Browsing by Author "Eagle, David Malcolm"
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Item Open Access An Application of Calculated Consonance in Computer-Assisted Microtonal Music(2013-12-23) Burleigh, Ian George; Jacob, Christian J.; Eagle, David MalcolmHarmony (the audible result of varied combinations of simultaneously sounding tones) ought to, for the most part, sound pleasing to the ear. The result depends, among other factors, on a proper choice of the pitches for the tones that form harmonious chords, and on their correct intonation during musical performance. This thesis proposes a computational method for calculation of relative consonance among groups of tones, and its possible practical applications in machine-assisted arrangement of tones, namely the choice of tone pitches and their microtonal adjustment. The consonance of tone groups is calculated using a model that is based on the physiological theory of tone consonance that was published by Hermann Helmholtz in the middle of the 19th century. Given a group of tones that have fixed pitches, changes in the aggregate dissonance caused by adding another “probe” tone of a variable pitch can be represented as a “dissonance landscape”. Local minima in the “height” of the landscape correspond to local minima of the aggregate dissonance as a function of the pitch of the probe tone. Finding a local dissonance minimum simulates the actions of a musician who is “tuning by ear”. The set of all local minima within a given pitch range is a collection of potentially good pitch choices from which a composer (a human, or an algorithmic process) can fashion melodies that sound in harmony with the fixed tones. Several practical examples, realized in an experimental software, demonstrate applications of the method for: 1) computer-assisted microtonal tone arrangement (music composition), 2) algorithmic (machine-generated) music, and 3) musical interplay between a human and a machine. The just intonation aspect of the tuning method naturally leads to more than twelve, potentially to many, pitches in an octave. Without some restrictions that limit the complexity of the process, handling of so many possibilities by a human composer and their precise rendition as sound by a performing musician would be very difficult. Restricting the continuum of possible pitches to the discrete 53-division of the octave, and employing machine-assistance in their arrangement and in sound synthesis make applications of the method feasible.Item Open Access Sacred Voices of the Golden Horn(2017) Tongur, Gulsun Ilkim; Bell, Allan Gordon; Eagle, David Malcolm; Radford, Ronald Laurie Charles; O'Brien, Mary G.; Palej, NorbertSacred Voices of the Golden Horn is a multi-movement work for a mixed chamber ensemble and sound files with a duration of approximately thirty minutes. The ensemble consists of flute (c, alto), clarinet (B-flat, E-flat, bass), violin, cello, percussion (vibraphone, hand drums), and piano. In this work, I explored transmutations and combinations of a variety of musical material derived from the musical traditions of several minority religious communities in Istanbul. I transformed the material into combinations of scales that would never occur in the traditional music and I used polyphonic textures and harmonies of my own invention. The shape of musical material was affected by various cultural symbols associated with these traditions. The piece comprises six movements, each of which is dedicated to one of the musical traditions of Istanbul. The first movement, Time, is dedicated to Orthodox Christianity; the second movement, Cry, is dedicated to Sunni Islam; the third movement, Kam, is dedicated to the old pagan religion of the Turkic people (Tengriism); the fourth movement, Triangle, is dedicated to Catholic Christianity; the fifth movement, Exodus…again, is dedicated to Judaism and, the sixth movement, Spin, is dedicated to Sufi Islam. Sacred Voices of the Golden Horn combines both instrumental and electroacoustic media (soundfiles) in order to capture the expressive character of the religious practices in a manner that reveals the ways in which they have maintained their own identity and profoundly affected each other. The piece is a celebration of the generous character of Istanbulite society and an attempt to bring that spirit, in an aesthetic manner, to a wider audience. The thesis contains the complete score and analytical essay.