“Quaristice” has a fluid opening piece. It contrasts with the more active and rhythmic second piece. Throughout, electric brass and percussion echo and meld together. There seems to be a glob of sound in the middle; however, the kick and percussion are very clear and well mixed. The intermittent instrumentation of background buzzes and hums give an organic feel to the performance of the otherwise heavily-processed sounds. 

Stockhausen’s piece creates a sinister atmosphere with robotic noises and isolated cuts of analogue instruments. It feels as if this is a backing track for a thriller movie. There are build-ups of suspense and moments of calm. 

“The Pulses of Time” features a collection of percussive sounds, ranging from a dull kick to a ringing gong. The pauses between the sounds give a disjoint feeling to the piece. The reverb effect applied to some of the sounds lend depth to the piece. The sporadic strumming of the stringed instrument emphasizes the piece’s abstract quality.

“Base Metals” makes use of a variety of metallic whirring, creating a feeling of isolation and machinery. There is no easily-discernable pattern of melody or harmony. “The Disintegration Loops” uses similar instruments and applies them in a melodic context. 

“Hold On” features a more conventional application of the techniques showcased by the preceding pieces. It has rhythm, melody, and harmony that evolve in complexity.

Modules in a piece can derive from each other, making new sounds through manipulation of speed and rhythm. Beginning modules lend structure to a piece as recurring themes for further elaboration in proceeding modules. The pacing of the development of modular ideas often scales with the length of the piece. A key example of evolving a musical theme is the Goldberg Variations. It features 32 pieces, mirroring 32 measures. Each piece elaborates the initial module differently. It is interesting to learn that commonalities in musical ideas exist beyond rhythm and pitch. Technique and relation to previously-introduced ideas can bridge modules together. The Goldberg Variationsexhibit changes in speed, rhythmic complexity, and rate of modular development. Stravinsky’s quartet pieces show an extreme form of rhythmic variation.

Narmour’s Three Hypotheses encapsulate the modular approach to music. Similar patterns yield more variations on those patterns. Different patterns signal more unique elements. The Five Melodic Archetypes further capture the ideas of modules by discretizing paths in musical elaboration. Syntactic reversal does not seem very convincing to me. I believe that, rather than a feeling of completeness, the pattern is just appealing to the popular ear. The application of non-musical contexts to analysis give more room for interpretation of the evolution of a piece. This, paired with the listener’s predictions of a tonal path, helps create a mental picture of the music. The application of psychology to musical synthesis expands the methodology of creating music. There are more than patterns to arrange; there are reactions and feelings to evoke. The use of symbols and script to notate the various mechanisms in this style of musical synthesis is necessary because of the many nuances and techniques.  

Questions: Is there a psychological limit to the number of modules in a piece before a person would find it unappealing?

What methods would be used for testing the existence of the connection between musical synthesis and psychology?

Do the principles introduced by Narmour apply to harmony writing as well?

The exclusive use of vocals in J. Desprez’s piece creates a rich, airy timbre. The general panning of the lower voices to the right and the higher voices toward the left helps to establish an atmosphere of being present at the performance of the choir. The independent melodies at times feel overwhelming, but overall mesh well.

Otto Luening’s piece uses hard-to-identify windy sounds with no clear melodic intention. It has a flowing, aimless quality that feels oddly calming. The variation in level and panning of the different instruments only adds to this asymmetric meandering idea.

The active left-to-right and right-to-left panning of the various sounds in Poeme Electronique grab my attention. The sudden instrumentations of the blips and squeaks are a bit jarring. There seems to be a story, but it is too abstract for me to interpret concrete meanings. The piece just seems to have active and less active parts. The human voice may play a large role in the narrative. Maybe the piece depicts a dream or psychological trance.

The text contextualizes the synthesis of music within the passage of time. This approach describes music as a collection of simple building blocks, subject to multiple views of analysis. The text describes how a set of phrases can be interpreted as two six-measure phrases or three four-measure phrases. Rhythmic modes seem to provide frameworks for pieces to create rhythms as can be seen in “Plus Dure.” The varying durations of notes works with the meaning of the lyrics to create stress. Machaut’s “Amen” exhibits high rhythmic complexity in its multiple overlapping voices that accentuate certain portions of the piece with simultaneous attacks. The discussion on beats presents an interesting and unexpected perspective on how beats are not totally consistent and are reliant on accents created by frequent regular pulsations. Impulses are distinguished from pulsations because of their relative irregularity. It is interesting how the text dissects the construction of a measure from repeating occurrences and relative time durations. The concept of relegating faster, more active beats to the upper voices and slower beats to the lower voices as described in the text is also applied to contemporary music today. 

The text introduces the uncertainty of the perception of time. It cites Creelman, whose research involved discretized time intervals and attenuating them to see when the change would be perceptible. This experiment was conducted in the context of rhythm and did not yield thoroughly conclusive results. There are certain durations that, in the context of a larger duration, are imperceptible. There is also research relating pitch and duration. There is an inverse relationship between duration at which pitch is perceived and pitch frequency. The complex arrangement of modules into phrases in “Amen” creates balance while allowing for rhythmic freedom. It is both encouraging and intimidating that only simple ideas are needed to create sophisticated musical structures. Phrases are comprised of modules and comprise sections. As one moves up the hierarchy in terms of duration, the musical significance of a break increases. There seems to be an implicit rule regarding these breaks that only experienced musicians can understand. 

Questions: Is there any research on the reason humans find complex patterns in rhythm appealing?

How does the brain extract the underlying modules of manipulated rhythm schemes such as a heavy diminution?

Do composers always resort to using the basic modules for rhythm composition? Are there unique patterns yet to be executed?

Is it possible for a piece to not follow the conventions of any form of concrete rhythm?