[Leonard-Stage] Next Class

[Neil Leonard]

Hello Class,

The present task is to define the installation down to the smallest  
detail. I am writing a few notes to help our discussion tomorrow.

Best, Neil

WORKING TITLE:

Her Inverno - An aesthetic remix using elements of Dante's Inferno.

We will use this one, unless someone has a really brilliant idea.

THEME:

The disembodied voice of human sufferage interupts a familiar and  
basically tranquil site.

LOCATION:

Liviano building.

2-3 channel diffusion in the atrium at the balcony level.

1-2 cannel diffusion in restroom. Note: the windows to the restroom  
open up to an ally that might also be advantageous for diffusion.

PROGRAM MATERIAL:

DURATION:

A 7-12 minute loop school be okay for each location.
If done very well, this is a substantial amount of material.

SONIC MATERIAL:

Female voice with processing.
Sounds of doors.  Possibly processed in real-time. [Marco]

Voice: Dania
Recorders: we need to pick two.

MIX:

Voice is one person in the restroom. The same voice is mixed and many  
in atrium.

MANDATORY READING:

1. Dante's Inferno.

Review the first sonic impression of hell and make notes regarding  
the sonic description.
Find at least three encounters with women and make notes regarding  
the sonic description.

2. Morton Feldman: Give my Regards to 8th Street (PDF file on the  
class site.

Review the sections where Feldman muses on the connection to Italian  
painting (Giotto and Piero della Francesca) and the properties of  
sonic work. Note that Feldman's notes are quite informal, but he  
connects this seminal period work to contemporary ambient music.

Pay special attention to these passages:

Page 84: subject versus surface in Piero della Francesca. Tthe  
surface seems to be just a door we enter to experience the painting  
as a whole
Page 86: links between music and painting: Machaut/Giotto
Page 151: light distinguishes one painting from another regardesss of  
when it was painted

3. R. Murray Schafer, "The Music of the Environment"

4. Passages from "Soundscape." Schafer actually points to the Inferno  
as an example of sound in literature. I'll search for this and try to  
bring it on Thursday.

5. The Conversations: Walter Murch

We will discuss Murch's comments on pacing, form and translating a  
text based narrative to sound. I will provide required pages tomorrow.

SUGGESTED READING

The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy
by Bryan Magee
Paperback: 424 pages
Publisher: Owl Books; Reprint edition (October 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN: 080507189X

We will discuss this book tomorrow. The primary passage is a  
description of how music/sound is leveraged to convey elements of a  
narrative that cannot be represented by any other means. After,  
reading this book, I discovered that it was a key source for the  
directors and the composer for the Matrix - oh, well. A bit of the  
discussion can be traced on this link:

http://www.uqtr.ca/AE/Vol_7/Aes&justice/4-Burns.html

Neil Leonard
Associate Professor
Music Synthesis Department
Berklee College of Music
617.747.8402
nleonard at berklee.edu
www.neilleonard.com

In Padova, Italy until Aug '06:
39-340 8121882 (cell)
39-049751744 (house)



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