RE: [microsound] Metastaseis

["Paulo Mouat" <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I can come up with things to say about the first and last=20
> section, but the middle section is a mystery to me (and=20
> hopefully the parts without divisi writing are included here,=20
> cos I'm not really sure what's going on there either).  And=20
> the Fibonacci/modulor numbers are not making themselves apparent.
> Basically, can anyone shed some light on this work,=20
> specifically these points ?

Fibonacci numbers are used as a duration scale, in a manner not unlike
that of Messiaen in "Mode de valeurs et d'intensit=E9s" as a kind of
intrinsic web between musical parameters and not an arbitrary
relationship as in integral serialism (this pitch with this duration,
dynamics, timbre, mode of attack, this other pitch with that other
duration, dynamics, timbre and mode of attack).  Note that whereas
Messiaen applies this scale concept to durations and pitches proper,
Xenakis applies them to intervals, both of durations and of pitches.
So, in the middle section, independently of the pitches themselves being
organised serially, you have a duration interval applied to each pitch
interval that separates any two successive notes.  The values of the
durations are expressed as fractions of quarter notes according to a
Fibonacci sequence: 0.05, 0.08, 0.13, 0.21, 0.34, 0.55, etc.  Using this
sequence, Xenakis defines four groups of durations applied to one or
other series.

> Is there any kind of article for hipsters who want to sound
> lk they understand 20th-century avant garde music ?

You mean 20th-C music as a whole or Xenakis in particular?  For Xenakis,
you already have the best sources out there.

> Not that I'll ultimately be content with that level of
> familiarity; it's just that I don't really have time right
> now to gain a full understanding of probability theory or the
> kinetic theory of gases (oh yeah, where does this come into
> Metastaseis ?).

Probability theory and the kinetic theory of gases was used by Xenakis
as a reaction to the arbitrary rules imposed by the serial organisation
of pitches and all other parameters in integral serialism.  As he felt
the organisation to be perceptually lost upon audition, he reasoned that
it would make far more sense to use the laws of probability and of large
numbers in organising his musical material.  In that sense, he created
the concept of clouds of sounds, where you are not supposed to bother
with each specific pitch (as in serial music) but rather with the
overall or average pitch contour of the cloud.  This ties in with other
concepts you should be aware of by reading the texts you mentioned,
namely sound masses, screens, and so on.  So, how to make sure that you
can really shift perception of specific pitches to sound masses?
Simple, apply probability theory so that your cloud doesn't have any
unconsciously induced bias.

It is probably worthy of note that "Metastaseis" is not really known for
employing these techniques.  Works famous for using probability theory
are "Achorripsis" and "Pithoprakta," but he has used these techniques in
various degrees in many other works (ST/n, for instance).

I'd like to have a read of your paper, if possible.
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   ___     Paulo Mouat
  |___|    http://www.mp3.com/0010minimal
  |___|   =20

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