Discordianism is the earliest piece of spatial music written by the author which is included in this thesis and as we shall see, the use of amplitude panning and a quadraphonic array proved to be highly problematic and a relatively inexperienced choice. This quadraphonic tape piece was not composed with Denis Smalley’s theory of spectromorphology in mind, however, this theory is a useful way of classifying different types of material and is referenced extensively in the following discussion.
The primary source material consists of freely improvised material produced using an electric guitar and a wide assortment of effects pedals. Various traditional instrumental gestures such as plucked harmonics were extracted from the original guitar recording (the first order surrogacy material using Smalley’s terminology). A sample of a single note on a prepared piano which is introduced later on in the piece also provides a similar degree of first-order surrogacy. This straightforward
instrumental material is slightly abstracted using various processes such as multi- channel granulation. This material, although abstracted, still retains aspects of the original instrumental gesture and so would be classified as second order surrogacy. However, much of the original recording is also second-order as this material was not produced directly with the guitar but instead by manually controlling the effects pedals to produce bursts of feedback and other sustained tones. For example, a feedback pedal (which essentially loops the output of an effects pedal(s) back into its input) allowed some highly unusual effect such as controlling the pitch of feedback using the tone control on the guitar. The resulting sounds therefore contain a degree of human gestural activity, but the spectromorphological profile is not particularly identifiable as a musical instrument. The granulated material fulfils a similar function as the temporal reordering and pitch shifting produce bubbling, irregular textures
resonant filters are used to create a variety of sustained drone including a heavily distorted and sustained drone taken untreated from the original performance. The various drones represent the most abstract material, and hence remote surrogacy.
10.1.1 Analysis
The title of this piece is a reference to the modern, chaos-based religion founded in either 1958 or 1959 which has been described as both an elaborate joke disguised as a religion, and as a religion disguised as an elaborate joke. The number five is highly important in this parody religion and Discordianism is structured
accordingly. It is in 5/4 time, it is composed of five, twenty-five bar sections, and it is approximately five minutes long. It also uses elements of chaos theory in its
construction, specifically in the granular synthesis algorithm which incorporates the classic population-growth model, and this chaotic process, combined with the “preciso e meccanico” rhythmical activity is intended to reflect the irreverent philosophy referred to in the title.
The opening section of this work is marked by repeated sequences (in
multiples of five) of a plucked guitar harmonic which cycle around the four channels and builds in dynamic to a sudden decrescendo. This first-order surrogacy gesture interacts with the other material in various ways, sometimes triggering a short burst of feedback, sometimes effecting the activity or density of the bubbling, spatial
granulated texture operating in the background, or sometimes provoking simply silence. Gradually, the density and activity of the granular texture increases until at the one minute mark, a burst of feedback triggers a heavy, distorted feedback drone in both front channels. The sustained nature of this drone extends the second-order surrogacy even further, although occasional human gestural activity from the original performance remains. The short feedback bursts now function in a structural sense, marking out five bar intervals and triggering the introduction of new material such rapid granulated tremoloed notes and waves of white noise produced by resonant filters. These additional drones slowly drift around the four channels, in contrast to the static distorted drone locked to the front channels. The dynamic and density of the material steadily increases before a brief decrescendo which is immediately followed by a sudden, highly dynamic reintroduction of all the material, triggered again by a short burst of feedback.
This highly dramatic point signals the start of the third and final section of this work and the gradual introduction of four layers of percussive material proceeding at different tempos from the four corners the array. It also forcefully reintroduces both first-order and remote surrogacy and finally confirms the connection between them in the form of spatially distributed layers of clearly instrumental material, operating at different tempi, and a granulated version of the distorted drone from the second section. This new, heavily distorted drone now moves dynamically in space with dynamic and irregular lateral movements created by the stereo spreading of the granulation process and a rapid back and forth movement between the front and rear channels using amplitude panning. The final section steadily increases in dynamic and intensity as more layers of rhythmic and granulated material are added building to a sudden crescendo and rapid cut-off before a brief, swinging spatial movement of the distorted drone which is finally, cut off by one last burst of feedback.
10.1.2 Critical Evaluation
This early work was written for a quadraphonic tape concert, and then later remixed to two-channel stereo for a CD release. As such, it provides an excellent opportunity to assess various issues related to the performance and indeed the function of space in music.
During performances of this piece, the opening section was relatively robust in terms of the spatialization. However, this is perhaps to be expected as in this section each channel is primarily just used as a single point source. The sustained drones in the second section also seem to function relatively well, although the degree of
envelopment was certainly reduced in comparison to other eight channel works which were performed at the same concert. The amplitude panned drone which is highly prominent in the third and final section appeared to be the most affected by the change in listening environment. The spatial movement of this material was relatively clear in a studio environment but the increased reverberation, greater inter-loudspeaker distance, and distributed listening positions significantly distorted the perceived trajectory to the point where no clear direction of front-back movement could be distinguished in the performance venue. These, admittedly highly subjective experiences, would seem to agree with the results of more formal evaluations discussed earlier in this thesis.
In this piece, spatialization is primarily used to clarify different rhythmical material and to a less extent, to articulate the various gestures. As noted earlier, this work was composed during the very early stages of this thesis and the lack of an underlying rationale as to the approach to spatial movement is perhaps all too clear. Clear gestural relationships between the repeated plucked harmonic and granulated drone textures are created, however these relationships could have been further heightened through the dynamic movement of the drone material in response to the triggering plucked harmonic. The rhythmical approach adopted here was influenced more by György Ligeti than Henry Brant, yet the use of spatial distribution to clarify and distinguish different layers of electronic drones and rhythmic material is highly effective.
The two channel stereo reduction also provides an interesting point of
comparison as to the benefit of the spatialization process. The stereo version, which was necessary for a CD release, was professionally mastered and its overall dynamic range is therefore reduced in comparison to the four channel mix used for
performances. Upon listening to the four channel mix after the stereo version, the first obvious difference is that the different layers of material are much easier to distinguish when spatially distributed among a greater number of channels. The degree of intelligibility in the stereo mix could perhaps be increased using
equalization to carve out individual spectral space for each layer. Yet much of the interest in this piece rests in the similarities between the spectromorphological
profiles of the different surrogate layers and this would presumably be affected by the spectral adjustments necessary. Most of all, the dramatic and expressive benefits of spatialization are clearly demonstrated by the dynamically moving, heavily distorted drone in the final section which is significantly static in the two channel reduction.