatise 
was recently released in a realisation on CD, with the score avaliable 
from Peters. Cage did many things with graphics for many reasons, 
including using star charts to dispose notes in an attempt not to get 
in the way of the sounds (to relinquish his control/taste). 
Stockhausen's use of graphics was, as far as I know, very limited. In 
electronic compositions, graphic expressions are perhaps more generally 
familiar since they are used as a sort of private notation and to deal 
with sounds that are outside those capturable using normal conventions.
Cardew worked in a graphics studio, though I'm not sure in what 
capacity.
On a different note, there's a very special (Mac) program, MetaSynth 
(www.uisoftware.com). This is a graphic composition environment which 
also shunts sound from wave form to graphic and back. All sorts of 
amazing possibilities are opened up by this program and I don't think 
anyone, even the authors, are really exploring it yet. The ability to 
take wave from images and use them as filters to other sound is pretty 
interesting, similar to compositional devices Stockhausen uses where 
pitch profiles become dynamic envelopes, etc. You can draw, but there's 
also a waveform generator, sampler, all the usual stuff. Take a look 
(and buy a Mac).
Hope this is of some relevance and interest!
Ranulph
On Friday, Aug 15, 2003, at 19:18 Europe/London, Stasisfield.com wrote:
Brendan wrote:
Glenn Bach wrote:

Its worth looking at some of Stockhausen¹s scores and Francis 
Miroglio¹s

scores/drawings to see where drawing is part of the process toward

composition/performance.

I've been looking at graphic scores for a few years now, and I'm 
currently in discussion with John K. about his idea for a project 
involving the direction of ensembles from graphic scores.  I haven't 
decided whether I will work with acoustic musicians or with an 
ensemble of laptops.  The possibilities are interesting--having the 
score appear as wallpaper on each musician's screen, or some kind of 
local intranet linkage--I don't know enough about the technology.

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm working on some similar stuff with some classical musicians.  My 
main concept right now is to have the musician play a keyboard work 
on a midi keyboard and the visuals are generated based on the midi 
data.

Hi Brendan,
Actually, the project that Glenn is referring to above works the other 
way around: a visual score (replacing one that would be traditionally 
composed with standard musical notation) is created first. The 
performers will then use the graphic score as a set of instructions to 
perform an audio work.
Here in Chicago, there is a series of performances happening monthly 
at Deadtech gallery [ http://www.deadtech.net ] entitled 
'Decomposure", which features performances of works by ensembles 
playing from non-traditional scores. The piece I'm composing for the 
next Stasisfield CD project (and to which hopefully Glenn will also be 
contributing) will be performed during this series next year.
Not to say that your project doesn't sound intriguing, though! Do you 
have any examples of the visuals that are being generated posted on 
the web somewhere? I'd love to see them.
>>
john kannenberg
[ http://www.stasisfield.com/empyre/ ]
[ http://www.whistlingpariah.com ]
[ http://www.stasisfield.com ]

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