Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=pnm.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the
scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Perspectives of New Music is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Perspectives
of New Music.
http://www.jstor.org
COMPOSITIONALMODELS
IN XENAKIS'S
ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC
AGOSTINO
DI SCIPIO
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
This approach helps us, I believe, to tackle questions that are funda-
mental in music analysis:what is the material of the musical work under
observation? By what methodswas the material worked on? How did this
way of working finally bring forth the perceivedmusical structure?What
relationship is there between sound and music? Thus, it becomes possible
to grasp meaningful features of the music theoryand the aesthetic hypoth-
eses underlying the work in question. Music analysis is understood here
as a question of characterizing and evaluating the musical knowledge
Xenakis's Electroacoustic Music 203
FROM CONCRETPH . . .
Sound design for Concret PH followed three steps. As a first step, the
sounds of hot coals and burning material were recorded on tape. As a
second step, very short chunks were extracted from the recording and
isolated from their original context. Each chunk here corresponds to a
single crackle, to a single creak of the coal in consumption-noise bursts
lasting no more than a few hundredths (sometimes even a few thou-
sandths) of a second. As is expected, such sounds have a very large spec-
trum (see Example 1). Indeed, at this level the determination of
frequency becomes dependent on the duration: the shorter the sound
impulse, the wider the frequency band. (In other words, following
Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle," a precise localization in the time
domain causes indeterminacy in the frequency domain.) As a conse-
quence, frequency and its perceptual attribute, pitch, are hardly control-
lable here, as it is impossible for human ears to integrate differences of
pitch and amplitude in such brief moments.5
As a third step, the short noise bursts were assembled to create a
longer texture, by piecing together innumerable scraps of tape. A series
of such textures was obtained, each having a particular temporal density
dn = kn/At. Textures were then submitted to two distinct strategies of
densification:
1S4.467 '111.3?0 '200272 '203 17S '206O77 '208,980 '211-882 1214.785 '217.682iw
.0
dB8
-10
-20
-30.
-40 -
50-
A
-s0
HZ:
0'-80"
* .. ..
I: . D: . . . . ' . :... :
' '
','' :
*-
'^!:''-! .": :.., ? ; ,i :, ,' :' . ' '
j:"
' i
_......
t-- ';, :t'
, I ' : - ; :
;
. j;EXAMPLE
2B' CONCRT PH-80"-160"
i:
2B:
CONCRETPH-808:~'"-
EXAMPLE I60"
n,
i::
o, ?i ? i:: ? :?:' ? : -:-I.:I
:? i ' ''
a,
?i( : :? ?'??:::'
,, :j: i ir::::.?:':'-?;???
?,r:? It
?, f: i:: ??%?,. ?,.? -:
" ::I :.i t,l r
???
? i'??': :i: sC
i?:- :i ?rri ?f. I ;F?
::
ix:?tt:
-? ;*r
.?( ,ir? :1:1
ilai:
-fair ?1 t: r thi ..
k ." 'It"
t:''I I;:I
:i. :? '
.r? 'I' ??re
": 1??::I?:I i ii ir;-
I ?i: a
i ? ?I,: :i: . Z...
i.; :. ?::p:L ??' -?.?
:$ ?* ::
I"?'
r
r?:r i
L
:i?f?
I
I:i
::1
i(b
i :1:Ii
?1 ??I?
'."
'' :?'
i?
ai
L:::O :
'???
'f
:i:
??I/I'
:i':(-il
Cia
I'
:::
+. f Er
'. r :? f i:.-:? ?:L i
r 1 Y
I ?;
i r.r! i? ?L:
1: ii ?i t I I-?1
r
i. 1 .?I
?;L?r?
r?.:
IO LI U U
n,
r,
r-
.
w,
s
o_
: I?:
1(, - ? . ?' . ? I : 1
;
*-? 1
i ?: :.::: / ::.?: :?I?.: :?? i,?i?
h::
j;I:I:,-
j??:
i :?:?i:
1
?I ,t ,
::i:? I.i ??F i?i? j?; "'',? ?:t:?'
i :
" i: ii.
.r ?? ?t i.i r- L?
-L?
t:C r?: I r. :
?? :::i::iC
.;?
" ii::;?:! ?:Ilj.ItI?
r
it-
:I
I .ii?.
?1, ??;-?
s
PI
?i????:.t
:Icl
' ??i?,
"'i
.1.' TF:i
;.? ti.
I?
i.?l
r: i''l.t' 1: i).'."'
asidclki ?..I:li ?I
i
?-;
O w I)r LP u* * I--------?r*nlrurm
lvr,n r -rxln*e sra*n?-,?--
g0'524- 26'613
R
?,
?,
*,
6
O ir: r .
?. ?
So"-Ioo'
I_
*,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :1I f
'i&
'^ ::1:.::*:M J|^ ~~~~~~~~~~ -. ?
*?-;... -*~ .. :
: . .... ':^
"i!~-.~i'::":.: - r: ^:i . - . '*:. " *".* - ' :^ . *^* . ;: :-:' **^
~/' ". .
' :
:.: !.*/:..
? ..:::*! :
-::t'".;-..' .'.
- *: ::.' .':'. . . ..
r~~~~~~~?
*'^^ t.4 "-^4'a '-.?*-? ,(:*!...* to '^ ^ li . :/
'.^t .* <^ . *-* ^ :- M *: **.* !:>* *"**<t-'<; . ( '
*?
^
~***.~~~~~
-* f'
*:'"*
':
?''''"(":""'''
'-
'"
;'t. an1
'. h' ' '"""
1.0
. .: ~
:_ '.:
?.l.:'i: : :
~~~ ~ ?; ~ ~ '3
?,~ ~ ~ 4 ~
if?
re,?
..
rd
. .
J ; W0
.
& I
i
~~~~~~~~~~?- i....
'
?._, .. .. . *. . .;
' ''
'"~" ': ..
:'. ~
?'.i '' !~:.i~..
i~
- .i!~;..ii~;
. ~:
:'
:~'~Ji~ ,.i?zib:""?
?:i: i . !~ :~:!i?~..~
~:".. .
i :..~i '
::.' 16
:':
,-.~. " :.''r..i~" ::: ' ..*:.^.::' ,'-i.'. ~:,,X-;
~
0~~~~~~~
i,...'"
..A.f.....;i:.,:/:^.? ~>;*
l^ e~" " .: .>.-...:"..;::
: **;,-:?:^; ....t-.',::; ^'.i^*,?;.:^ '. .;.^^;...^^ ..
~ :;ii"
~ ~~~':,
if~ . : :'
::I
EXAMPLE
7A: DETAILOF THE SONOGRAMOF CONCRETPH-THE FIRSTTYPEOF
TEXTURE IS PREDOMINANT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PIECE,
AS IN FRAGMENT15"-20"
*..-
' .
=6"-;!. '*:4-:.- . ' iX::A
' ::;:! ': :
"' ....1^',;~~~~
':~~
"' ^140'
^~'
-l^' '^ 1:465..'
EXAMPLE
DETAIL
OF
THE
SONOGRAM
TYPEOF
CONCRETPHTHE
SECOND
OF
7B: PREDOMETAIL
EXAMPLE OF WARDS THE CONCRE T PH- THE SECOND TYPE OF
TEXTURE IS PREDOMINANT TOWARDS THE END, AS IN FRAGMENT 140"--145"
Xenakis's Electroacoustic Music 213
* * *
... TO ANALOGIQUE B
s(t) = Zn,kan,kg(t-kT)ejnn
F F IIms F
Af
I
III II
u -> T -> T -> T
t
A A A
F iF F
[N /
t t
a
\ a
k)
A
I f f
EXAMPLE 9: A GAUSSIAN GRAIN AS DESCRIBED BY DENNIS GABOR IN 1944,
AND A RECTANGULAR GRAIN AS UTILIZED BY XENAKIS IN ANALOGIQUE B
Ag
n -
hf
At
- I
X Y
X 0.2 0.8
Y 0.8 0.2
x Y X Y
X 0.2 0.8 X 0.85 0.4
Y 0.8 0.2 Y 0.15 0.6
The decision as to whether the former or the latter should be used was
made at any given time on the basis of several rules which, for brevity's
sake, are not described here. X and Tare associated with two sets of val-
ues selected from among sixteen regions of frequency (each correspond-
ing to an octave), two sets selected from among four regions of
amplitude (in phones),and two sets selected from among seven regions of
density (in logarithmic units). Once the set has been selected, the partic-
ular values in that set are chosen on a purely random basis.
To successfully predict the evolution of the parameters, it is necessary
to answer this question: what is the system's general tendency during a
certain number of transitions?In the case of our first example matrix, we
have the following relationships:
X' = 0.2X+0.8T
T = 0.8X+0.2r
H = (HX) + (Hr)
218 Perspectivesof New Music
H = --pilogpi
* * *
MYCENAE -ALPHA
a = NpSt(l/p)
s(i) = Ag(,)
O = [0++ o(i)]modNp
As we can see, o varies with the index of discrete time, i. In the UPIC
system, o is controlled by the curves the composer intends to use as pitch
profiles.
The "score" of Mycenae-Alpha (Example 11) consists of a diagram
illustrating the temporal progression (horizontal axis) of a values (vertical
axis). It gives no information as to the actual pitches heard (except in case
the wavetable utilized stores the samples of a single-period sinusoid). Nor
does it give information about the particular wavetable selected for the
synthesis. However, it shows that the piece is made up of thirteen sec-
tions, each having a characteristicgraphic outline. The shortest section is
section 4, only 5" in duration; the longest is section 13, lasting 1'01".
Xenakis's Electroacoustic Music 221
1 2 3 4
C.,-_ I
5. i
C,.
.,
5 6
I
A'\
a'
11 _ _ 12 13
i I I I
Similar observations also apply for Voyage absolu des Unari vers
Andromede (for two-track tape), realized with an updated version of
UPIC.25 Despite the different formal reach (Mycenae-Alpha lasts 9'36"
and Voyagemore than 15'), Voyage,too, is divided into sharply contrast-
ing sections. Both works feature extensive glissando textures26 contrast-
ing with constant-pitch structures. Overall, differentiated sonorities
alternate between the following oppositions:
sounds, most synthetic sounds in the piece are quite noisy. In my obser-
vations below, I focus on the stochastic synthesis methods through which
these sounds were achieved. I will then discuss the detail of the musical
application of these methods in Gendy301.
* * *
f(x) = P[Xsx]
Xenakis's Electroacoustic Music25 225
The functions most often used by Xenakis are the following (see
Example 12):
These can rather easily be simulated on the computer using simple Algo-
rithms.33
flxi ix
i x
-a + 'tI I I
K
f(xj f([XI
.-O.
... TO GENDT301
In 1991, twenty years after his first experiments with direct synthesis,
Xenakis took up this research line once again. He marked his return by
Xenakis's Electroacoustic Music 227
The method can be described by saying that the end coordinates of seg-
ment i in the j-th waveform are stochastic variations applied to the end
coordinates of the segment i in waveform j- 1. That is,
= Xi,i+fx(z)
Xi,j+
Yij, = Yi,j+fy(z)
where fx(z) and fy(z) return positive or negative values, given an argu-
ment z (itself a random number with uniform distribution, i.e., white
noise). Samples are computed by linear interpolation between the initial
and end points in each segment:
where nij is the number of samples in the i-th segment. The segment
duration is
= 1)/Sampling rate.
dij (nij-
228 Perspectivesof New Music
Dj = Yidi,.
We have three possibilities:
Yi,j+ = Yi,+fy(z)
i,j+ 1 = Xi,j
(which means only the amplitude values are modified, thereby
causing a change in the spectrum);
* transformation of the abscissae only
Yi,j+ 1 = Yi,j
xi,j+1 = Xi,+fx(z)
(which means alterations of Dj, which cause changes of funda-
mental frequency of the sound, and, therefore, of pitch; eventually
this also causes audio rate frequency modulation, with related
spectral enrichment);
* transformation of both coordinates
=
Xi,j+ Xi,j+fx(z)
Yi,j+l = Yi,j+fY(z)
(which means alterations of both spectrum and pitch; Example
13a and Example 13b show a transformation of this type).
2.j
x x x x 5.
O.j 1.1 2,j 3.j 4,j X8.j 9.j
FDj
y
5,j y6,
EXAMPLE 13A: POLYGONAL WAVEFORM GENERATED
WITH DYNAMIC STOCHASTIC SYNTHESIS
I
j+V'%OJ
O .j+1
y
5Si
Y7,j+l
V6j+
EXAMPLE 13B: POLYGONAL WAVEFORM GENERATED WITH DYNAMIC
STOCHASTIC SYNTHESIS; SEGMENT END POINTS HAVE BEEN
CALCULATED AS STOCHASTIC VARIATIONS OF SEGMENT
END POINTS IN THE PREVIOUS WAVEFORM
230 Perspectivesof New Music
The PARAG3 program supplies the GENDY program with the follow-
ing parameters:
For fx and f, one can select among stochastic functions of the type
alreadyillustrated (uniform, exponential, normal, Cauchy). In Gendy301,
these functions are also used at the level of the macro-structure. The
PARAG3 program assigns a "time-field" to sixteen different voices-or
simultaneous synthesis processes; a field may be passive (silence) or active
(synthesis triggered) and its duration is calculated by exponential law,
based on a mean value D:
d = (-1/D)log(l - z)
2:13;tot,Hin:Sec 2:13
7;psi7;8;Pge:3;,ur.iin:Sec:
SOt:S352;ysp/-
128 139 ....*I,.... 149 , 159 169 197 180sec
,. . , ....*, .... ........ **....***...I *..*. ***.*I*-.*-11
....,I
I.. . . , . . .. ... I.. . . . .. . * *
. . . . ." *. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. 2
3 .... ....I ...., ...., ....,I .... ....,
.5. ....2 ....t , ...., .... 3
.... , .., ..... .... I.. .... .... I .... I .... . I .... ..?
......... ,, ......... . .......... ...... , ........ .... , ....,
.... ...., ...., ....,
.... .... , .. ...... . . . , ....
....
... . ...
.. .. .... .. , ....
.... , ....
.... , ....
.. ..I,?,5
, I....
... , .......
....,
.... * ....
. . ....,
.... II ....
.... ....,
I .... ....,
........,, ...., . .. ....
....
..... ....,. .... ..I ....
... .... I .... * ....I , .......1 ,14
i....,* , ....
.... 11
, .., .. ....,.... ..... , ....,
.... ..... .. .. -... .. .. ... *...
.. .. '....
.. .... ....
.. .. ..
.. .... . .. ..1 11
.. ; , I... .
.... ,
............. ... ,
4.. ,3
St:S352;sp. ?;Psi;-8 Pge=
du,,in,13 2; Sec= 2 tot,in Sec- 2:13
69 79 89 99 199
119 12.M
EXA.M .. . PA.
T .O..E... .... T ... O... . T1 LI NS 2
I 113
I... .. , .. .. I .. .. . . . . . .. .... I ....*14
I, I I , ..... .. ....I . . ..... I ....I it ' I 15
enlarged, wi in Em. 7w. e se the7s o a s frag-
. .... .... .... I.... I.... I.... I.... I.... i....
a .... .... 11
-I- I.... .... .... I ..I . .. I .. .... .... 1
traa.c....co
i ur. The .a ace isf as the reflect
I ..I .... .. . .. .. I I..... ..I .. .. I ,6
114
I.I
I- . ..I . . .1 ..?I. .. ..,... ...., .... .... I ...
. ' Mj
''
: ..'.. ~ . .:.. ~'.. ',.' :.
5' .
f-. ;
v e t "s
DISCUSSION
In a similar vein, Hugues Dufort writes: "Si tout le concret percu par
l'oreille est sous-tendu par des relations abstraites, on ne voit plus la rai-
son de maintenir une distinction entre une composition musicale qui
porterait les sons et une composition musicale qui porterait sur le
formes."40 In Xenakis's electroacoustic music, composing means letting
the form of sound and music emerge from lower-level processes-be it
the level of sound grains (Analogique B) or the digital samples themselves
(Gendy301).
* * *
CONCLUSION
NOTES
~~~
~~~~~..
""fi^^h^,^,,-
"
.~
?- ?*- '
i. '* .^
''^'^ ^ ; .. :.- .
-
.^ ,~~
~~~.~.~ ~
^:
~ ~ ~~~~~~..
.
- ll* ll
~i
;|-,;, .*;
. . .. . , ;l: j *:
: ^,
i ./ rc
31. See Richard Toop's liner notes for the CD MO 782058; see also
Formalized Music, 293.
32. Formalized Music, 246.
33. See code examples in Dodge and Jerse, 266-78.
34. Iannis Xenakis, "More Thorough Stochastic Music," Proceedingsof
the International Computer Music Conference (Montreal, 1991),
517-18; Marie-Helene Serra, "Stochastic Composition and Stochas-
tic Timbre," Perspectivesof New Music 31, no. 1 (Winter 1993):
236-57; Peter Hoffman, "Implementing the Dynamic Stochastic
Synthesis," offprint from Les Cahiers Groupe de Rechercheen Infor-
matique Image et Instrumentation 4 (Caen, 1996).
35. Formalized Music, 134.
36. These sonograms have been realized analyzing a monophonic copy
of the tape, so as to provide an image of the total spectral structure.
37. Gerard Grisey, "Tempus ex machina: A Composer's Reflections on
Musical Time," ContemporaryMusic Review 2, no. 1 (1987): 269.
38. Hugues Dufourt, Musique,pouvoir, ecriture (Paris: Bourgois, 1991),
335.
39. Agostino Di Scipio, "InseparableModels of Material and of Musical
Design in Electroacoustic and Computer Music," Journal of New
Music Research24, no. 1 (1995): 34-50.
40. Dufourt, Musique,pouvoir, ecriture, 195.
41. Edgar Morin (ed.), Teorie dell'evento (Milan: Bompiani, 1972), 31
(translation mine).
42. Morin, Teoriedell'evento,297.
43. H. von Foerster, "On Self-organizing Systems and Their Environ-
ment," in Self-organizing Systems,ed. C. Yovits (New York: Perga-
mon Press, 1960), 31-50.