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to involved? Source-bonding in itself draws atte^ntion source: ot type the with spectral attributes associated ,raming a real or imagined source is an act of differendescribe tiatinispectral quafiies. No doubt we can whether of in terms source of the spectial itttib.tt"t and so intense' thin, hollow, the sound is bright, dull' qualitaof terminology this on. We need to expand tive description in order to deal more comprehensively with aspects of spectral space' pnme Whether pitches are heard or not 1s o first disI must importance in spectral discrimination' of manifestation a as both cuss the nature of the note allow then will That pitch and as a type of spectrum' me to discussspectra without audible note content' 11.1. The note-internal and external spectral focus first Electroacousticmusic allows two note-views'The the is note a pitch of the where is the traditional view components spectral the and most important factor comare regarded as colouring the note' The spectral at or unheard' largely remain pon.nlt of the note matwhich itself note is the it ieast ignored because are rcrs mLst to the context the note and its colour permitted' (as view alternative An perceptually fused. by close recording of an instrumental io, .*u-ptl, note). takes the ear inside the note so that spectral components can be heard. Such a change of focus' is comcreaied by actually moving inside the sound' compoThe music' mon in spectromorphological nents are then heard to have a pitch relationship' note which for the most part inside the instrumental weightings varying with one, will be a harmonic

So a among the components of the harmonic series' or externally' viewed when alone nte a note Jan be entered' is interior the when note single more than a common Opportunities for internal spectral focus are just with not general, in spectra in electroacoustic notes.

pitch 11.2. Note collectives-relative and intervallic to When external notes move too quickly for the ear densipiled up.in hear precise pitch-intervals, or are as ties, the note ceasesto be perceptually signiflcant prea pitctr. The external note may be theoretically sent 1*e actually know it is in complex instrumental therefore textures) but perceptually absent' We must interbetween differeniiate tle poles on a continuum we pitch vallic pitch and ielative pitch' In intervqlli.c relationtheir can hear pitch-intervals, and therefore ship to cultural, tonal usage will become lmportant' preln relative pitch contexts we hear with much less longer no can and cision the dirtutt"" between pitches space' hear exact pitches or intervals in spectral gestures Instead we are inclined to follow higher-level and motions -note colleclives' Much electroacoustic and relative pitch music merges intervallic approaches. Judging which approach predominates ai a given moment is a problem for lhg.composer list(whoii we assume has a good ear for pit"-!) For the and ners the borderline between the intervallic wella not is relative is equally important' Firstly it by the defined border since it is very much influenced important is listener's perceptual skills' Secondly it

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middle ground which allows movement towards harmonicitt and intervallic pitch on the one hand, and noise on the other. In fi.gure 5, the possibilities of transformation among note, inharmonicity and noise, are set out' along with the possibility for the note (intervallic pitch) to move in the direction of both harmonicity and inharmonicity. 11.5. Spectral space and densitY Spectral space covers a distance between the lowest una nign.it audible sounds. In discussingmotion and growth processes it was assumed that spectrolorpholgies move through spectral space as they change over time, and in discussing the seven characteristic motions, attention was drawn to the rootednessof certain motions and the non-rootednessof others. In other words, certain motions need to occupy spectral space in different ways' In instrumental music (if we know the instrumentation) ancl vocal music, we have prior knowledge of the potential spectral spacenot only of the ensemble but of individual instruments and voices as well' and we have expectationsofthe use ofspectral spacerelative to the musical style. In electroacoustic music' spectral spaceboundaries are not known in advance but defined in the course of a work. The occupancy of spectral space, the impression of the spacebreadth, how it unfolds, where the highs and lows are located and how they are reached,are directly related to the listener's interpretations of extrinsic factors as well as being strong formal determinants' We need a descriptive vocabulary to help def,ne the occupancy of spectral space. Figure 6 shows three basic referencepoints. Canopies and roots can be regarded as toundary markers which may have functions' For example, textures can be hung from canopiesand use them as goals or departure points, while we already know that the drone can act as a root-reference' Together they frame spectral space,although they do noihuu. to be heard simultaneouslyto do so' We are used to a central region in music, and even if this is not clearly defined in an electroacousticwork, we are aware of where it is' A frame, of course' nevertheless implies avacaf central region' The following four qualifiers help further to describe the occupancy of spectral space,whether in part of a work or in the work as a whole:
of soectralsDace four qualifiers - Plenitude 1. emptiness frame I centre 2. diffuseness- concentration 3. streams - interstices -^^. - Ieut 4' overlao- crossover

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(l) Emptiness- plenitude- whether the spaceis extensively covered and filled, or whether spectromorphologies occupy smaller areas,creating large gaps, giving an impression of emptinessand perhaps spectral isolation. whether sound is (2) ' Dffiseness concentration spectral space or throughout spiead or dispersed in regions' fused or th.th"t it is concentrated of spectral layering 3\ Streams interstices-the by separated streams broad or spaceinto narrow interveningsPaces. -how streams or spectro(4) ' ' Overtap crossover morphologies encroach on each other's spectral space, or move around or across each other to another region. This is directly related to motion and growth Processes. Figure 7 deflnes qualities o spectral density whtch can be imagined as a fog, curtain or wall of broader or narrower spread which allows sounds to penetrate or not. In othr words, is the density such that other spectromorphologies,if superimposed,can or cannot siand out in relief? Thus a packed or compressed spectral space is compacted so that is suffocates and blots out other spectromorphologies' A transparent spectral space lets spectromorphologies through' while something in between (translucent, opaque) has a masking effect. Spectral density is related to distance perspective and needs to be considered along with spacein general.This perspectiveaspectis representedby the distant close continuum in figure 7' For example, a packed density of full spectral range' set in .ior" foreground focus, will prevent other spectromorphologiesfrom getting through becauseit cieates a solid wall very close to the listener' The same density set further back will free space closer to the listener so that it can be occupied by other spectromorphologies. Of course a density need not huu. u fixed perspective. There are perceptual limits to how much spectromorphological information can occupy spectral and stereo space:high density is the enemy of low-level detail.

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Figure 6. Occupancyof spectralspace'

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Figure8. Composedand listeningspaces. SPACE LISTENING ______\ PERSONALSPACE

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space,their behaviour, their motion and growth proand their relative functions in a musical concesses, Although the detail of spectromorphological text. not be easyto follow, parmay sometimes description an extensive experienceof electroacwithout ticularly it is far from being an esoteric repertory, music oustic activity. Spectromorphological thinking is basic and easily understood in principle becauseit is founded on experience of sounding and non-sounding phenomena outside music, a knowledge everyone has there is a strong extrinsic intrinsic link. In this sense spectromorphology derives from a common, shared, natural base which provides a framework for the individual, cultural works of electroacoustic music. Discovering and defining the natural link is important for composer-listener communication 'languages' (if such a thing is because new musical in language are possible) shifts or significant really must have some shared vacuum, but in a not created natural-cultural basis if they are to make senseto listeners. No rationale or theory has to be worked out in advance of language shifts, but ultimately the 'new' language must be explicable. workings of any As a result, not only can we help explain how and why electroacousticmusic is as it is, but we can also have a means of articulating problems when we react badly to a particular work (and there are plenty of electroacoustic works which are unrewarding). This is all the more important for a music which is so closely allied to a means of production computers and technology - whose role is mysterious and unknowable to most listeners,particularly sincetraditional, instrumental and vocal gesture are often apparent. not immediately or absent Spectromorphology, therefore, in starting from a decoding of perception, is an attempt to make collective senseof a wide range of individual electroacoustic musics created since the birth of the medium in the 1950s. REFERENCES InerA Semiotic Agawu, V. K. 1991.Playingwith Signs: pretation of ClassicMusic. Princeton:PrincetonUniversity Press. Bachelard,G. 1994 edn. The Poeticsof Space.Translated Press. by Maris Jolas.Boston:Beacon (ed.)Le Introduction.In J.-8. Barrire Barrire, J.-B. 1991. pp. l1-13. Paris: pour la composition, timbre,mtaphore Bourgois. IRCAM/Christian propositions . . . posBayle,F. 1993.Musiqueacousmatique: INA-GRM /Buchet/Chastel. itions.P aris'. In J.-8. Barrire(ed.) Timbre et causalit. Cadoz,C. 1991. pp.1746. pour la composition, Le timbre, mtaphore Paris:IRCAM/Christian Bourgois. Paris: Buchet/ Chion, M. 1983.Guidedes obiessonctres. Chastel/INA-GRM. conou la musique Chion, M. 1991.L'art des sons.fixs utement.Fontaine:Editions Metamkine/Nota-Bene/ Sono-Concept.

Cogan, R. 1984. New Images of Musical Sound. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Delalande, F. (no year). Analyse muscle et conduitesde rception; "Sommeil" de Piene Henry. Parts INAGRM. Duchez, M.-E. 1991. L'volution scientiflque de la notion de matriau musical. In J.-B. Barrire (ed.) Le timbre, mtaphore pour la composition, pp.47 81. Paris: IRCAM/Christian Bourgois. Emmerson, S. 1986. The relation of language to materials. In S. Emmerson (ed.) The Language of Electroacoustic Musc, pp. I 7-39. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press. Erickson, R. 1975. Sound Structure in Music. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lerdahl, F. 1987.Timbral hierarchies.In S. McAdams (ed.) Musc and Psychology: A Mutual Regard. Contemporary Music Review2(1): 135 60. McAdams, S., and Saariaho, K. 1985. The qualities and functions of musical timbre. In Proc. Int. Computer Music Conf. 1985,pp.367-14. San Francisco: Computer Music Association. McAdams, S. 1993. Recognition of sound sources and events. In S. McAdams and E. Bigand (eds.) Thinking in Sound: The Cogntive Fsychology of Human Audition, pp. 14G98. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Manoury, P. 1991. Les limites de la notion de "timbre". In J.-B. Barrire (ed.) Le timbre, mtaphorepour la compostion, pp. 293 300. Paris: IRCAM/Christian Bourgois. Meyer, L. B. 1973. Explaning Music: Essays and Explorations. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Nattiez, J.-J. 1990.Music and Discourse: Towards a Semiology of Music. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Risset, J.-C. 1978. Hauteur et timbre des sons. In IRCAM Reports lll78. Risset, J.-C. 1991. Timbre et synthse des sons. Tn -T.-B. Barrire (ed.') Le timbre, mtaphore pour la composiion, pp. 239-60. Paris: IRCAM/Christian Bourgois. Roy, S. 1994. Analyse fonctionelle et implicative d'Ombres Blanches.In A. Vande Gorne (ed.) Frangois Bayle: parcours d'un compositeur, Lien, revue d'esthtique musicale, pp. 134-9. Ohain: Musiques et Recherches. Schaeffer, P. 1966. Trait des objets musicaux. Paris: Seuil. Smalley, D. 1986. Spectromorphology and structuring processes.In S. Emmerson (ed.) The Language oJ Electroacoustic Music, pp.61 93. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press. Smalley, D. 1991a. Acousmatic music-does it exist? In A. Vande Gorne (ed.) Vous avez dit acousmatique?Lten, revue d'esthtique musicale, pp.2l-2. Ohain: Musiques et Recherches. Smalley, D. 1991b. Spatial experience in electro-acoustic music. In F. Dhomont (ed.) L'Espace du son 2, Lien, revue d'esthtiquemusicale, pp. 1214. Ohain: Musiques et Recherches. Smalley, D. 1992.The listening imagination: listening in the electroacousticera. In J. Paynter, T. Howell, R. Orton and P. Seymour (eds.) Companion to Contemporary 1, pp.514 54. London: Musical Thought, Vol. Routledge. Smalley, D. 1993a.Can electro-acousticmusic be analysed? In R. Delmonte and M. Baroni (eds.) Atti del Secondo

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