Towards a Taxonomy of Electroacoustic Music : Dialectic Continuums as Compositional Tools (original) (raw)

Within electroacoustic music much attention has been paid to issues of dualism and categorisation. Two prominent examples of dualistic categorisation being: Simon Emmerson’s creation of a language grid (1986) and Denis Smalley’s spectromorphology (1986), with particular reference to its emphasis on gesture/texture. These discussions are a product of the view that the conventional notation and classification system used in traditional Western Art music is inadequate. Leigh Landy places spectromorphology with the language grid and many other prospective means of classification and analysis (including dualistic pairs) stating that: ‘a more rigorous classification system is needed’ (2008). This paper seeks to enter this debate by highlighting the potential value of a taxonomy of electroacoustic music characteristics. My proposed taxonomic framework is composed of various dualistic continuums, incorporating and expanding on those explored by Emmerson, Smalley and others. These continuums...