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Georg Friedrich Haas, a composer known for his use of microtonality, is often associated with spe... more Georg Friedrich Haas, a composer known for his use of microtonality, is often associated with spectralism, but he is also heavily influenced by other microtonal traditions, as well as 12-tone atonal styles. In whatever style he is writing, Haas regularly uses equal divisions of the traditional semitone, such as quarter-and sixth-tones, to approximate overtone spectra. The title for his work, limited approximations, is an expression of the necessity to temper even very finely tuned systems of pitch. This 30-minute work from 2010 is subtitled "concerto for six pianos in twelfth-tones and orchestra." By retuning five of the pianos, a complete scale with seventy-two equal divisions of the octave (72EDO) is accessible. This paper elaborates on non-spectralist influences on this work's harmonic language, analyzes the effectiveness of the tensions created within and between two main harmonic systems employed in the work (chromatic 12EDO and 72EDO used to closely approximate the overtone spectrum), and explores the various ways in which Haas exploits microtonality to amalgamate and dichotomize the harmonic systems at play.

Conference Presentations by Scott A Miller

Amongst the multitude of theories of pitch in western music, the concept of pitch fixity, epitomi... more Amongst the multitude of theories of pitch in western music, the concept of pitch fixity, epitomized by an immobile reference pitch, is typically taken for granted. I define the assumption that pitch is a more-or-less fixed location as a digital pitch ontology because it emphasizes distinct pitches as detached entities and classifies intervals as relationships of fixed points. In contrast, an analogical pitch ontology emphasizes pitch fluidity by embracing relational models and encouraging context-dependent analysis.

I analyze two songs by singer-songwriter Jacob Collier—an arrangement of “In the Bleak Midwinter” and the originally composed “Hideaway”—to show that music oriented towards an analogical pitch ontology may still value discrete pitches and precise intervals. His innovative use of just intonation, microtonality, and shifting reference pitches within a jazz and R&B harmonic style reveal a strategic emphasis on an analogical pitch ontology, the intonational precision of which actually reinforces the value of harmonic relationships. I define the ever-present negotiation between analogical and digital conceptions of pitch as the digital analogy of pitch ontology (adapted from a term coined by Robert Moseley in Keys to Play1). This paper briefly explores the idea through theories of tuning, consonance, and microtonality. The digital analogy of pitch ontology fosters a willingness to reevaluate what parameters of pitch we value and at what cost. An awareness of it will benefit the analyst, performer, and composer by revealing the expressive, structural, and narrative potential of pitch fluidity and intonational variety, ranging from expressive intonation to new formal devices.

{1}Moseley, Roger. Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016.

Kate Soper is a composer, soprano, and writer known for her work with Wet Ink Ensemble, of which ... more Kate Soper is a composer, soprano, and writer known for her work with Wet Ink Ensemble, of which she is a founding member. I analyze “Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say” for soprano and flute, the second movement of Soper’s Ipsa Dixit, a 90-minute composition for soprano in various chamber music settings. A semiotic reading of the work reveals how Soper’s score and embodied performance amplify signs in Lydia Davis’s text that combine with paralinguistic vocalizations (like “Ah” and “huh”) to collapse and synthesize gendered binaries. The resultant layered identity retains a female-gendered perspective as it disidentifies with the essentialized, unmarked, and masculinized idea of composer. As an explication of one powerful way for marginalized composers to claim their identity, my hearing of “Only the Words” identifies musical agency as a means of self-expression and resistance to hegemonic cultural forces.

Systematic microtiming—intentional asynchronies between players or musical voices—is important to... more Systematic microtiming—intentional asynchronies between players or musical voices—is important to a wide variety of groove-based music (Davies 2013). Listeners of Jacob Collier’s eclectic music often admire his innovative harmonies and refined microtonal intonation, as well as his lopsided or ‘wonky’ grooves. In particular, Collier’s rhythmic language expresses his explicit rejection of fixed-point or grid-based conceptions of musical parameters. Collier has described D’Angelo’s Voodoo (2000) as “a masterclass in how to groove” (2020), and frequently cites the influence of J Dilla, both of whose pioneering “dragging” or “drunk”-sounding grooves (Questlove 2014) are well-known for their microrhythmic variety
To better understand the blurring of structural (rhythmic) and expressive (microrhythmic) events in Collier’s Grammy-award winning arrangement of “Flintstones” (as recorded on In My Room), I analyze the song’s introduction and first verse, where the groove can be isolated from other elements. Using precise inter-onset intervals gathered with Sonic Visualizer (Cannam 2010), I expand Danielsen’s “beat bin model” (2010) which she developed as a tool for understanding discrete events as a single structural beat in the introduction of D’Angelo’s “Left and Right.” I conclude that a confluence of parameters in “Flintstones”—including harmonic rhythm and hypermeter—effectively broaden the listener’s “rhythmic tolerance” (Johansson 2010) so that asynchronous onsets as far as 100ms apart may be considered microrhythmically inflected structural simultaneities. This paper serves as a first step towards a fuller understanding of Collier’s innovative rhythmic language and the expressive qualities of groove more generally.

References

Cannam, Chris, Christian Landone, and Mark Sandler. Sonic Visualizer: An Open Source Application for Viewing, Analysing, and Annotating Music Audio Files. In Proceedings of the ACM Multimedia 2010 International Conference. Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London.

Collier, Jacob. “Here’s What YouTube Star Jacob Collier Is Currently Obsessed With.” Interview by VICE News on YouTube. September 20, 2020. 0:13. https://youtu.be/8C7rkY3MCZQ?t=19.

D’Angelo. “Left and Right.” Voodoo, Virgin, 2000.

Danielsen, Anne. "Here There and Everywhere: Three Accounts of Pulse in D'Angelo's 'Left and Right.' In Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction, edited by Anne Danielsen, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cunygc/detail.action?docID=592382

Johansson, Mats. "The Concept Of Rhythmic Tolerance: Examining Flexible Grooves In Scandinavian Folk Fiddling" In Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction, edited by Anne Danielsen, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cunygc/detail.action?docID=592382.

Questlove. “Questlove on D’Angelo’s Voodoo | Red Bull Music Academy.” Red Bull Music Academy. YouTube video. 2014. Accessed 11 November, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXJ-3dAMH8

Georg Friedrich Haas, a composer known for his use of microtonality, is often associated with spe... more Georg Friedrich Haas, a composer known for his use of microtonality, is often associated with spectralism, but he is also heavily influenced by other microtonal traditions, as well as 12-tone atonal styles. In whatever style he is writing, Haas regularly uses equal divisions of the traditional semitone, such as quarter-and sixth-tones, to approximate overtone spectra. The title for his work, limited approximations, is an expression of the necessity to temper even very finely tuned systems of pitch. This 30-minute work from 2010 is subtitled "concerto for six pianos in twelfth-tones and orchestra." By retuning five of the pianos, a complete scale with seventy-two equal divisions of the octave (72EDO) is accessible. This paper elaborates on non-spectralist influences on this work's harmonic language, analyzes the effectiveness of the tensions created within and between two main harmonic systems employed in the work (chromatic 12EDO and 72EDO used to closely approximate the overtone spectrum), and explores the various ways in which Haas exploits microtonality to amalgamate and dichotomize the harmonic systems at play.

Amongst the multitude of theories of pitch in western music, the concept of pitch fixity, epitomi... more Amongst the multitude of theories of pitch in western music, the concept of pitch fixity, epitomized by an immobile reference pitch, is typically taken for granted. I define the assumption that pitch is a more-or-less fixed location as a digital pitch ontology because it emphasizes distinct pitches as detached entities and classifies intervals as relationships of fixed points. In contrast, an analogical pitch ontology emphasizes pitch fluidity by embracing relational models and encouraging context-dependent analysis.

I analyze two songs by singer-songwriter Jacob Collier—an arrangement of “In the Bleak Midwinter” and the originally composed “Hideaway”—to show that music oriented towards an analogical pitch ontology may still value discrete pitches and precise intervals. His innovative use of just intonation, microtonality, and shifting reference pitches within a jazz and R&B harmonic style reveal a strategic emphasis on an analogical pitch ontology, the intonational precision of which actually reinforces the value of harmonic relationships. I define the ever-present negotiation between analogical and digital conceptions of pitch as the digital analogy of pitch ontology (adapted from a term coined by Robert Moseley in Keys to Play1). This paper briefly explores the idea through theories of tuning, consonance, and microtonality. The digital analogy of pitch ontology fosters a willingness to reevaluate what parameters of pitch we value and at what cost. An awareness of it will benefit the analyst, performer, and composer by revealing the expressive, structural, and narrative potential of pitch fluidity and intonational variety, ranging from expressive intonation to new formal devices.

{1}Moseley, Roger. Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016.

Kate Soper is a composer, soprano, and writer known for her work with Wet Ink Ensemble, of which ... more Kate Soper is a composer, soprano, and writer known for her work with Wet Ink Ensemble, of which she is a founding member. I analyze “Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say” for soprano and flute, the second movement of Soper’s Ipsa Dixit, a 90-minute composition for soprano in various chamber music settings. A semiotic reading of the work reveals how Soper’s score and embodied performance amplify signs in Lydia Davis’s text that combine with paralinguistic vocalizations (like “Ah” and “huh”) to collapse and synthesize gendered binaries. The resultant layered identity retains a female-gendered perspective as it disidentifies with the essentialized, unmarked, and masculinized idea of composer. As an explication of one powerful way for marginalized composers to claim their identity, my hearing of “Only the Words” identifies musical agency as a means of self-expression and resistance to hegemonic cultural forces.

Systematic microtiming—intentional asynchronies between players or musical voices—is important to... more Systematic microtiming—intentional asynchronies between players or musical voices—is important to a wide variety of groove-based music (Davies 2013). Listeners of Jacob Collier’s eclectic music often admire his innovative harmonies and refined microtonal intonation, as well as his lopsided or ‘wonky’ grooves. In particular, Collier’s rhythmic language expresses his explicit rejection of fixed-point or grid-based conceptions of musical parameters. Collier has described D’Angelo’s Voodoo (2000) as “a masterclass in how to groove” (2020), and frequently cites the influence of J Dilla, both of whose pioneering “dragging” or “drunk”-sounding grooves (Questlove 2014) are well-known for their microrhythmic variety
To better understand the blurring of structural (rhythmic) and expressive (microrhythmic) events in Collier’s Grammy-award winning arrangement of “Flintstones” (as recorded on In My Room), I analyze the song’s introduction and first verse, where the groove can be isolated from other elements. Using precise inter-onset intervals gathered with Sonic Visualizer (Cannam 2010), I expand Danielsen’s “beat bin model” (2010) which she developed as a tool for understanding discrete events as a single structural beat in the introduction of D’Angelo’s “Left and Right.” I conclude that a confluence of parameters in “Flintstones”—including harmonic rhythm and hypermeter—effectively broaden the listener’s “rhythmic tolerance” (Johansson 2010) so that asynchronous onsets as far as 100ms apart may be considered microrhythmically inflected structural simultaneities. This paper serves as a first step towards a fuller understanding of Collier’s innovative rhythmic language and the expressive qualities of groove more generally.

References

Cannam, Chris, Christian Landone, and Mark Sandler. Sonic Visualizer: An Open Source Application for Viewing, Analysing, and Annotating Music Audio Files. In Proceedings of the ACM Multimedia 2010 International Conference. Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London.

Collier, Jacob. “Here’s What YouTube Star Jacob Collier Is Currently Obsessed With.” Interview by VICE News on YouTube. September 20, 2020. 0:13. https://youtu.be/8C7rkY3MCZQ?t=19.

D’Angelo. “Left and Right.” Voodoo, Virgin, 2000.

Danielsen, Anne. "Here There and Everywhere: Three Accounts of Pulse in D'Angelo's 'Left and Right.' In Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction, edited by Anne Danielsen, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cunygc/detail.action?docID=592382

Johansson, Mats. "The Concept Of Rhythmic Tolerance: Examining Flexible Grooves In Scandinavian Folk Fiddling" In Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction, edited by Anne Danielsen, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cunygc/detail.action?docID=592382.

Questlove. “Questlove on D’Angelo’s Voodoo | Red Bull Music Academy.” Red Bull Music Academy. YouTube video. 2014. Accessed 11 November, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAXJ-3dAMH8