New concepts and techniques in eco-composition

This paper has two main objectives: (i) to discuss essential concepts of the ecological approach to composition, proposing the term eco-composition as a common reference for theoretical perspectives and compositional techniques; and (ii) to present the multimedia piece Vivir sin despues, realised within the context of the Paititi Project.Following the Introduction, the paper is divided into two main sections. In section 2 we discuss issues raised by the application of the ecological approach to composition. Regarding the data-gathering procedures, eco-composition provides two effective methods: re-enaction and anchoring. Organisation of sonic materials is done through accumulation of heterarchical layers, giving rise to emergent musical phenomena. Section 3 dwells on the compositional strategies applied in the multimedia installation Vivir sin despues. We describe the process of re-enacting the first Spanish trip through the Amazon River Basin, carried out by Francisco de Orellana and fifty-nine Spaniards in 1541. Then we address technical aspects of the piece, such as the application of multiple views of single entities, the development of non-hierarchical forms and the manipulation of sonic fields.

[1]  Rafael Girard.  Indios selváticos de la Amazonía peruana : con 207 fotografías, 100 figuras y 2 mapas , 1958 .

[2]  Laura Rival,et al.  Trekking Through History: The Huaorani of Amazonian Ecuador , 2002 .

[3]  Jonathan Berger,et al.  Paititi: a multimodal journey to el dorado (original artwork, installation, sound synthesis, video) , 2004 .

[4]  Matthew Burtner,et al.  Ecoacoustic and shamanic technologies for multimedia composition and performance , 2005, Organised Sound.

[5]  Simon Emmerson,et al.  From Dance! to Dance: Distance and Digits , 2001, Computer Music Journal.

[6]  Damián Keller,et al.  Analysis by Modeling: Xenakis's ST/10-1 080262 , 2004 .

[7]  W H Warren,et al.  Auditory perception of breaking and bouncing events: a case study in ecological acoustics. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[8]  Hildegard Westerkamp.  Linking soundscape composition and acoustic ecology , 2002, Organised Sound.

[9]  Damián Keller,et al.  Social and perceptual processes in the installation The Trade , 2000, Organised Sound.

[10]  W. L. Windsor,et al.  A perceptual approach to the description and analysis of acousmatic music , 1995 .

[11]  Jorge H. Valdivieso.  Realismo mágico en la relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famosos Río Grande de Las Amazonas de Fray Gaspar de Carvajal , 1989 .

[12]  Damin Keller,et al.  Compositional Processes from an Ecological Perspective , 2000, Leonardo Music Journal.

[13]  E. Rosch,et al.  The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience , 1993 .

[14]  B. Truax.  Acoustic Communication , 1985 .

[15]  Damián Keller,et al.  Urban Corridor: Accumulation and Interaction as Form-Bearing Process , 2002, ICMC.

[16]  R. M. Schafer,et al.  The tuning of the world , 1977 .

[17]  Damián Keller,et al.  Ecologically-based Granular Synthesis , 1998, ICMC.

[18]  George E. Lewis.  Too Many Notes: Computers, Complexity and Culture in Voyager , 2000, Leonardo Music Journal.

[19]  Jonathan Berger,et al.  Everyday sounds: synthesis parameters and perceptual correlates , 2001 .

[20]  Damián Keller,et al.  Decorrelation as a By-Product of Granular Synthesis , 2000 .

[21]  Barry Truax,et al.  Composing with Time-Shifted Environmental Sound , 1992 .

[22]  J. Gibson.  The Senses Considered As Perceptual Systems , 1967 .