Time, Music, Curvatures, Turbulences. A ... - La Deleuziana

LADELEUZIANA–ONLINEJOURNALOFPHILOSOPHY–ISSN2421-3098N.10/2019–RHYTHM,CHAOSANDNONPULSEDMAN

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Time,Music,Curvatures,Turbulences.AContemporaryExplora-tionofMusicalTimebyLORENZOPAGLIEIAbstractThistextcontainsthesecondpartofamuchlongerarticledevotedtomusicaltimepublished

ontheprintedversionofLaDeleuzianan.10/2019Rhythm,ChaosandNonpulsedMan.ThefirstpartoftheprintedversionofthearticleprovidesaperspectiveforreflectionaboutTimeinmusic.ItstartswithashortintroductiontoTimeandSound,thenitexaminessomecommontermsandcurrentthemesrelatedtotimeinmusiconlevelsofincreasingcomplexity.Inthisprocess,thetextrefers to themusicofvariousprovenanceandtraditionsandalso to thescientificandartisticthought.ThesecondpartofthearticleisdevotedtomyapproachtoTime,theideaspushingmeandthetechniquesIamdevelopinginmymusic.Morespecifically,Iintroducetheideaofacurvedtimeandmakesomeexamplesofitsrealization.Ishowsomesynchronizationtechniqueswithvaryingdegreesofflexibilityandreactivity.Finally,Idiscussthefunctionofthemusicianinmymusicandgivesomecuestofuturedevelopments.Tofullyunderstandtheglobalperspectiveofthisreflectionandexplorationofmusicaltimefromacontemporaryperspective,werecommendreadingthefullprintedversionofthearticle.PremiseMymusicalresearchesofthelastyearsfocusmainlyonTime,howit’sconceived,how

itisperceived,howitflowsandbends.Today,weareusedtobesubmergedbymusic.Genresofmusicproliferate.Theirmusicalcontentandtemporalfluxbelongtoaspecificlanguageoraregenerallyconventional.Therefore,wearelessaccustomedtolisteningtodifferent temporalconceptions.Conventions inmusicessentiallyhavethree functions:insertapieceinaspecificgenreorlanguage,involvelistenersinaparticularemotionalstateandcommunicatecontent.But,apartfromlanguage,apieceofmusicstandsoutfromothersmainlyforitstemporalstructuringandthefeelingoftimeitcauses.Musicofpopular,orcultivated,traditionsfromallovertheworldnourishesthefeeling

oftimewithseveralinterestingconceptions.Today,wehaveeasyaccesstothiswonderfulrepertoire;wecanstudyitandwecanplaywithmusiciansofothercultures.Thebound-arieshavefallenapart,andthedifferentconceptionsofmusiccantalktoeachotheronahigherlevelacceptingfrictionsandcontradictions.


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Westernwrittenmusicisaspecialcasebecause,overthecenturies,ithasreneweditslanguage,thetechniquesandthematerialstosuchanextentthattoday’smusiciscom-pletelydifferentfromthatof1000yearsago.TheessenceofWesternmusicisthecontin-uousdevelopmentandextensionof territoriesacquired tomusic; a constantdisplace-mentoftheboundariesfurtherahead.Inthissense,itissimilartoscienceandphilosophy.Westerncontemporarymusictodayismarginal(ifeveritwasdifferent),neverthelessitcontinuesproposingnewandparticularvisionsoftime.Thehottopicsabouttimeincon-temporarymusicarethesynchronization,thequalityoftemporalflow,thesuperpositionofdifferenttimes,thetemporalpossibilitiesgivenbytechnology(amongothers,theau-tomaticincorporealreproduction,themanagementofchaoticormassiveprocesses,themicro-time)andthenotationofnon-standardsituations.Ofcourse,thisisonlyastructuralpointofview.Musicallanguageshavemanyroots,

motivations,meaningsandfunctions.Musiccanbespiritual,aritual,adance;itcanex-pressawiderangeoffeelings,representaculture,anidea,tellastory;itcanbelikeanaturalphenomenontocontemplateorametaphoroftheuniverseoritcanbejustSound,organizedornot.Moreover,thefeelingoftimeisacomplexandsubjectivetopic,surelynot mono-dimensional. Fortunately, music ismore mysterious and profound than itsstructure.Inotherwords,musiciscomplexaswellasahumanbeing.MyMusicalResearchesReferencePointsAtthebeginningofmycomposeractivity,Iwasfascinatedbythemulti-layeredtem-

poralandspatialconceptionofStockhausenmusic(aswellashisvisionarynature).Ligeti’scontinuumsofthesixtieshaveintroducedmetoadifferentorderoftimes,inafascinatingauraticdimension,usingessentialandsimplematerial. IwasworkingwithelectronicmusicandfiguringouthowtoapplymyideastoacousticinstrumentsandlaterIdiscoveredthatmyapproachwasclosetoGrisey.Itwasnaturalandunconsciousbe-cause,atthatmoment,Ihadonlyvagueinformationonhismusicanddidn’tknowyethisarticleTempusexMachina.IwasalsoinfluencedbythepsychologicalqualityofSciarrino’smusic.Hehasagreatabilitytousepersistence,createattentionand,thankstohismount-ingtechniques,realizeavirtualpolyphonictextureofmusicalfiguressuspendedintime.ThequalityofJoyce’swritinginUlyssesandDedaluswaslikewiseimportanttome;thereisacleverwaytorealizerhythmicallyintermittentpolyphoniclayersfullofsurpriseswithamonophonicmedium.Improvisationalsowasessentialforatleastthreereasons.Firstly,it’sacompositional

tool. Secondly, since the creativeprocess is carriedouthereandnow, the listener canclearlyfeelasortoffreshnessandtruthofthepresent.“Hereandnow”meanssomething


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fundamental:theimproviseroperatessensingandfeelingtheactualspaceandmoment,thereforeshe/heplayssomethingthat issomehownecessary for thespecificsituation.Thecompositionistheoppositeprocess:itforcesthespaceandthemomentwithapre-constitutedstoryandstructure.Compositionrecreatesanidealizedandabstracthereandnow;improvisationutilisesthehereandnowlikeaninstrumenttocreateanexperience.Ofcourse,bothprocessescreateanexperienceandperformingascoreisaflexibleprac-tice,butaninterpretercannotchangetoagreatextentawrittenscore.Finally,inimprov-isation,onecanplaythingsthatareimpossibletowriteandverydifficulttoread.Thisisanimportantproblemifwewanttohandlechaoticorrandomprocesses.Ihavealwaysbeenjealousofthecharacteristicmusicalpresenceofimprovisationandofwhatyoucandowithit.Nevertheless,withimprovisationalone,youcannotgothatfar:youneedapre-cisevision,amusicalintentionandasuitablestructure(evenfulloffrictions)toaccom-plishit.PurposesIintendtocreatemusicprovidingfurtherdevelopmenttoourconceptionofmusical

time.Forthisreason,I’mparticularlycuriousaboutdifferentapproachestotimestruc-turing in all kinds of music (experimental, traditional, popular, improvisational, elec-tronic,etc.)andofotherartisticexperiences.Therearemanyareasofmusical timetoexplore:thecurvedtime,thethicknessofthepresent,chaoticandfluidapproachtosyn-chronization, poly-temporality, flexible relations between musicians, fuzzy processes,handlingofsoundmasses,temporalscales,adifferentengagementofthemusiciansinthecreativeprocess,etc.Iaminterestedinaconceptionoftimeclosertothecontemporaryunderstandingof

theuniverseandnaturalphenomena.Asnaturalphenomena,musicalelementsandsoundtextures can be continuous, discontinuous, constant, pseudo-constant, curved, undula-tory,turbulent,chaotic,random,granular,constitutedbyparticles,etc. Idon’twanttojustusetheseelements,nordotheyrepresentanewEldoradobehindwhichtohideaweakmusicalconceptionortheabsenceofmusicalideas.Iwanttoincludethemintheveryconceptionofmusic,exploringthem,openingnewpossibilitiesandcreatingorganicmusic,structuredaccordingly.Butthereisaproblem:thiskindofphenomenashouldbemanaged statistically, not deterministically, and Western music notation is not com-pletelysuitableforthat.Tosolvethisproblem,wemustrethinknotation,theroleoftheperformersandtheirmutualrelationshipssothattheircontributionbecomesmorecrea-tiveandflexible.Various20th-centurycomposershavenotatedchaoticorpseudo-chaoticprocessesgivingtheperformersadeterministicscore–thatis,thechaoticprocesswasaccomplished in the compositionalphase,while the scorewasannotated traditionally.


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Othercomposers(forexampleStockhausen,Berio,Cage,Feldman,Xenakis)haveexperi-menteddifferentwritingtechniquesmakingtheperformersdecidesomeaspectsofthemusicwithvariousdegreesoffreedom.Findingtherightbalancebetweenthesetwoap-proaches is very delicate, firstly because interpreters are not so used to inventmusic(thereisn’tawell-foundedethicinthisregard),theneverycomposerhasaspecificstyleandapersonalwaytothinkflexibility.Moreover,thereisanobjectivelimitindescribingparticularplayingtechniqueswithwords.Luckily,todaywecanuseaudioandvideore-cordings.Therearealotofareasstilltobeexploredinwrittenmusicusingflexibletech-niques.Dependingonthemusicalidea,wecanwritetheprocess,fixingsomedetails,andleavethe“surface”ofthemusictotheperformer.Toaccomplishchaoticorelasticpro-cesses,weneedofthemusicalintelligenceofperformers.Iwouldliketheperformertobecomeanintegralpartofthecreativeprocess,almostlikeajazzmusician.Thetechnicalquestionishowtowritetheseprocesses,atwhichlevelofdetail.Moreover,Iwanttocreatemusicperceivedasorganicandphysiological.Thisisacen-

tralproblemifonedoesn’tmakedirectreferencetoaspecificlanguage.Inthiscase,musicshouldstandalonewithoutexplanationsandbeauto-evident.Mygoalistocreateapro-cessallowingthelistenertoenteranecologicalsoundscape,makinganexperiencefirstofall-naturalthencultural.Therefore,Icanonlyrefertoperception,physiologyandorgan-icity,creatingacredibleandinvolvinguniverse.QuestionsTheseideasrequireaparticularapproachtomusicandbringtosomeexcitingmusical

questions:- Howtocreatemusicusingflexibleprinciples?- Howtorealizemicro-chaoticorfuzzytextureswithhumanperformers?- Howtogivethefeelingofacurvedtime?- Whichisthemaximumdegreeofflexibilityinaprocessbeforedestroyingitlead-

ingtofreeimprovisation?- Howtosynchronizeandorientateperformersinacurvedtime?- Whatpossibilitiescanweimaginebetweenplayingsynchronizedandplayingcom-

pletelyindependent?- Howmanysituationsofmutualinteractionsandreactivitycanweinventbetween

performers?- Howtowritethiskindofprocessesinascoreinthesimplestandmostfunctional

way?Todeveloptheseideasandanswerthesequestions,Iwillshowsomesolutionsadopted

inmymusic,particularlyintheprojectSpazioTempo.


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SpazioTempoSpazioTempoisacycleofpiecesforpercussioninstruments(yetinprogress)withan

increasingnumberofplayers,fromonesoloisttoanorchestra.Thisarchitectureallowsmetoexploremytemporalideasatdifferentdepths,scales,spacesandmasses.Thesinglepiecescanbeperformedseparatelyorasauniquelargeform,withoutinterruptions,last-ingabouttwohours.Eachcompositionbeginsseamlesslyattheendofthepreviousone,partiallyoverlappingwithit.Inthefirstthreepieces,Matter(solo),Gravity(duo)andPo-laris(trio),I’veinvestigatedtheaforementionedconceptsonsmallscalesdevelopingpar-ticular composition techniques. InSpazioTempo, themusical texture isoftenbasedonflows of sound particles continuously oscillating, deviating or chaotically perturbed.Rhythmicstreamsreactmutually inseveralways, followingtheirviscosityand inertia,andcreateoriginaltemporalstates.Torealizetheseprocesses,musiciansuseparticulartechniquesofsynchronizationandvarythemusicalsurfacewithdifferentdegreesofflex-ibility.Thenumberofinstrumentsandthesoundmatterisintentionallylimited.Thisal-lowsmetoexplorethetemporalideasin-depthand,atthesametime,itgivesthefeelingtoenterauniverseunveilingsmallandlargescales.CurvedTimeInthepast,bendingtime,basically,meantthecontinuousvariationoftheglobalspeed

(accelerando,ritardando),asuspensionoftimeorasuddenchangeinmetronomictempo.Curvedtimecanberealizedatalowerleveltoo.OlivierMessiaenusedtovaryarhythmaddingorsubtractingashortdurationtosomenotes.Applyingthistechniquetoaregularpulsationgenerates limpedorcurvedrhythms.Somespectralcomposershaveutilisedrhythmscontainingslightvariationsofaconstantpulsation.Thiscreatesanuancedreg-ularity,somethingsimilartoabiologicalrhythm.Fuzzyregularitiesareanopenfieldofresearchandcanbeexploredfurtherinseveraldirections.Wecanrealizelimping,undu-lating,pseudo-regularrhythms(likebiologicalones)orcomposethemutualreactivitybetweenrhythmsor temporal layers. Inotherwords,curvedtimecanbecomeamorestructuralandlessepisodicelementofmusic.Thecomposerabilityconsistsingivingthefeelingthattimeiscurved.Todothis,wehavetothinkofmusicasatissue,afabricandtheelementsasperturbationsofthetissue.ThepersistenceandthePrincipleofgoodcon-tinuationareimportant;otherwise,thetexturebecomescompletelyunpredictable.Let’sexaminesomeprinciplesandpracticalrealizationsatalowerlevel.Curvedtime

canberealizedinseveralways,linearlyorchaotically,inmeasuredorunmeasuredform,individuallyorpolyphonically.


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Inameasuredway:asinglemusiciancanplayapatternconstitutedbydurationsoraccentsoscillatingorlimpingaroundavalue.Forexample,arepeatedpatternlike:21,221,2221,22221,2221,221(where1representsashortduration);or:87,86,85,84,83,84,85,86;orelse:434543234565,etc.Icomposepatternsofthiskindbecausetheyareeasier toplayandmemorize. Ineverwritedownpatternsgeneratedrandomly,becausethemusiciansshouldstudyandplaythemasdeterministicmusic.Ra-ther, Iaskperformerstoplayrandomly followingsomerules. Indeed, if themusiciansunderstandtheprocessunderway,theyplaymoreconvincinglyandactivelylikeinjazz.Furthermore, these patterns carry a perceptible undulatory quality and ametric con-sistency.Theycanbegenerated,repeatedorfurtherdevelopedinaparticulardirection.Inanunmeasuredway:amusicianestablishesafastregularpulsation,astreamof

soundparticles,theninsertssomeimpuritiesinthefluxoftime;forexample,slowlyos-cillatingaroundthepulsationorperturbingitwithalinearorachaoticprocess.Theper-turbationscanbecomposedandarticulatedchoosingaspeed,anamplitudeandadegreeof variation (Veränderungsgrad).Alternatively,perturbations can followaprofile.Thisqualityofcurvedtimeisveryinterestingbecauseitcanleadtounforeseenmetricsitua-tionsthatmusicianscanstabilizeforawhileandthenleavemovingforward.Thesetwokindsofcurvedtimescanbecarriedoutmonophonicallyorpolyphonically

–superposedtosimilaronesplayedbyothermusicians.Thisproducesacomplexmicro-chaoticpolyrhythmiccompound.Let’sconsiderthepolyphoniccase:imaginevariousper-formersplayingameasuredcurvedpattern,synchronizingthemselvestotheshortestdu-ration.Thepatternsuperimpositiondoesn’tneedtobe fixedonceandforall. Inotherwords,musicianscanstarttoplaytheircurvedpatternsineverymoment,interlockingthemeachtimedifferently.Theglobalrhythmictexturewillalwaysbesimilarbuteachtimedifferent.Thislittlefreedommakestheinterpreterslistenandplaywithacompletelydifferentattitudeandattention.Asaresult,themusicacquiresthefreshness(andthefra-gility)ofimprovisation.Inaddition,eachmusiciancanreacttootherswithcertainrules.Theserulescanbedeterministicornuanced.Thecomposerdefinesthetypeandthede-greeofreactionofperformersinrelationtoaLeader.Inthisway,theoveralltexture,evenchaotic,maintainslinesofcoherenceandacquiresorganicity.Thesetechniquesallowflex-iblecontroloverlocalchaoticelementsandrigorousmanagementoftheglobaloutcomesofamusicalpassage.Imperfectionsbecomeastructuralelementofthesystem.Themusicacceptsflexibility.

Itsoundsalwaysdifferentandfreshbuttheglobalstructureiswelldetermined.Inotherwords,it’samethodtorealizefuzzystructures.Withthesetechniquesalone,therearemanypossibilitiestoexploremicro-chaosand

realize rhythmical situations full of surprises. Since the patterns are easy to play andmemorize,theperformersarenotdistractedbycomplexrhythmstoread.Theylistento


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theothermusicians.Theyfocusonthemutualrelationsandonthemusicalpassagetorealize.ExamplesofcurvedtimeLet’sexamineindetailtwoexamplesfromPolaris(2015)1,forpercussiontrio,thethird

pieceofthecycleSpazioTempo.Example1Onpage13(figure1),thesecondpercussionist,Leaderofthepassage,hasalmostfin-

ishedgeneratingameasuredoscillatorypattern(whilethetwootherpercussionistscon-tinuetoplayapreviousprocess).AtP2,thepatternisfinallygenerated:87,86,87,89,810,89andwillberepeated.Asyoucansee,thepatternconsistsofoscillationsaroundametricof8sixteenthnotes;theeffectisalimpingmetric.Oncereachedthispattern,thesecondpercussionist gives a cue to the first percussionistwho, becoming the Leader,starts togenerateanewmeasuredoscillatorypattern(wecanseethegenerationpro-cess).AtP1,thenewpatterniscompletedandthefirstpercussionistpassestheLeaderbatontothethirdonewho,inturn,startstogenerateanothermeasuredoscillatorypat-terncompletedatP3(page14,figure2).Oncethethreepercussionistshaveallreachedtheiroscillatorypatterns,theysimplyplaythemthroughout,enjoyingthecontinuouslyshiftingmetric.Allthepatternsarecomposedsothatacentralmetricof8isestablishedandcontinuouslyvariedundulating.Theyarealsoveryeasytoread,playandmemorize.Inaddition,patternslast96,88and120sixteenthnotes,sothecompletesuperpositionoftheircycleslastsaverylongtime(5280sixteenthnotesor1320quarternotes).ThepercussionistshavetoplayinPreciseTime[TP],linkedtotheshortestvalue.How-

ever,theycanchoosewhenstartingtoplay[ind.link].Infact,aswealreadystated,it’sabsolutelyirrelevantifonestartstoplaythepatternsomebeatsbeforeorafter.Theresultis a rigorousbut flexible rhythmicnetwork inwhich the listenerperceivesa coherentmetrics(somethingfamiliar)withmeasureddeviations(localsurprises).Writingthisrhythmicnetworkinatraditionalwaywouldhavemeanttoacceptonly

oneparticularcombinationofthethreepatterns.Traditionalnotationwithaglobaltimesignaturewouldhavemadethewritingofthissituationextremelycomplicated.Further-more,itwouldhaverequiredanabsurdeffortbytheperformers.Alastremarkonreactivitybetweenperformers:atthebeginningoftheexample,the

secondpercussionistchangesthegeneralspeed.Eventhoughthefirstandthethirdper-cussionists continue to play their previous process, they must adequate their speed

1 LorenzoPagliei,Polaris,forthreepercussionists(2015)©CasaRicordi.https://www.musicshopeu-

rope.com/product/nr%2014150900/polaris.aspx.


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smoothlytothesecondpercussionist,reactingtothenovelty.Thismakesthetextureor-ganicbecausethemusicalfabricreactstothetemporalperturbation.Example2Onpage9(figure3),thethreepercussionists,withawoodenstick,playafluxoffast

synchronousimpulsesonthemetalcircleofthesnaredrum.Thisproducesaverysharpattackinthehighregister.Eachpercussionistplayssynchronouslywithbothhands,sothetimbredensity is6soundparticles foreverystrike.Atacertainmoment, thethirdpercussionistinsertsanimpurityintotheconstantstream:theleft-handslowsdowngrad-uallyuntilitreachesadifferentpattern(lastpatternofthefirstsystem).Duringthispro-cess,theright-handcontinuestoplayontimewiththeothermusicianswhodon’tchangetheirspeed.Probably,thiswillleadtosomesmallimprecisionsintheattacks;buttheyfitwellinthisgranularcontext.Onthefollowingsystem,theleft-handofthethirdpercus-sionistacceleratesandgraduallycomesbackontime.Fromnowon,thisoscillatingper-turbationcirculatesandproliferatesamongstthepercussionists.Sincethesoundusedisintheregisterofmaximumearsensitivityandhasasharpattack,onecanclearlyheartheimpuritiesintroducedinthemechanicaltexture.Tomakethecurvatureoftimereallyef-fective,atfirst,Ihadtoestablishalong-lastingrhythmicflowofsoundparticles,makingitaperceptivelypersistentelement.Theregularfluxisestablishedabout3’-40”beforethebeginningoftheperturbation.Itisplayedatfirstwiththefingersonthesnaredrummembrane,thenwiththewoodenstickonthemetalcircle.Inthisway,whenthepertur-bationarrives, it isperceivedasagreatnovelty.Musiciansplay linkedtothecommonpulseandarefreetodecidetheexactmomentinwhichtoplaytheprescribedsequence,asinthepreviousexample.Thisdoesn’tmeanthatthemusicisvague,butthepercussion-istshavetowaitforacertaineventorthecompletionofaprocesstomoveforward.Themusiciansexchangemusicalcuestoindicatetheothersthearrivalataparticularpointinthescore.Theydon’tplaytraditionallyontimebutapplyadifferentethictobeontime.Inthismusic,thedurationandthecontinuityoftransformations,aswellastheprecise

momenttostartplaying,isaverydelicatematter.Ifmusiciansperformtheprocessestoofast,tooslowordiscontinuously,thetensionfallsandthemusicbecomesasimplesum-maryofaccelerandoandritardando.WorkingWithTheThicknessOfPresentWhatwecallthePresentisnotapointonalineandisnotabsolute.TheoryofRelativity

states that time iscurvedbymassandthat twoobserversmovingatdifferentrelativespeedsmay disagree on the simultaneity of events.Neuroscience discovered that ourmindneedsofabout300-500millisecondstobuildaunifiedconsciousperceptionfromallthestimulireceived;averylongtime!Thismeansthatourbasicreactionprocessesto


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theexternalworldarepre-consciousandautomatic.WearealwayslateinrelationtotheNowandourconsciouspresentisdelayedcomparedtothereceivedstimuli.Thisdelayisasortofphysiologicalthicknessofthepresent.Thetimearrowpointerin

ourmindisblurred,perturbed,chaotic,itoscillatesandvibratesrandomly.Therefore,theperceptionoftheNow isafuzzyzone.Inthismicro-duration,manythingscanhappen,evenchaotically.Ifwewanttocreateorganicmusic,behavinglikeanaturalphenomenon,we can explore this thickness developing various techniques of synchronization andreactivity.SynchronizationTechniquesThemusicalnotationofpolyrhythmcanbeproblematic.AlthoughthemodernWestern

notationisrhythmicallyprecise,itisnotcompletelysuitabletowritepolyrhythm.Poly-temporalityisevenmoredifficulttonotatebecausethedifferentrhythmsdon’tinterlockpreciselytogether.Therefore,everycomposerhastofindsolutionsfittingher/hispartic-ulartemporalconception.Asolutiontotheseproblemscouldbetofocusmoreontheprocessthanonthenotation

details.Iftheprocessiswellformalized,wecanwriteitdownfindingalternativemethodstotraditionalnotation.Formanychaoticprocesses,flexibilityandnuancearenotaprob-lem,butaresourcetoaccept,exploreanduse.I’mexperimentingwithdifferentdegreesof flexibility,synchronizationand interde-

pendencebetweenperformers.Thereisstillmuchtobeexploredinthisarea.Ifthepiecedoesn’thaveaconductor,inpassageswithflexiblesynchronization,amusi-ciancantaketheroleofLeader.TheLeaderisthereferencepointconcerningthespeed,theglobaldurationofanepisodeorthetriggeringofparticularevents.Here’salistofthedegreesandmethodsofsynchronization(withtheindicationsused

inmyscores):1. Perfectlysynchronized[link]or[sync]:musiciansarepreciselysynchronizedtoa

commonpulseinthetraditionalway.2. Synchronized ahead/behind [ahead] [behind]: themusician plays, respectively,

slightlybeforeorafter the implicitorexplicitpulse.Additional indications, like[ahead+]or[behind+]meanplayingexaggeratedlybeforeorafterthepulse.

3. Independentlinked[ind.link]:themusicianislinkedtothecommonpulsebutcanchoosewhentostartplayingthemusicalpassage.Theactualmomenttoplaycanbefree,indicatedbythecontextorbyaspecificevent.Themusicallowsthisdegreeofflexibility.

4. Dependentlinked[dep.link]:themusicianfollowsthetempo(thespeed)oftheLeaderwith a specifiedmeasured delay. This indication is used bothwhen the


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Leaderperformsaspecificmusicalpassageandwhenhe/shehasinstructionsforimprovisinginamoreorlessflexibleway.

5. Dependent flexible [dep.~]: themusician follows the tempo (the speed) of theLeaderwithaphysiologicalunmeasureddelay.Thissynchronizationdegreeissim-ilartothepreviousone,exceptthatitexploitsthephysiologicaldelaybetweenper-formers.Thephysiologicaldelay,ofcourse,isrelativetothespeedvariationofthepassage.

6. Independentprocedural[ind.->]:themusicianisrhythmicallyindependentoftheothersbutparticipatesintherealizationofthesameprocessfollowingaLeader.

7. Independentunlinked[ind.]or[ind.unlink]:themusicianiscompletelyindepend-entoftheothersregardingspeedandsynchronization.Afterapassageplayedin-dependentlyandunlinked,musiciansre-synchronizebymeansofimplicitorex-plicitmusicalcues.

Sometypesofsynchronizationhaveblurredboundariesandcanalsobeappliedtothe

singlehandsofperformers.ExamplesofsynchronizationtechniquesExample3To illustrate how complicated iswriting different types of synchronization, curved

timesandpoly-temporalityintraditionalnotation,Ishowthesketchesfromoneofmypieces fororchestra, Infinitirelativi2(figure4).Here, theproblemishowtowrite fourindependentlayersofmeasuredcurvedtimesforanorchestra.Thelayersarepreciselysynchronizedwithoutanyflexibility.TheAcclineindicatesthechordnumber(encircled)ofalongchordalprocess.TheTaandTblinesrepresenttherhythmical/metricalstruc-tureoftwotenutochordlayers(themainlayersperceived).ThePaandPblinesrepresenttheduration structureof twosecondary layersof staccato chords. In the line labelledMisure, we can see the struggle in choosing the less invasive time signature changesthroughoutthesection.Ofcourse,Ihadtomediatebetweentheneedsandthereadingcomfortofthetwolayers.However,playingandreadingsuchapassagecanbeuncom-fortableformusiciansbecauseoneofthecurvedmetricsisalternativelyincoherentwiththetimesignature.Example4In chambermusic,we cango further. Figure5 shows an excerpt fromSussurrando

(2018).Here,eachofthesixinstrumentshasadifferenttimesignatureandissynchro-nizedtotheeighthnote.Ifthepassageislong,delaysofoneormoreunitsoftimemay 2 LorenzoPagliei,Infinitirelativi,fororchestra(2013)©CasaRicordi.


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occurandmusiciansfeeluncomfortabletoplayinsuchasituation.Therefore,itwouldbebettertoallowsomeflexibilityinlayersuperposition.Forthisreason,inSpazioTempo,I’vedevelopedmoreflexiblemethodsofsynchronization.Example5Gravity (2019), the secondpiece of SpazioTempo, explores several synchronization

techniques between two percussionists. Each percussionist uses 5membranophones;thus,thesoundworldisuniform.Thepieceisentirelybasedonpatternsvariedthroughinfinitesimaltemporalshifts,i.e.anticipationsordelays,inonehandoroneperformerinrelationtotheother.Thetinytemporalshiftsmustbeperformedgraduallyandgeneratenewpatternsofdifferentmetricsthroughoutthepiece.Figure6and7(page7and8ofthescore),showdifferenttechniquestogeneratenewpatterns,bendtime,synchronizemusiciansandenlargethethicknessofthepresent.Inthebeginning,Percussionist2re-alizesananticipationshiftwiththelefthand,reachingthreedifferentmetrics.Atthesec-ondhalfofthefirstsystem,themusiciancontinuouslyvariesthespeedofrighthandos-cillating.Then,bothhandsvarythespeedoscillatingbutindependently.Thegoalistoletthe rhythmical process generate different patterns andmetrics, repeating them for awhile,thenmoveon.AftertheentranceofPercussionist1,bothmusicianssmoothlysyn-chronizethemselvesonatwonotespattern.Thedensityattainsfoursoundparticlesperpulsation.Fromnowon,twosuccessiveprocessesof“thickeningofthepresent”arecar-riedout.Percussionist2realizesananticipationshiftinrelationtoPercussionist1andthethicknessincreases.WhentheshiftishalfwaybetweenthenotesofPercussionist1(endoffigure6),bothmusiciansstarttoplaytwostrikesateveryattack(beginningoffigure7).Thethicknessincreasesagainandthedensityattainsfourbouncingparticlesperpulsation.Then,Percussionist2continuestheanticipationshift,graduallycomingbackinphasewithPercussionist1atnumber28of thescore.Here,anewthickeningprocessstartsbut,thistime,musiciansshifttheirhandsseparately:thicknessincreasesandsounddensitybecomeseightsoundparticlesperpulsation(onebarbefore30).Onthefollowingpage(notinthefigure),bothpercussionistsgraduallycomebackplayinginphase.Thesepagesshowclearlythegranularconceptionofthemusicalfabricandthefocusonthesim-plesoundmatter.ReactivityReactivityisthetendencytoreacttoastimulus.Thatis,howsomeoneorsomething(a

sound,atexture)reactstoaperturbation.Itindicatesalsothedegreeandthequalityofthereaction.It’sasortofinertia.Reactivitycanbeappliedtoasoundtextureortothebehaviourofamusicianinrelationtoanother.Itisanimportantaspecttoputmusicalelementsinrelationandmakethemusicaltexturebehavelikeanaturalphenomenon.


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ExamplesofreactivityExample6Figure8showsanotherexcerptfromGravity.Here,Percussionist1istheLeaderand

Percussionist2followshim/herwithameasureddelayofone-sixteenthnote.ThepartofPercussionist1isfullofflexibleprocesses:she/hehastochoosehowmanyrepetitionstoplayandisaskedtomakevariousaccelerandoandritardando.Percussionist2musttrytofollowPercussionist1withameasureddelay.Thisisfeasiblebutcannotbesoaccuratebecausethespeedvariesallthetime.Sincethetwopercussionistsarepositionedapartonstage(facingeachother),afurtherphysiologicalmicro-delayaddsup.Percussionist1performsalsosomefortissimosound-marks,helpingPercussion2tofollowthepath,in-terruptingthemusicandaddinganelementofinterest(ruptureofthePrincipleofgoodcontinuation).Example7Infigure9,isshownanotherexampleofphysiologicalreactivity,takenfromGravity.

HeretheLeader,Percussionist2,playsa three-noteostinatoandhassomefreedomindecidingtheamountofrhythmicalshift.Percussionist1musttrytobeassynchronousaspossiblebut,ofcourse,it’simpossible;therealwayswillbemicro-delaysandde-phasing.TheuseofanostinatoallowsPercussionist1topredictthegestureoftheLeaderandeas-ilyfollowhim/her.Atvariouspoints,thescorepreciselydefinesthemetricsoftheosti-nato.However,theachievementofthesepointswillalwaysbeblurred,becausethetrans-formationsaresmoothandthegesturesimilar.So,thedifferentmetricsemergegradually,andtheglobalphrasingisloose.TheFunctionOfTheMusicianWesternmusichasbeenpreservedoverthecenturieslargelythankstonotationand

sometheoreticaltreatises.But,aswehavealreadysaid,thenotationcannotwriteevery-thing, especially the interpretativeand improvisationalpractices thathave cometousthroughindirecttestimoniesandoraltradition.Tounderstandtheproblem,imaginehav-ingtotransmitjazzmusicwithnotationalone.Impossible!Sincethelastcentury,audio-video recordingand temporalproximityhavehelpedus to communicateand transmitpracticesthatcannotbewritten.Thishaschangedourrelationshipwithtraditions,musi-calgenresandnon-standardpractices.Today,wecandevelopamusicalpracticeinwhichimprovisationandwritingfinallyintegrate.Audio-videorecordingcanhelpusinthispro-cess.Ofcourse,theroleofthemusicianmustchange,andtheworkingmethodshouldbe


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similartothatofadancecompanyorarockband.Performersmustbeawareofthepro-cess theyarecarryingout.Luckily, thisworkingpractice isspreadingmoreandmore,evenintheworldofwrittenmusictoo.However,it’salmostimpossibletorealisewithanorchestra.Duringmy researchesat Ircam, I conceived a familyof electroacoustic instruments

calledtheGeecos(GestureControlSurfaces)3.ThehardwareoftheGeecosisconstitutedbyawoodensurfacedesignedbyaluthierwithspecificdimensions,shapeandergonom-ics.Underthesurfaceisfixedacontactmicrophone.ThesoundofhandgesturesonthewoodensurfaceoftheGeecosisfinelyanalyzed;theresultisusedtomodulatetheparam-etersofsoundsynthesisinreal-time.Theparticulartechniqueofsoundproduction(modalsynthesis)isbasedonthesimu-

lationofrealobjects(strings,plates,membranes,tubes,etc.),thusthesoundoftheGeecosdoesnotseemelectronicbutacoustic.Theanalysisallowstorecognizecertaingesturesandtocontinuouslyvarytheintonation,thematerial,theglobalresonanceandthefeed-backwiththehall.AstheGeecosarebrandnewinstruments,theinstrumentalpracticewasdevelopedduringtheresearchinthestudioandtheworkingsessionswithmusicians.Themostinterestingresultscamefromtheexplorationofthesynthesisartefacts.Ispenthoursimprovisingaloneorwithinstrumentalists,obtaininginterestingsituationsthatIdidn’tknowhowtowriteinthescore.Therefore,Ihadtoimagineaworkingmethodbasedonimprovisationthat,ontheone

hand,wouldallow theperformer toexplore the soundpossibilitiesand,on theother,wouldproducethemusicIhadinmind.Eventually,Idevelopedasystemofnotation,bothrigorousandflexible.Inpractice,theperformerutilizeswell-definedgesturesanddecidesthesurfacedetail,certainquantitiesandthedurationoflow-levelelements.Essentially,theperformersplaythemusicIwantwithasurfacedecidedbythem:thegesturesarefixedandthescoreisfullofcuesandpreciseappointments.DuringtherehearsalsofVoir-Toucher(2013)4,for3GeecosandKinect,Ihadthepleasuretoobserveadifferentbehav-iourbythemusicians.Theygavediscreetcues,showedunderstandingandcomplicity,correctedeachother,becameresponsibleforthepieceinanotherway.Theywereintothemusiclikeajazzmusicianorarockband.Theydidn’tlookanxiouslyatthescorebutplayedwithafreshattitude;Ijusthadtofollowandcorrectthem.Weworkedlikearockbandmakingeveryoneresponsibleforthesoundproductionandsatisfiedintherealiza-tionofthepiece.Actually,I’mcomposingacycleofpiecesfortwoormorepianosdevotedtobirdsong

entitledLaSelva(2018).Variouscomposershaveusedbirdsongintheirmusic.They,gen-erally,recreated it inameasuredway, forcing it intoprecisedurationsandaskingthemusiciantointerpretitwithsomeflexibility.Birdvocalizationisincrediblyrichmaterial,

3 Geecos(GestureControlSurfaces):https://youtu.be/6Si2Y9Sm4AE.4 Voir-Toucher(2013),forthreeGeecos,Kinectandelectronics:https://youtu.be/xcHppDtL3g4.


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fulloffuzzypatternsandamazingimprovisation.InLaSelva,I’veconceivedvariousmu-sicalsituationsinwhichtheperformerscanchoosewhentosing(followingsomerules),justlikeabirddoes.Thecycleallowsvariousarrangementsandordersofperformance.Inoneofthepieces,Canto1,Pianist2playsarigoroustexturemadeupofthreeindepend-entlayers.Thefirstcontainscyclicharmonicblocksreturningatregulardurations;thesecondsomedistantbirdcalls;thethirdacurved,delicateharmonicprocess.Thispoly-temporaltexturerepresentsadelicatebackgroundsoundscape.Theotherpianisthasaseparatescoremadeupof10“Figuresforimprovisation”takenfromanactualblackbirdsong(Figure10).TheFiguresareconstitutedof“Gestures”toplayinafixedorderandinstructionsforvariationsandcancellations.ThepianistisfreetodecidewhichFiguretoplayandhowlongarethesilencesbetweenFigures.Variousmusicalparametersmustbechosenwithinaspecifiedrange.Pianist2playshisbackgroundsoundscapefrombegin-ningtoendregardlessofPianist1.ThelatterstartstoplaytheimprovisedFiguresafterabout1’-50”fromthebeginning.Pianist1,then,behavesjustlikeabirdsingingintothewild.ThepieceendswhenPianist2finishedplayinghis/herpart.InPolaris,rightafterthepassagewithlimpingrhythmswealreadyshowed(Figures1

and2),beginsa long section inwhich themusiciansperformcyclesof “nested rallen-tando”(Figure11).TheLeader(firstpercussionist)slowsdowngraduallyandalmostimperceptibly.The

thirdpercussionistfollowsthetempoaspreciselyaspossible(withsomeblurring),whilethesecondpercussionistcontinuesplayingatempo.Atacertainpoint,theLeaderissoslowtohaveenoughroomtoplaythepatternattwicethespeed.Afterthisspeeddou-bling,therallentandocontinues.Then,thethirdpercussioniststartstoplayattwicethespeedtoo.Bothmusicians,continuingtoslowdown,finallyreachthespeedofthesecondpercussionistandthetexturecomebacktoauniquesynchronicpulsation.Thishasagreateffectbecausethethreepercussionistshavenotplayedacompletelysynchronouspatternforseveralminutes.ThesecondpercussionistbecomestheLeader,andasimilarrallen-tandoprocessstartsagainleadingtoanotherspeeddoubling.Thiskindofsituationscanbewritteninascoreonlydescribingindetailthevarious

stagesoftheprocess,andtheycanbeachievedbyrelyingontheperformers’musicalityandintelligence.What’sNextInthefirstpartofSpazioTempo,Iworkedwithsimplemeans,materialsandprocesses

toestablishthebasisofnewtemporalwriting(formeatleast)andgodeeperintotheideaspromptingme.Iwillcontinuefocusingonever-largeranddifferentiatedensemblestoverifytheeffectivenessofthetechniquesdevelopedsofarandexplorenewpossibilities


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on different scales. The main themes of investigation are the control of large soundmasses,poly-temporality,multi-dimensionaltimeandformaldramaturgy.DevelopingthepolyphonyoftimesInthelastcentury,poly-temporalityhastakenthefirststeps.Thechallenge,now,isto

createapolyphonyoftimesaseffectiveasthecounterpoint.Incounterpoint,eachvoiceisautonomousandhasanindividualmeaning;atthesametime,itcontributestocreatingaglobaltexturethatisharmonicallycompleteandmeaningfulonanotherlevel.Now,wehavetointegrateturbulenceandchaosintopoly-temporality,createeffectiverelationsbetweentimes,exploretheirmutualreactivity,acceptandutilisetheirintrinsicfrictions.Wealsoneedtofindmethodstohandlelargemassesofsound,assimilatingchaoticele-mentsandinstabilities.Multi-dimensionaltimeandformThecentralresearch,however,remainsthefeelingoftime,particularlywhatIcallthe

multi-dimensionaltimeandtheform.Thetwoconceptsarerelated.Letmeexplain:musi-calformshaveguaranteedaframeworkthathasorientedcomposersaswellaslisteners.Today,composerscanrefertopre-constitutedformsorinventnewones.Toinventnewforms,composersarenevercompletelyalone:theyalwaysrefertosomething(waysofforming, typologies of processes, musical habits, tastes, etc.). Probably, the most im-portantfactorisconsideringtimeasamentalexperienceandamulti-dimensionalphe-nomenon.Wealreadytalkedaboutthephysiologicalthicknessofthepresentbutthepre-senthasalsoaparticularfeeling.Whilewehearapiece,weexperiencethefeelingoftheNow.Thisfeelingisconditionedbythequalityofwhatwehear,bywhatwejustheardandcreatesanexpectationoftheimmediatefuture.So,wecantellthattheNowhasadensityandasignificance.Astimegoesby,ourmemoryactivatesandstarttocreatecross-refer-ences. If thecontentof thepresent isvery intenseorsuddenlydifferent(itsdensity ishigh),weforgotthepastandthefuturebecausewearedistractedbythefebrileactivityofthecurrentsituation.Thereisa“sound-emergency”and,asinreallife,ourattentionfocusescompletelyonwhatishappeningnow.Instead,iftheNowhasalowdensity,thefeeling of the present starts to be coloured bymemories and expectations. On largerscales,thesedynamicsleadtoadramaturgyoftheformthatthecomposerhastodirect.Inthisregard,thepositionoftheArgentineplaywrightRafaelSpregelburdisveryinter-esting.Hisfundamentalideaistoaccepttheintrinsicchaosoftheworld,integratingitinthedramaturgicalwritingandgoingbeyondthetraditional finalismofWestern forms.


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Therealityisnotfinalistic.Sometimes,linesofcoherencearisebecomingemergentprop-ertiesthatareeasytofollow.Buttheselinesareintricateandintertwineinalabyrinth.Thus,therealityhasnounivocalmeaning;itisaninterweavingofmanymeaningswhoseglobalsignificationwecannotcatch.ThispositionisnotfarfromtheliterarylabyrinthsofJoyceandthemusicofCageandBerio.Aswehaveseen,physicssuggeststhattimedoesn’t“exist”(stillthewell-knownques-

tionofexistenceonwhichWesternphilosophyhasalwaysdebated).Despitethis,musi-ciansturntohumankindand,sincetheperceptionoftimeisaninalienablehumanexpe-rience,theyhavetoprovideandexpressaconceptionoftime.Music,musicalandnon-placeApartfromthevarioushistoricalthreads,constitutedbymusicalgenres,conventions

andstylisticfeatures,ineveryepoch,musiciansmodifyandreinventwhatisconsideredmusic.Forexample, in the20thCentury,noise,atonalharmony,electronicsoundsandchaoticprocesseshavebeenintegratedintothemusic.Asalistener,I’mnotinterestedintheparticulargenreofmusicbuttofeelmyselfinasituationthatIperceiveasmusical.Definingwhatismusical isdifficult,andnodoubtit’sarelativeandsubjectiveconcept,butItry.Themusicalmeanstomakethetimespecial,totransformtheflowoftime,bring-ingittoanotherdimension,anotherplace,anon-placewherethecontoursoftimeandspaceare lost.Whenweare inamusicalsituationweforgot theboundaries.Wedon’tevenwonderifweareinatheatre,listeningtoaLied,walkinginaforest,seeingafilmorachoreography.Wefindourselvesinadifferentplace,anon-placeofperceptioninwhichtheHereandNowaretranscended. In thisspace,genresandtechniquedisappearandeverythingseemsauthenticandaligned.Wearesocaughtupinthefeelingofthepresentthatwerealizewewentthroughadurationonlyattheendofapiece.Inotherwords,inthenon-place,weforgetspace-timeandevenwhoweare.Inmyopinion,themainoccupationofamusicianshouldbetoreinventconstantlywhat

ismusicandwhatismusical.Musiciansshouldunveilnewplacesandmethods,andwhattheydiscovermustbeself-evidentandself-explanatory.Itmuststandbyitselfwithoutsafetynetandintroductions.Thisisarealchallenge.Musiciansshouldnotbecompletelysatisfiedwiththemusicalgenretheybelongtobuttestit,carryitforwardandbetrayit(intheLatinsenseoftheterm).InLatin,thewords“tradition”and“betray”comefromthe common root tradere, whichmeans “to give through”, to deliver. You can deliversomeonetotheenemy(betrayal)ordeliversomethingtothefuture(tradition).Ofcourse,thosewhocarryonatradition(apractice,astory,amyth)modifyitaccordingtotheirsensitivity.Thus,everytraditioninvolvesbetrayal,withoutwhichtheobjectoftraditioncannotbecarriedforward.


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DeepeningLet’sthinkabouttheoriginsofelectronicmusicinafewspecializedstudiosandwhat

wecandoathometodaywithapersonalcomputer.Newinstrumentsandformshavearisen, and so many people can express themselves. The perspective has radicallychanged,andthat’sgood.Nevertheless,thewidespreadavailabilityofmeanshasledtotwoconsequences:acertainbanalizationofcontentsandtheconsumptionofgoodideasinashorttime.Asaresult,theartist’sattentiontodayeasilyfadesoutandquicklyshiftstosomethingelse.Also,thecontinuousexperimentationonnewmaterialsandtechnologiessometimesseemstopre-ventthedeepeningofartisticideas.Butmaterialsortechnologiesarereallynewonlyiftheyallowanewwayofthinkingandmakingmusic.So,weurgentlyneedtodeepenourresearchwithouttheblinkersofthetechnologicalthrill.Thisfebrileapproachtoartisticproductionisasignofourtimesandperhapswillproducenewbeautyinthefuture.Musiciansmustcontinuetocreateephemeralairsculpturespropagatinginspaceatthe

speedofsoundtobeperceivedbyhumanbeings.Whenthesesculpturesloseenergy,airmolecules comeback to their chaotic low-energymovement, carrying no information.Thisminimalswarmingsoundcurtainunderthethresholdofourperception is theSi-lence: the real “soundpotential” fromwhich everything starts. This is our fragile andephemeralmaterialhelduponlybythewilltotransmititovertimetohumankindand,eventually,theuniverse.

BIBLIOGRAPHYGrisey,G.(1987).“TempusexMachina:Acomposer’sreflectionsonmusicaltime”,Con-temporarymusicreview,2,239-275.

Libet,B.(2004).MindTime.TheTemporalFactorinConsciousness.Cambridge,MA:Har-vardUniversityPress.

Stockhausen,K.(1999).“InterviewwithIaraLeeforModulations.IntroductionbyJamesWesleyJohnson”.http://www.furious.com/perfect/stockhauseninterview.html

Xenakis,I.(1971).Formalizedmusic.Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress.


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