Sonic Scope
Call & Response — Issue Six
Paysage
In response to Emma Margetson & Andrew Knight-Hill
by Jorge Ramos
Published on Aug 11, 2024 DOI 10.21428/66f840a4.d57419
Technology and Composition: An autoethnography on the influence of electronics on orchestration practice
2019~2024 — Doctor of Music — Composition @ Royal College of Music London, England
Supervisors: Alison Kay, Diana Salazar, Gilbert Nouno, and Rubens Askenar.
This research explores novel methods of orchestration, focusing on the influence of electronics on my own orchestration practice. By drawing upon electronic music composition techniques and timbral-shaping tools, this project addresses the boundaries of orchestration and examines processes that inform orchestration decisions. Through the resulting portfolio, I explore timbral blend, spatialization and acoustics, real-time orchestration, computer-aided/assisted orchestration, and the extension of the timbral palette by rethinking the ideals of spectral composition. These methods aim to create unique sound worlds and audience experiences while situating my distinctive approach in relation to other existing practices. Furthermore, a supporting commentary illuminates the deep pre-compositional research that informs my orchestration practice by identifying the techniques and evaluating their application.
To explore such concepts, it is vital to conduct practice-led autoethnographic research. This allows for full, creative exploration and application of site-specific and acoustic/electronic tools. Through recognizing the impact of electronics on my approach to orchestration, I have made exciting discoveries in this field by integrating electronic and non-electronic systems, forming what I regard as my orchestration discourse.
The radical overhaul of my orchestration approach has served to highlight just how much more work there is to be made in the realm of human-machine creative collaboration and that sound has many more lessons to teach me. This research marks a ‘checkpoint’ of life-long research as contemporary arts and science work hand in hand. We cannot disregard the fact that the gap between the world of instrumental music and electronic music is still too unexplored in the timbral-based orchestration domain.
Portfolio: Moving Sources; Flux; Point of Departure; Impasto; Plug-in; Braga Capital Europeia da Cultura 2027; Paysage; BLUR; BLUR 2.0; Cache; Layers; Prelude; Suivi; Keep up! and Nuances.
Technology and Timbre: An autoethnography on the influence of electronics on the composer’s orchestration practice
2021 — The ACTOR Project: Orchestration practice in the 21st century: New methods and tools for analyzing, creating, and teaching
Supervisors: Alison Kay, Diana Salazar, and Gilbert Nouno.
Portfolio: Moving Source
A ELECTRÓNICA COMO ELEMENTO COMUM EM OBRAS PARA FORMAÇÕES DIVERSIFICADAS: A SUA VERSATILIDADE, ESTRATÉGIAS COMPOSICIONAIS E SOLUÇÕES PERFORMATIVAS
2016~2018 — Master in Music — Composition @ Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Portugal
Supervisor: Carlos Caires
The search for new ideas and materials has always had an important role in the composer’s way of thinking, and since the beginning of the history of music, one can verify this influence with the constant evolution of musical writing, from notation to the composition and orchestration techniques. As for the influence of technology and technological knowledge of sound, this allowed the composer both to enter the physics of a sound and directly manipulate its characteristics providing an entirely new resource for musical composition as disposing of it as if it were a mere musical instrument or even an unnatural extension of another acoustic instrument. The research carried out over a period of two academic years culminated in a portfolio consisting of five works, ranging from purely instrumental works influenced by technology, and works using technology as a tool, or even purely electronic, in different formats. Justifying the chosen methodology, the act of composing by the composer is also in itself a form of investigation. The conclusions presented here result from the practical analysis of the entire compositional process and performance of the works that are part of this portfolio.
Portfolio: What’s the sound of a feeling?; Falling in Love Again; Grains; Lesson of the future and Song of Happiness #.
DE QUE MANEIRA O CONHECIMENTO TECNOLÓGICO DO SOM ALTERA A NOSSA PERCEÇÃO COMPOSICIONAL PARA O INSTRUMENTO ACÚSTICO?
2017 — Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Portugal
Supervisor: Francisco Cardoso
The search for new ideas and materials has always been special for composers and since the beginning of the history of music we can verify the evolution of musical writing, such as composition and orchestration techniques. As for the influence of technology, this allowed the composer to enter the physics of a sound and directly manipulate its characteristics providing an entirely new resource for musical composition. The researcher tested a theory based on written structured interviews and their content analysis. Composers and performers with professional experience were selected. It is urgent to update the curricula of specialized artistic teaching in the area of musical composition as the creation of a treaty of instrumentation and orchestration appropriate to the present day.