Steve Reich: Music as a Gradual Process: Part I

Schwarz, Kathryn

doi:10.2307/832600

Cited by 23 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…This causes them to go "out of sync" over the course of the work and therefore creating evolving patterns and motifs. Phase music was popularised by Steve Reich, who composed pieces such as It's Gonna Rain and Come Out using tape loops, and Piano Phase, a minimalist piece for two pianos [44]. Mechatronic instruments can enable fine control over the timing of musical notes and sound parameters, which makes them ideal for phase music.…”

Section: Phasing Etudementioning

confidence: 99%

The Design and Construction of an Expressive Mechatronic Chordophone

Placencia¹

2021

Preprint

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Mechatronic chordophones are stringed instruments that integrate mechanical components and electronics to make music. These instruments offer precise control over multiple sound parameters and expressive techniques for enhanced musical expression. There have been multiple successful mechatronic chordophone designs,from robotic slide guitars to bass guitar robots. Among these designs are plucked string and pitch shifting mechatronic chordophones, which make music by exciting the string with a picking mechanism and selecting musical notes with a pitch shifter mechanism. This configuration enables these systems to enhance their musical performance through pitch-based expressive techniques and micro tonal pitches. However, even if these instruments can achieve speeds and precision beyond the capabilities of a human performer, their expressive capabilities are limited. It is difficult for mechatronic chordophones to perform dynamic variations and expressive techniques,and the presence of extraneous noise usually interferes with their musical performance. Furthermore, it is still challenging for users to control such instruments. We have built two mechatronic chordophones. The first is Protochord, a mechatronic monochord prototype. We used this system as a platform for iterative design to develop new expressive mechatronic chordophone subsystems. The second is Azure Talos,a multi-string mechatronic chordophone designed to outperform other existing systems and to afford a wide array of parameters for musical expression. Our research has led to the development of novel mechatronic chordophone subsystems such as: a revolving picking mechanism with superior dynamic variation capabilities compared to that of other existing designs; a fast and precise robot arm pitch shifting mechanism that affords pitch-based expressive techniques; and an optical pickup that rejects extraneous noise. We have demonstrated the technical capabilities of these designs through quantitative evaluation processes, in many cases providing the first set of quantitative tests in the literature of these types of sub-assemblies and systems. A key aim is to provide standards and benchmarks in evaluation criteria which may be used in the development of new mechatronic chordophones. Finally, we developed strategies to assess Azure Talos' musical capabilities through standard guitar techniques, repertoire examples,and creative musical explorations.

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Section: Phasing Etudementioning

confidence: 99%

The Design and Construction of an Expressive Mechatronic Chordophone

Placencia¹

2021

Preprint

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“…Probably the most famous piece of phase music is Steve Reich's Piano Phase. The following description of this music is in page 386 of Schwarz (1980): In this work two performers begin in unison playing the identical rhythmic/melodic pattern. As the first performer's pattern remains unvarying, the second pianist increases his tempo very slightly (this gradual phasing process is indicated in Reich's scores by dotted lines between measures) until he is finally one sixteenth note ahead of the unchanged figure of the first pianist.…”

Section: Phasingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Probably the most famous piece of phase music is Steve Reich's Piano Phase. The following description of this music is in page 386 of Schwarz (1980):…”

Section: Phasingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quasiperiodic music

Ong

2020

Journal of Mathematics and the Arts

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Using the definition of quasiperiodic function as a motivation, we introduce the idea of quasiperiodic music and detail the composition process of a quasiperiodic music piece, Raindrops in A minor. We also discuss connections between quasiperiodic music and other works of music theory and composition that make use of aperiodic order or periodic order with large periods, such as Lindenmayer systems, Vuza canons, Messiaen's Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps, and the phase music of Steve Reich.

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“…The simplicity and focus of minimalist music on fundamental sound sources -pitch, duration, and silence -From Cage to Glass bring a fresh perspective to musical expression in the late-Patncia Shehan Campbell twentieth century. Reich's statement is telling: ' I believe that music does not exist in a vacuum' (Schwartz, 1981). As the world's various musical styles have influenced minimalism, the concert-going public are finding their fulfilment in a new music to which they can relate.…”

Section: Minimalism: Definition and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Cage to Glass: Lessons for the Late Twentieth Century

Campbell¹

1990

Brit. J. Music. Ed.

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Because art music of the late twentieth century has received little attention in North American school music settings, this paper proposes a rationale as well as procedures for the teaching of one of its emerging styles: minimalism. A brief historical view of the development of minimalism is offered, the influence of Cage's concepts of music as an ongoing [if indeterminate] process is recognised, and the relationship of minimalism to other musical sytles and genres is noted. Listening lessons for works by composers Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Phillip Glass are devised, along with suggestions for performance and composition experiences in the music classroom. Due to its eclectic nature, including the influence of rock and pop music, instruction in the music of the minimalist composers is viewed as a gateway to other art music styles and techniques of the late twentieth century.

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Steve Reich: Music as a Gradual Process: Part I

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

The Design and Construction of an Expressive Mechatronic Chordophone

The Design and Construction of an Expressive Mechatronic Chordophone

Quasiperiodic music

From Cage to Glass: Lessons for the Late Twentieth Century

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