Filtering and Synthesis IT Based Approac
Filtering and Synthesis IT Based Approac
Filtering and Synthesis IT Based Approac
75
means for sound production and tool to manage the formal 2. GIOVANNI VERRANDO: FILTERING
organization [12].
Within this paper, these dynamics will be investigated in 2.1. Introduction
the production of Giovanni Verrando and Fausto
Romitelli, Italian composers of the ‘60s generation who The experience in Paris was particularly relevant for
studied at IRCAM and integrated into their compositional Giovanni Verrando: from then on, the composer began to
approach elements derived from informatics and electronic implement his research on sound through informatic
practice on the basis of what already done by the spectral devices. Since 2005, this aspect has been integrated by
authors of the previous generation. The parallel formation experimentation on timbral possibilities of acoustic
path of the two composers started from the education at the instruments, in what he defines ‘new lutherie’ as “the
Conservatory of Milan and the courses of Donatoni at the stable introduction of new instruments into the ensemble
Civica Scuola di Musica and Accademia Chigiana, then and a more general openness to the evolution of lutherie”
proceeded in the Cursus de composition et informatique at [16]. This research is closely connected with the usage of
IRCAM – Romitelli from 1990 to 1991, then remaining in informatics tools: the new timbral possibilities are also
the Parisian institution as Compositeur en recherche from implemented by rendering electronic sounds - often
1993 to 1996, and Verrando from 1993 to 1997 [13, 14]. obtained through entirely digital processes - by means of
The ways of managing sound and form were therefore the acoustical ensemble. This process involves the
influenced by common roots, although each one of them comparison between the acoustic and electronic spectra,
would have then developed his specific means of conveyed towards a hybrid outcome. Moreover, this
expression.2 approach is mediated by the psychoacoustic science
The cases of the filtering in Verrando’s Filtering – first deepened during the IRCAM education, where both the
movement of Triptych (2005-2006) for large orchestra and extended techniques and software research became useful
electronics – and the synthesis in Romitelli’s tools for a deeper study of timbre and syntactic
Hellucination I – Drowningirl – third movement of An management of sounds. The notation was therefore
Index of Metals (2003) for soprano, ensemble, electronics influenced by sounds generation and organization,
and video – will be investigated, since these pieces, mediated by software such as Audiosculpt for the
identifying the stylistic evolution of each author, definition of the timbral content and Max/MSP for the
exemplify the influences of information technology (IT) in management of the discrete objects that contain it.3 In the
their compositional approach. The cases presented in the two following sections, these dynamics will be
paper are the results of a research that focuses on the respectively investigated, taking as an example some
precompositive material analysis, both by a sonic and excerpts from Filtering, first movement of Tryptych
formal point of view. The analysis of the IT derived (2005-2006) for large orchestra and electronics.
sketches and preparatory materials underlines a close
relation between their compositional practice, especially in 2.2. Timbral content
the macro-formal and sonic construction domains. In both
the pieces analyzed, the form is conceived in a cyclical In Triptych, all the synthesized - and then re-orchestrated -
way, but with different purposes: in Filtering, the sounds sounds come from 38 predetermined samples [14, 16]. The
are organized as discretized and clearly perceptible units; composer works with Audiosculpt to analyze or
in Hellucination I – Drowningirl the modular construction resynthesize the sounds, modelling or selecting the
is conceived in a way that sonically avoids the perception spectral components of samples taken from other pieces or
of the cycle. Therefore, each author manifests a previously generated by himself through digital synthesis:
compositional approach based on modules, to construct a from the continuous comparison between the graphic
likewise segmented form or to generate a continuous result visible in the sonogram, the effects generated by the
process where the modules are not even recognizable. instruments and the relative acoustic perception, he orients
Moreover, the sonic perspectives are complementary: in the compositional process towards the desired sonic result.
the first case, filtering is a useful process to manage the This process implies a close relationship between
spectral content while synthesis is a means for sounds electronic and acoustic sounds. To clarify this dichotomy,
production; in the second, filtering is an informatics and Eric Maestri defines the categories of ‘endogenous
symbolic tool while synthesis is a model through which the movement’ (modifiable within itself) and ‘exogenous
spectral content is oriented. The specific dynamics within movement’ (relative to the gesture): “Electronic sound is
which filtering, and synthesis become part of the characterized by the expansion of the envelope, and in
compositional process and formal structuring with the help particular of the sustain, which becomes the centre of
of informatics tools will be further analyzed. sound evolution and the moment in which the difference
between the instrument and the electronics is decisive. [It
2
For more information about the interconnections between the two vals and some aspects of a common compositional approach through in-
authors, see the thesis Sincronie: Interconnessioni Formali tra Nova, formation theory and informatics tools, especially at a syntactic level
Verrando, Romitelli e l’Electronic Dance Music negli Anni ’90, which [15].
examines their collaboration in the Nuove Sincronie and Sincronie festi- 3
The composer himself attests the usage of the software in the inter-
view realized by Luca Befera on August 7th, 2019.
76
becomes fundamental] the control of the evolution of
sound over time; the change of energy in the spectrum
without re-attacking the sound. In this way, endogenous
and exogenous movements change the hierarchy. Where in
instrumental music it is the gesture-carried sound that
dominates, in electronic music it is the texture-carried
Figure 1. Inharmonicity oscillations in the ‘sound 31’ of
sound; the decisive difference between electronic and
Triptych.
instrumental sound seems to me to be given by the
different evolution of envelope maintenance” [17].
Although computer processing allows multiple gradients
between these categories, as well as, in some cases, it is
possible to control the envelope through the
instrumentation, the categories are useful to describe
macro-tendencies of the spectral content, which are
expressed in a perceptual dichotomy or - if the composer
himself wants to recreate electronic effects through
acoustic gestures as in this case study - in hybrid sonic
results.
In addition to the dialectic relationship between
endogenous and exogenous movement, Verrando manages
the formal structure according to the perceptive
differences between inharmonic, aperiodic, harmonic and
sinusoidal sounds [16]. These principles derive from the
psychoacoustics studies made in the ‘90s by Albert
Bregman and Stephen McAdams on the ‘auditory scene
analysis’. This theory is based on the examination of how
the brain processes acoustical images of certain sounds to
recognize their location and connotation. Given two
simultaneous sounds, the listener will or will not split their Figure 2. Comparison between Pan Sonic’s Rasite ex-cerpt
perception depending on their sound qualities and, (top left) and ‘sound 2’ of Triptych (top right); the squares
show the spectral affinities and the relative nota-tion.
consequently, on the relationships that he established
between them. An ‘auditory stream’ is defined as “our
perceptual grouping of the parts of the neural spectrogram
that go together” [18] or, in the definition of his proselytes
Daniel Pressnitzer and Stephen McAdams, as “a sequence using cymbals (top right). The resulting adiastematic
of events that can be considered to come from a same notation (bottom) indicates just the durations of the
source” [19]. In both cases, listeners segregates the stimuli percussive accents and rubbing of the cymbals, while the
present in a sound input system through their perception, specific instrumental technique is explained in the word-
defined as ‘auditory scene’. The streams are discretized written instructions. Figure 3 shows a further instrumental
according to the spectral composition of the sounds, their resynthesis: starting from an additive synthesis of
location within space and different rhythmic patterns. sinusoidal sounds – loaded in the sampler (bottom-left) –
Verrando uses Audiosculpt to work precisely on the the composer generates a harmonic aggregate (top-left),
segregation of auditory streams by observing and which is rendered through the ensemble and represented in
modelling the spectral content through the software’s diastematic notation (right). Therefore, these are not
graphical interface. In the example in Figure 1 (relative to sinusoidal but complex timbres, whose perceptual result
what the composer defines as Triptych’s ‘sound 31’4) it is tends to be harmonic.
possible to observe waving bands cancelled in the Hence, each kind of notation aims to translate a specific
spectrum to recreate an oscillation of the inharmonic timbral category, through diastematic/adiastematic
frequencies within the sound. Figure 2 shows another notation or by simple words explaining the gestures. The
approach, in which Audiosculpt is used for spectral peculiar sonic result, focused on the spectral implications,
analysis only. The sonogram at the top left refers to a is mainly generated by the materiality of non-conventional
sample taken from Rasite, the sixteenth track of the album objects and instrumental extended techniques derived,
Aaltopiri by Pan Sonic: observing and listening, the above all, from the endogenous/electronic content at the
composer works to achieve the most similar sonic result, very basis of the piece.
4
The samples, part of which are shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, were Max/MSP patch for the application of these on the keyboard. The synthe-
kindly given to me by Verrando on August 13, 2019. In the file there are sizer reproduces either the electronic sounds that cannot be realized with
four folders: the first three are related to different savings of the transcrip- the instrumentation used (e.g. sinusoidal sounds) or double the orchestral
tion on Finale of the orchestral score; the last one, called ‘Triptych-Sam- sound prerecorded in the samples. The approach highlights a retrospec-
pler-Max’, presents the 38 samples to be used in the synthesizer and the tive assembly of discrete elements previously obtained.
77
Figure 3. Transcription of the ‘sound 10’ (sonogram on top-left), loaded in the sampler (‘Tast’, bottom-left) and re-orchestrated
in the score for clarinet, bass tuba, electric bass, piano, harp, viola and double bass (right). The written notes are concert pitches.
78
– sounds generated by software predominate and are
Duration in inserted in discrete and clearly recognizable elements.
score Elements Predominant
Blocks
(in quavers) sequences elements Secondly, the timbral material is managed according to
quantitative criteria related to the spectral content and
1 13 (𝑎𝑝1 ) (𝑎)(𝑝) (𝑎)(𝑝) inserted in discrete elements assembled by juxtaposition or
2 20 (𝑠 + 𝑝2 + 𝑖) (𝑠)(𝑝2 ) (𝑝2 ) overlapping of sounds. Finally, the identical repetition of
3 4 (𝑠 + 𝑟1 ) (𝑟1 ) (𝑟) some structural functions resembles a digital treatment of
4 12 (𝑠 + 𝑝2 + 𝑖) (𝑝2 ) sound, whose polyphony of timbres is branched into
5 4 (𝑟2 + 𝑟3 ) (𝑟2 ) smaller streams or spectral data. The syntactic structure,
6 4 (𝑠 + 𝑟1 ) (𝑟1 ) partly derived from spectral practice, corresponds in
7 3 (𝑟2 + 𝑟3 ) (𝑟2 ) Verrando to a specific procedure, which finds in ‘new
8 16 (𝑠 + 𝑝2 + 𝑖) (𝑠)(𝑝2 ) (𝑠) lutherie’ a peculiar realization. The resulting notation is
related to digital processes, which are later translated into
Table 1. Coding of the elements contained in the first 8 blocks. the score to ensure an easy intelligibility by acoustic
instrumentalists. However, it always maintains strong
informatics and electronic connotation, manifested in
sonic results and formal management.
3.1. Introduction
5
Personal call with Luca Guidarini, 12.06.2018. Paolo Pachini was
the musical informatic and video maker that helped Romitelli in An Index
of Metals.
79
A. Three pages of annotations, schemes, and tables for
the control of time, density and dynamics (Figs. 5a
and 5b);
80
gesture of the strings over time and controls its duration due to creating a gradual descending of the modulator
(for a total of 42 quarter notes) in a progressive way, can frequency from 1:32 to the harmonic ratio 1:2 that divides
be seen on the top of each module. The modules mirror symmetrically the whole series.
around an axis represented by the 6th and 7th modules. Frequency Modulation was used in the so-called
They express the cyclical nature of the formal instrumental synthesis since Murail’s Gondwana (1980)
organization: the twelve-module cycle is repeated eleven [25] as a static technomorphic metaphor useful to create
times during Hellucination I – Drowningirl; the last complex sounds; in the case of Hellucination I –
repetition of the cycle is interrupted at the moment of its Drowningirl, FM assumes structural relevance since the
maximum length (at the 6th module). An ordinate series of organization of the pitch aggregates is driven by the
numbers (1-13) expresses the formal scheme of cyclical process Truax explained in his table. Starting from that and
repetition (see Fig. 5b, right side). Every cycle introduces from the pitch aggregates of the source B it was possible
elements that increase the global density in the formal to recreate on Max8 – using bach and cage libraries6,
process that expresses a general crescendo, both in the especially the object cage.fm - the OpenMusic patch he
strings and winds/brass. The internal organization of the used to create the symbolic FM, from the fundamental
modules, with the help of the glissato gesture on the strings frequency and the ratios between the carrier and modulator
and of the electronic sounds is conceived in a way that frequency, with a fixed modulation index of 1 (Fig. 11).
avoids the perception of the cycles that construct the
section.
Three gestures (Figs. 8 to 10) that produce a gradual
complexity of sonic material are assigned to the
winds/brass instruments, and their use depends on the
density condition:
6
The bach and cage libraries are collections of modules to deal with
Computer-aided composition in Max, developed by Andrea Agostini and
Daniele Ghisi (https://www.bachproject.net/, accessed 18.04.2020).
81
2. Articulation of a single event;
3. Sampling from other’s music: the Introduzione from
Pink Floyd’s Shine on You Crazy Diamond and the
Intermezzi from Pan Sonic’s works.
According to Paolo Pachini7, who helped Romitelli in the
realization of some electronics, Hellucination I –
Drowningirl refers to the first function. Pachini filtered a
sound of a bowed metallic tube with a CSound vocoder,
then refiltered and processed it with the FM instructions
Romitelli gave to him. Probably the indications were
similar to the instrumental one since the pitches of every
single spectrum correspond to the instrumental and the
simulated ones.
7
Personal call with Luca Guidarini (see footnote 5).
82
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considerations through these assumptions: their
[16] G. Verrando and AA.VV., La nuova liuteria: Orche-
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[18] A. S. Bregman, Auditory scene analysis: the percep-
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