[Leonard-Stage] notes for tomorrow - updated

[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.

It is important to note that this installation is actually more that  
homework. To some degree it will reflect on me and there will be keen  
interest both here and in Boston. Therefore, it must be very strong  
if we are going to bring it to the pubic as planned.

One of our tasks tomorrow will be to assign people to specific tasks.

Best, Neil

WORKING TITLE:

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

We will use this name, unless someone has a really brilliant  
replacement.

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 both restrooms open up to an ally that might  
also be advantageous for diffusion.

DATE OF EVENT:

One day in early June. I will discuss the precise date with  
Professors Bernardini and Durante and confirm this week.

PROGRAM MATERIAL:

DURATION:

A 7-12 minute loop would be okay for the bathroom and atrium site.
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: Daria
Recorders: we need to pick two engineers to help record, mix and  
master audio material.

MIX:

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

DOCUMENTATION:

We will produce a one page, catalog-like, description of the work.  
The text will describe our work in both English and Italian.

The class web site will include this text, jpgs and mp3 documentation.

We will make a multi-channel mix at CD quality and video for the  
University/Conservatory archives.

MANDATORY READING:

1. Dante's Inferno.

Review the first sonic impression of hell and make notes regarding  
this sonic description.
Find at least three encounters with women in the Inferno and make  
notes regarding these sonic descriptions.
Do the same with the section that refers to the gate keepers who  
guard the entrance to hell.

It is important to identify and re-familiarize ourselves with these  
sources. Our audience will know this source and come with their own  
opinions and biases. For this reason, any reference has to be built  
on concrete information. Remember, you will be required to explain,  
promote and defend your work.

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

3. Passages from R.M. Schafer's "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.

4. 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.

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

Review the sections where Feldman muses on the connection between  
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. Feldman was a protagonist in minimalism.

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

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 relevant passage examines of  
how music/sound is leveraged to convey elements of a narrative that  
cannot be represented by any other means. The book documents how  
Wagner took many ideas on this topic directly from and Arthur  
Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation.

Magee's book is a very direct and clear and partially entertaining  
discussion of these complicated issues. No prior contact with  
Schopenhauer is required. After, reading Magee's book, I discovered  
that it was a key source for the directors and the composer for the  
Matrix - oh, well.

A bit of Wagner-Schopenhauer connection 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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