My
interest in refining analytical tools grew out of a desire to understand the
construction of the musical works which I admired most, so that I might refine
my own compositional techniques. However, I was confronted with a notable lack
of adequate analytical tools for the examination of what I considered the most
interesting features of many of these works (see list of favourite
compositions). Pitch collections which attract me are usually modal, atonal (rarely
dodecaphonic), arranged according to a non-Western scale, or scarcely
identifiable (such as in unpitched percussion or much electroacoustic music) so
that neither traditional harmonic analysis nor the more recently-developed
methods such as Schenkerian and pitch-class analysis were very relevant.
Rhythmic organization in many of these works often seems to be based on
additive structures, and I am especially drawn to music which seems to have a
simultaneous presentation of two or more layers or strata
of music what I call the three-ring circus effect. Due to the
rhythmic and perceptual issues involved, I was led to an intensive
contemplation of temporal perception, through the areas of philosophy and
psychology. The growing area of
cognitive sciences has captured my interest for its potential as an extremely
useful adjunct to any study of how we hear music.
As I began
developing ways of investigating such aspects, I also began teaching
composition and 20th century music analysis, and my search intensified for
adequate language to describe the diversity of musical styles characteristic of
the past century. In addition, my constant contact with artists made me
painfully aware of the inadequacy of the musicians vocabulary to
communicate with non-musicians. The proliferation of multimedia courses seem to
lack theoretical accompaniment -- the interaction of the various media being
considered too complex for comment. Reflection on this issue has made me
realize how much music has been traditionally isolated from its accompanying
visuals in the music theory and history classes. I began to concentrate on
auditive analysis crucial not only for the study of music by those who do
not have score-reading skills, but also for the study of any music without a score,
such as most electroacoustic music, much art music of other cultures, and
improvised music. In addition, the focus on audition necessarily
places emphasis onto performance aspects and thus leads to considerations of
timing and other stylistic interpretations that may be less than explicit on
the printed page.
As of the
last few decades, the lack of analytical tools is slowly being addressed by
different scholars, often from quite different perspectives. Now, there is a different problem: how to keep
abreast of all these developments and, most crucially, how to identify the most
appropriate method for a particular work. Rather than despairing at the number of
perspectives I have encountered, I decided to embrace the diversity as a
fitting echo of the diversity of musical styles which are now so readily
available through recordings, concerts, and broadcasts. Therefore I began
working on the development of a comprehensive guide entitled The Tool Kit for Music Analysis.
The Tool Kit was to draw on all the various
projects which have occupied me for the last couple of decades:
Methods of analysis for multiple-strata works
Descriptive vocabulary for music
Exploration of musical texture
Psychological time and its role in musical perception
Refinement of a theory of musical rhythm
The role of music in multi-modal contexts
and of course
my current major project IMP-NESTAR
Complementing
all aspects of my research, the Armchair Researcher has been
designed as a research tool, to tap the knowledge and speculation of interested
scholars and promote some old-fashioned, if virtual, conversations between us
in order to stimulate further research and help maintain a healthy perspective
by reducing the isolation to which we are all prone. A summary of my concerns and reflections is coming out soon as an e-book
called Conversational Musicology: Mapping the
Field.
A
guide and overview of the Tool Kit project should also be available soon.