Electroacoustic music studies and the danger of loss - Cambridge ...

Electroacoustic music studies 51Table 1ComputerPeripheralsAudio acquisition and conversionMIDIDiffusionMicrophonesEffectsControllersSoftwareSamplerType used at the first performance (to provide an example), speed, RAM memory sizeSize of hard disks, other necessary peripheralsNumber of channels, sampling rateNumber of channelsNumber of loudspeakers. Number of channels.Types of loudspeak-ers (stage,sub-bass, etc.). Set up in the performance hall.Number; types (contact, aerial, HF) and models used in the first performanceCompressors, limiters, equalisers, reverberation, harmonisers, etc. Precise descriptionof models and versions for future reference.MIDI keyboard. Other MIDI controllers (faders). Pedals (switch or volume).Joysticks. Non-standard items (gloves, bodysuits).Name. Version used in the first performance. Platform and operat-ing system underwhich the software runs. See Software environ-ment in table 2.RAM memory size. Sample map. Voice settings (filter, pan, vol-ume, envelope, etc.).Knowledge of the programming language is a necessityif one wants to grasp fully the intention and role ofthese instructions. This is how the analyst can understandhow a composer adapted a general-purposelanguage to the specific needs of the work.A recent study of Jonathan Harvey’s 1980 tapepiece, Mortuos plango, vivos voco, has shown howvaluable composer sketches are. The original MUSICV texts – orchestras and scores – could not be retrieved.To study this pure tape piece, the analysthad access to Harvey’s private documents and coulddiscuss them with the composer. Thus, many compositionaltechniques of the piece were uncovered andthoroughly explained.Because electroacoustic music has been in existencefor a rather long time and has generated a whole livingrepertoire, part of which is available on commercialrecordings, it is indeed possible to assemble a varietyof material in order to study and analyse an electroacousticpiece or a body of work. It is not difficult toaccept the idea that such a long history of compositionalpractice has generated a volume of documentsin addition to the music itself. Loosely drawing fromarchivistic categorisation, I will subdivide them into‘texts’, ‘paratexts’ and ‘documents’.Texts are composed of a wide diversity of writtenand graphic primary material, such as patches, analoguesynthesizers’ dope sheets, program listings,computer instruments, note lists, and so on. Paratextsare heterogeneous elements which help in the receptionof a work, such as titles, epigraphs and dedications,and commentaries of a work such as programmenotes. Documents consist in secondary sources notnecessarily related to music: handbooks and manualsof various technological tools such as computerprograms and audio devices, as well as textsrelated to art history, sociology, aethetics, philosophy,semiotics, cognitve sciences, etc.Table 1 lists the information for typical live electronicpieces using real-time digital systems, such asthose produced in the early 1980s. It is presented as anexample of a guideline for the preservation of informationdata used for performance and should proveuseful in electroacoustic music studies. It can also beused for tape music and pieces for tape and instrumentsor voice. Table 2 is a blueprint to help in a comprehensivedocumentation of pieces using computersin their performance. It is derived from a templatedevised by the author during his tenure at IRCAM inthe 1990s.There are large institutions which store and managedocuments and records for this music. Librariessuch as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France or theLibrary of Congress have comprehensive music departments.Their collections consist of musical scores,books, personal archives and music periodicals. Specialisedlibraries maintain whole collections of scientificand technical periodicals and books; this is thecase for large university libraries and research institutions.Many European radio organisations and associatedaudiovisual media institutions tend to do archivalwork by storing large sets of audio and video recordings,and many of them are engaged in research fordate retrieval from massive collections of documentrecords. Institutions which are or have been doingmusic research and production, such as INA-GRMand IRCAM in France, or Milan’s RAI are takingimportant steps towards preservation and access totheir collection of published and unpublished material.Also, music information centres, such as CDMCin France or the ones found in Europe, Japan, NorthAmerica and elsewhere, are good places to find