The Color of Sound: A Theoretical Study in Musical Timbre

Slawson, W. David

doi:10.1525/mts.1981.3.1.02a00090

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Theorists studied timbre as an isolable musical parameter whose manipulation contributed to the structure of modernist music, both electronic and acoustic (Fennelly 1967;Erickson 1975;Cogan and Escot 1976;Chou 1979). Composers also explored timbral analysis for practical application (Schaeffer 1966;Slawson 1981Slawson , 1985Boulez 1987). One particular problem faced by these scholars is that standard Western musical notation does not visually represent timbre, or does so at best obliquely.…”

Section: Timbre In Music Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Timbre as Differentiation in Indie Music

Blake

2012

MTO

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[1.1] Scholars have long understood the ideology of rock-based Anglo-American popular music genres to be based on difference, whether against generational, political, generic, or indistinct hegemonic forces. This thesis has received special attention in scholarship scrutinizing independent or "indie" music, a motley collection of genres and styles (indie pop, indie rock, indie folk, etc.) unified through associations with small record labels, college or noncommercial radio, and alternative methods of distribution. Numerous studies have demonstrated how Indie music foregrounds discourses of differentiation against mainstream music from social, political, economic, and/or cultural perspectives, while it simultaneously profits from mainstream processes of institutionalized capitalism and social privilege (Lee 1995;Thornton 1996;Hesmondhalgh 1999;Hibbert 2005;Newman 2009;Dolan 2010). Such studies accurately describe the complexities of indie music's claims of differentiation from a cultural standpoint, but they tend to obscure the genre's most salient feature: the music. How does music serve to aurally project "independence" in indie music? How can extramusical differentiation connect with musical sound? [1.2] This article asserts that timbre, more than any other musical parameter, expresses extramusical differentiation in independent music genres. Timbre is the primary vehicle by which indie music is produced and heard as different from its contemporaneous mainstream. Timbral choices intended as different from stereotypes of mainstream sound connect with discourses of differentiation on cultural, political, economic, and/or generic planes. I demonstrate this claim through three ABSTRACT: The divide between "independent" and "mainstream" crucial to popular music discourses of the past twenty years has garnered scholarly attention from cultural studies and sociology, but not from music theorists. This paper argues that timbre, more than any other musical parameter, musically expresses differentiation from mainstream sounds in indie music. Phenomenological theories of Merleau-Ponty and Edward Casey are used to proffer a methodology of timbral analysis premised on contextually meaningful, complementarily perceived adjectives. Three case studies examining music of My Bloody Valentine, Neutral Milk Hotel, and the Shins exemplify this analytic framework.

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Section: Timbre In Music Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Timbre as Differentiation in Indie Music

Blake

2012

MTO

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“…For music that focuses on timbral processes, such as much electronic and spectral music, this program of research would require the full development of a perceptual-cognitive theory of musical timbre. It is regrettable that research in this area has declined after several incomplete attempts in the 1970s and 1980s (Cogan & Escot, 1976;Grey, 1977;Wessel, 1979;Slawson, 1981;Lerdahl, 1987). A genuine theory of this kind would not only help explain how listeners make sense of electronic and spectral music but would also be useful for composers.…”

Section: Distinguishes Three Kind Of Music (Complex Complicated and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interview with Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff

2010

Musicae Scientiae

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“…In a recent article (see Slawson 1981), I hazarded a set of claims that may be considered a theory of an aspect of musical timbre called sound color. In the present paper I shall summarize those claims briefly, develop them a bit further, and than attempt to show how one could apply some of them by discussinghowmy composition Colors was structured.…”

Section: The Musical Control Of Sound Color* a Wayne Slawsonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is some empirical evidence that we perceive sound according to the dimensions of AcuTENESsand OPENNESS and some rather indirect support on rational grounds for SMALLNESS (see Slawson 1981 for a discussion of this evidence). There is precious little independent support for LAXNESS, but influenced by some informal experiments with synthesized patterns of colors of differing LAXNESS, I have been led to believe that LAXNESS has both psychological reality and musical potential.…”

Section: The Dimensions Of Sound Colormentioning

confidence: 99%

The Musical Control of Sound Color

Slawson¹

1982

Canadian University Music Review

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The Color of Sound: A Theoretical Study in Musical Timbre

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Timbre as Differentiation in Indie Music

Timbre as Differentiation in Indie Music

Interview with Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff

The Musical Control of Sound Color

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