The Queen’s University of Belfast

Faculty of Humanities

PORTFOLIO OF COMPOSITIONS

SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF PhD

Ricardo Climent

Accompanied by commentaries and recordings

15^th September 2001

Acknowledgements

To Dr. Michael Alcorn for his guidance, enthusiasm, vision,

criticism and invaluable help.

To Professor Jan Smaczny for his encouragement

and support of my work.

To Chris Corrigan for his expertise and

technical assistance.

To Piers Hellawell for his criticism and help.

to Paul Wilson, Barry Webb, Simon Mawhinney,

Yudelkis Mayola, Carlos Gil and Michael Crone,

for collaborating, contributing, and participating

performing or conducting my works

to all my postgraduate colleagues at the School of Music

for working as a team and sharing ideas

to all of the staff at the School of Music, the Q.U.B. orchestra

and all the students who joined it for their huge contribution

to the D.E.N.I. (Department of Education of Northern Ireland) the S.G.A.E. (Sociedad General de Autores de España) , the Fundacion Autor,

the Harrison Foundation, Sarah Montgomery Foundation,

and CiberArt for their generosity in providing bursaries, scholarships, and awards.

and finally to Ima Picó and my family, for their support.

CONTENTS

Introduction	page 4
VCS3++ (1999)	page 16
Trombonsis (1999)	page 35
Ecm^2 (2000)	page 57
ca.AD (2000)	page 67
DejaVu88~ (2000)	page 86
Phylosophiae Naturalis (2001)	page 118
e-RRATUM (2001)	page 139
Conclusions	page 151
Appendix	page 154

These commentaries accompany four scores, two CDs and a video tape.

INTRODUCTION

My thoughts as a sonic artist

To become a composer, or in my case a sonic artist, one needs to perceive the environment and our soundworld in a unique way. One also needs a broad knowledge of compositional techniques and a degree of discipline to achieve the desired targets.

The sonic art that I create realises a range of thoughts, perceptions and musical ideas. Observing the evolution of my music in recent years, I see it as something dynamic, evolving, in search of the beautiful and the unknown by researching the nature of the sound and our perception of this art.

New technology has an influence in my work though it is not a target but simply a tool to serve my compositional ideas. Most technological developments have been driven by the desire to make things easier for humans. I always try to follow this principle when dealing with music technology, but often I am aware that complexity is needed to achieve certain degree of quality, for instance, when designing new sounds in the studio.

I think most experienced listeners can perceive beauty and derive pleasure from listening to new and unique combination of timbres. This is the reason why my music focuses so much on concepts such as music timbre and texture. Within this context of research, I find new possibilities of musical expression by the identification of suitable forms, structures and gestures derived from what I call my ‘sonic world’.

One of my first aims of the PhD is to enhance my musical output with music tradition without renouncing to be a composer of my time.

My motivations to write music are becoming more and more driven by ‘intra-musical’ ideas rather than ‘extra-musical’ associations. Nowadays, the concept is never more important than the work itself. In other words, what is more relevant in my music is the sound and what you hear and not what I mean. It does not necessarily mean that my music should be regarded as abstract, rather, I prefer my meanings to be veiled by the musical discourse, its strength, expression, innovation and subtleties.

The evolution of the sound starts from the first pieces included in my portfolio, where visual images have had a strong influence on my creative processes to develop a frame for intra-musical associations. This motivation is became less and less important in more recent works and is now very much a background influence. Today, the nature of the sounds themselves provides a visual representation of the music for me to craft, no matter if they come from instruments or if they are created by electronic means.

About the context.

This musical experience has been extremely positive in my musical development and it has provided a unique opportunity to present, discuss and criticise my own music with other colleagues not only composers but also musicologists.

The seven works included in the portfolio represent an important part of the music written within the three last three years, (1998-2001). There are three other compositions and a fully revised old piece from before the PhD. Obviously there is a thread among all the pieces written before, during and after the PhD period. Therefore we will need to take into account some issues related to those works fully to understand the progression of musical ideas and my motivations for writing. In any case it will be only brief references to them.

Finally, during this period it was extremely gratifying to learn and exchange experiences with teachers, composers and performers. To immerse myself in all kinds of music and academic activities and to have access to facilities with updated technology, to attend festivals and competitions and to have opportunities to show and sometimes to defend my own work. These facts not only helped me reinforce the credibility of the music included in my portfolio but also my self-belief and confidence as a composer of music.

Next, there is a resume of my recent works, included or not in the portfolio with a brief description of them.

Title	Date	duration	Instrumentation	Inclu ded?
NYSE	May 1998	9’20”	Tape only	NO
Dsp-bop	Sept. 1998	15’00”	Saxophone + Live electro.	NO
Strings too short to tie	Nov.1998	45’10”	Tape + L.E. for dance.	NO
Beloved on Modays	Jan. 1999	6’53”	Tape for sculpture	NO
VCS3++	March 1999	9’25”	Tape only	YES
Trombonsis	August 1999	10’34”	Trombone and Live electr.	YES
Ecm^2	Jan. 2000	8’10”	Clarinet and string quartet	YES
Mimesis 5a	Feb. 2000	7’07”	Tape for photography	NO
ca.AD	May 2000	6’50”	Tape for 3D animation	YES
DejaVu88~	Sept. 2000	16’05”	Piano and Live Electronics	YES
Philosophiae Naturalis	March 2001	15’35”	Orchestra and Live electr.	YES
e -RRATUM	July 2001	10’13”	Tape only	YES
Etude in-cierto	Oct. 2001	ca.9’50”	Saxophone and cello + LE.	NO

Figure 2 illustrates how most of the times the process of creation spent on each piece overlaps in time:

Fig 2. schedule

CONTENTS OF THE PORTFOLIO.

The portfolio consists of seven pieces. Three are for tape only, (one of them is a collaboration with a video artist), two for solo instrument and live electronics (trombone and piano) , one for clarinet and string quartet, and a large scale work for orchestra, live electronics and real-time rendered images.

Below is a brief introduction to each piece.

Vcs3++ for tape only, (stereo and octophonic versions).

This work is based on sound materials derived from the Synthi (the VCS3), an analogue synthesiser built in 1969 by the Electronic Music Studios in London.

After a reasonable period of research and experimentation with the instrument, I recorded approximately 2 hours of contrasting samples which would serve as source materials for the composition.

The initial thoughts about this piece arise from the idea of combining two different approaches: firstly to create a contrasting selection of pure electronic sounds by manipulating the VCS3 in real time and recording them and secondly to generate a smaller group of sounds by techniques of synthesis timbre-related to the Synthi. I treated both as source materials for the composition to be transformed in an ‘acousmatic way’, in other words, manipulating the sources in the studio as if they were recordings from the environment or everyday sounds.

The studio process consisted of further experimentation with a wide variety of music software I mostly used during my period of study for the Master of Music Technology.

Trombonsis for trombone tape and Live Electronics (MaxMsp ⁽¹⁾ ).

Firstly, Trombonsis approaches the typical idea of using music technology to extend the sonorities of a solo instrument, but It goes beyond that in the way both elements are related, (the instrument and its expanded results). [MA1] Visual elements were still very important in the process of creation. Secondly, the work explores the immense possibilities of the trombone as a ‘resonator’ which can be used to experiment with a variety of timbres and compositional techniques.

The techniques implemented range from:

a) focusing – unfocusing musical elements

b) moving layers of sounds from background to foreground and vice versa.

c) integrating –disintegrating each other.

The flow and development of the music is inspired by several human microcosmic phenomena which are visualised as imaginary landscapes in the composer’s mind. Images are represented as visual music scenes.

__________________________________________________________________

(1) MaxMsp. Max copyright by David Zicarelli and also Msp based on PD by Miller Puckette.

The medical condition thrombosis is an example of one of the microscopic landscapes that stimulated me to write music. This phenomenon can be described as clots that form in the deeper veins. It most often occurs as a result of poor or sluggish blood flow through the veins and/or increased the stickiness of the blood, making it more likely to clot. Another interesting micro-phenomena is the hypothesis that chronic venous insufficiency is a result of the interrelation between thrombosis and inflammation (phlebitis) that results in destruction of venous valves and chronic vein wall changes that lead to venous reflux and the syndrome of chronic venous insufficiency.

Trombonsis was selected for the 33^rd Royal Music Association conference, performed after a workshop by Barrie Webb, whose input on technical issues was invaluable. It was premiered and played in numerous occasions by Paul Wilson and the Spanish trombonist Carlos Gil and broadcasted several times on Radio Nacional de España.

Emc² for Eb Clarinet and String quartet.

This is purely an instrumental work with no tape, processing or amplification. Whilst the forces comprise a solo instrument and string quartet, my approach was to imitate the aesthetics of a piece for solo instrument and tape. In other words, in this context, the strings behave as a tape.

To achieve this, I produced a CD with 61 samples of recordings of strings effects from a violin. It was recorded in a resonant building and therefore It provided a good opportunity for me to experiment with the acoustics of the space. This feature was reflected in the final piece through the use of an off-stage musician.

By listening to the recordings several times in different locations, the sounds inspired me to write most of the string parts. I considered the results of my instrumental writing as ‘sonic objects’ as I do when composing for tape.

I then put them together as a mosaic of timbres and gestures. Furthermore, I also established parallels between the acoustic materials and other non-idiomatic ideas for strings . This piece has not yet been premiered.

ca.AD for tape and video.

Ca.AD was born out of a collaboration between master students in Fine Arts at the University of Ulster and composers from Queen’s University, Belfast.

At this time I was not particularly keen to do a collaboration with a video artist due to the fact that video materials were not the type of images that often guided my work up to this point. My inspiration was coming from ‘internal’ images (inside my mind) and never from pictures or a movie. In spite of this, the way the artist Michael Crone approached the project was extremely stimulating and I decided to start working with him.

I restricted myself to the use of CLM (Common Lisp Music) as the only tool to do the sound transformation of sources. I experimented with the use of embedded loops to control pointers in order to read sound files starting from different time locations. This also allowed me to vary the speed and direction of playback.

The concept and use of time in electro-acoustic music was an important consideration in this piece. Within the work, as in other electro-acoustic works, the concept of the passing of time is different from conventional music.

The source materials came from original recordings of authentic Indian instruments such as sitar, bamroo, bansuri, bells, harmonium, kabbas.

DejaVu88~ for piano and live electronics.

This work was composed thanks to a Ciber@rt ⁽²⁾ award, consisting of a residency prize at LEA labs in Spain.

Taking advantage of early experiences in the use of live electronics in pieces such as ‘Strings too sort to tie’, ‘Dsp-bop’ and ‘Trombonsis’, I decide to approach the composition of this piece in a completely different manner. In DejaVu88~ the performer has absolute control over the electronic, assuming the tasks of the technician as well as the performer. The main idea was to explore new sounds and ways of expression from the result of extending the rôles of the instrumentalist. The pianist not only performs the acoustic instrument but also the electronic part, reacting to the sounds and gestures created by him/ herself in contrast with the ideas of my previous compositions.

The nature of the timbral explorations of the piano is mainly focused on four areas of research; the integration between acoustic piano sounds and its real-time sonic manipulation, degrees of combination of these two elements, the juxtaposition of parts (non processed versus processed) and the acceptance-integration of both identities (real and transformed sound). It has three continuous movements.

DejaVu88 has been performed in four different international music festivals in only ten months by the pianist Simon Mawhinney and it has was selected by the ICMC2001 committee and played by the Cuban pianist Yudelkis Mayola García.

(2) Ciber@rt (also CiberART) is an International symposium of new technologies, art and communication organised by the Universities of Valencia and Alicante in Spain. In 1999 CiberArt organised the first international Spanish Electroaoustic Competition.

Phylosophiae Naturalis for orchestra and live electronics.

I consider this work to be one of my most experimental compositions. My research ranges from experiments with phonology and syntax in the context of the structure to new techniques of music writing based on visual interpretation of precise instructions and combinations of instrumental sounds with sound synthesis. (The latter is explored in more detail in e-RRATUM) . The performance is directed by a central conductor and various section leaders provide cues at significant points. A large projector screen also provides cues and information for the entire orchestra to follow. It explores how orchestra players can react to a restricted visual stimuli created in real time by the live electronics team.

Isaac Newton’s treatise of physics, Phylosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica served as an inspiration for the musical aspects of this piece. Time and space relationships, gravity forces etc are treated as musical metaphors. The harmonic framework of the piece was created using new technologies that I had not worked with until now.

e-RRATUM for solo tape.

e-RRATUM is the last piece of the portfolio. I believe I achieved a new degree of musical expression within this piece. This expression comes not only from intuitive decisions when mixing and articulating the sounds, but also from the deeper exploration of ideas not fully implemented in previous pieces.

I am fascinated with the idea of achieving new sonorities as the result of combining sounds created by methods of synthesis and from recordings of every day sounds. This piece aims to offer solutions to problems of integration, convergence and juxtaposition to these contrasting materials. In previous works I experienced with transitions of smaller scale than this. [MA2] In e-RRATUM transitions are extended to the limit of their possibilities, in some cases, evolving through an entire section of the piece. In my opinion this provides a special identity to the work and suggests a change in structure and development . I see this piece as a journey inside a music kaleidoscope.

MY MUSICAL INTERESTS AND INFLUENCES:

Most of my music influences arise from composers of the 20th Century. My perception of music is very analytical, therefore I am not influenced by the complete musical output of an author but by certain aspects and aesthetics of his/her music or even only by specific works.

In my recent academic environment I learnt enormously from our compositional workshops, tutorials and weekly seminars. In consequence lots of new concepts and compositional ideas were quickly assimilated. Only to mention a few examples: American experimental music, John Cage (Amores), Charles Ives (4^TH Symphony), also Stravinsky (Symphonies of wind instruments), Harrison Birtwistle (Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum), Witold Lutoslawski (Preludes and a fugue), Penderecki (Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima), Varese (Ionisation, Integrales, Density 21.5), Poul Ruders (Gong, Tundra), György Ligeti (Streichquartett nº2, violin concerto), Iannis Xenakis (Keren for trombone, chamber music), Boulez (Répons), Barry Truax (tape solo works).

I am very attracted by the possibility of sharing ideas with composers in the same way we learn from the experience of performers of our music. In the past recent years I was lucky to listen to and in occasions to discuss the ideas of composers such as: Charles Eakin (orchestral works), Andrew Culver (‘Ocean’- Takehisa Kosugi - Ongaky- Merce Cunnigham), Vic Hoyland (‘Vixen’), Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (‘Eight songs for a Mad King’), Ian Wilson (‘Phosphorus’), Jonathan Harvey (‘Bakti’, ‘Mortus Plango Vivos Voco’) and Brian Irvine (‘Chaplin’). Also Thomas Kessler (Piano Kontrol), Jonty Harrison (Abstracts), Robert Normadeau (Rumours), Jo Hyde (visual and tape works), Andrew Lewis’s compositional ideas, Francis Dhomont (Phrynogie, Novars ), Jean-Claude Risset, Steven Montague (‘Dark Sun’) and Leo Kupper (vocal works for tape) .

Less recent influences come from the Spanish Luis de Pablo (tarde de poetas), aspects of rhythm and chord progressions / extensions of Brazilian composers , Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, Jobim and the masters of jazz music Charlie Parker, O. Hammerstein, Cole Porter, J. Kern, B. Evans or M. Davis in the art of improvisation and innovation.

There is an important influence in the revision of my music which is the performer’s feedback. The performer is the first customer of my music and his or her opinion is relevant to me. Also to mention the final ‘customer’ of my work: the audience may be not as much an influence in itself but it is a motivation to keep writing.

From my former career as Economist I acquired skills for numbers (statistics and mathematics) and organisation and control (specialised on ISO9000 / the British Standard 5750). The first, the numbers, helped my to have a better understanding of algorithmic music and programming which irremediably means greater control over the processes of music transformation in the studio environment. For the last few years I have being subscribed to several different community-lists of software development and related (PureData, Csound, Dsp-forum, Common Lisp Music, Common Music, CEC, RedHat – Mandrake Linux) and upgraded my knowledge on computer hardware and software, (Multi-platforms, programming etc). These new potentials of knowledge stimulated my research in music and definitely influenced my work.

The second, organisation and control, has influenced me in the way I control the ‘bureaucracy’ of my musical production in matters such as control over scores’s distribution, revisions of scores and updating delivery, storage and classification of recording sources and compositional materials, database of information of concerts activities, conferences, scores, CDs, music papers etc. A good organisation is essential for ‘healthy’ music making activity.

Visual Arts: I think the influence of arts in my music is not a ‘direct input’ as the music of composers mentioned above; however it has a place in the definition of my aesthetics. The art of women artists such as the imagination of Sophie Call, the treatment of space of Monique Bastian and Eva Lootz or the collective Knowbotic research in the interaction of live electronics and images. Also before, impressed by the commitment and conceptual ideas of Joseph Beuys.

As a performer I play the live electronics designing my own music algorithms. I enjoy it when this practice goes beyond the simple execution of written instructions and requires the art of interpretation. I also like diffusing tape works on different acoustics, three–dimensional spaces and systems, which in my opinion is another form of performing art.

Despite the fact that I play the classical guitar and I occasionally compose short pieces for this instrument, I find it more attractive to research and write for other instruments for which the sonorities and techniques are not so familiar to me.