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20th Century Theory

ALEATORY MUSIC

Indeterminacy

Chance/Choice

 

     

Fancy term for “randomness” - the opposite of serialism

 
A way of taking your ego out of the loop

Get past your preconceived notions

Creating surprise

Creating juxtapositions that can create new meaning for you

Could you draw a random line?

 
A way of automating decisions you don’t want to make
A way of automating decisions you can’t make

 

Interactive art – the artist isn’t there to make the decisions
 

 

 

John CageAmerican (1912 - 1992)

Cage wanted people to listen to silence around them with the attitude they bring to a concert

 

Listening is an active process of making meaning
We can find rhythms in the sound of someone speaking
Or hear harmony in a power drill
 

Cage believed these could be just as musical as a symphony

Prepared piano

Sonata V:  John Cage

 

John Cage on Silence

 

4'33"

 

Ligeti Poeme Symphonique for 100 Metronomes

 

 Imaginary Landscape No. 1

 

Chance PowerPoint

 

Prepared piano

(a grand piano with objects inserted between some strings)

 

Later version:  Hauschka

Abandoned City

How he prepares as he plays (@2:35)

 

Silence isn’t silent
It’s filled with sound
People walking down the hall
The vibration of the HVAC units
People giggling
People shifting uncomfortably in their chairs

 

All of these can be heard as music
If you don’t believe me
Try sampling it and giving it to a DJ

 

Graphical Scores

Graphical notation Timeline (flash)

Xenakis - Metastasis (spectral view)

 

 

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