USAR02: Music and Technology

The Development Of The Musical Language In Twentieth Century

Huang Yuan Qin, USAR02 ["Music And Technology"], University Scholars Programme, National University Of Singapore.

Music and language are closely associated with one another. Both came about with the need to communication. Whereas language comprises of words and verbal communication, music is the language of the heart. The musical language here is defined in its metaphorical sense, as a means of expression through different forms of sounds, rather than the structural relationship between music and language on technical terms. Music is seen as the metaphorical representation of sound instead of the technical segment of the language such as musical notations and scores. Music as the language to communicate new ideas is evident especially in the twentieth century. The Romanist movement in the late nineteenth century had paved the way for twentieth century music which extended the style of the Romantic period in the early decades. After which composers began to experiment with new elements to evoke different musical thoughts and to intensify emotions. This is the origin of experimental music, which also referred to the "new music". Science and technology began to exert their influence in various spheres of lives in the twentieth century. The dominance of technology had increased the pace of lives, as compared to the past. Our music reflected the change in values and the increasingly hectic lifestyles of the modern culture in the twentieth century. In the electronic age today, the music language can still be perceived as the gateway for human expression.

In the twentieth century, the alternative form of the musical language without a tonal structure, called the atonal music began to take shape when the expression of music progressed toward atonality and passive dissonance (Simms, 2) in the post-war era. Music was reinterpreted when composers began to experiment boldly with new elements made available by science and technology. They sought to break free from the traditional frame of music, liberating their music from existing restraints. Composers, such as Arnold Schoenberg, introduced atonality around the second decade of the twentieth century. Atonality refers to "the absence of a tonal center as the basis for the whole or part of a piece of music" (Hust). Atonal music does not exhibit a clear twelve-tone pitch structure in the music, which was the basis of music before the twentieth century. The atonal revolution came about in early twentieth century with the intention of making music a universal form of art without a defined structure, rather than one that was regional and limited. Atonal music was created intentionally to eradicate a tonal control over music. These expressions of music gave way to the restriction of the musical form before 1920s and allowed the composers like Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern to express freely without limiting their music to the rigid tonal structure of music.

Between 1950 and mid-1970s, as science and technology began to dominate in many areas of our lives, it too exerted its influence in the creation of a new style of music. This new style of music emphasized on a large extent of control, which reflected the change in the society in the twentieth century as man began to make extensive use of science and technology to perform our daily activities. The reestablishment of control revealed the new perception of music which tended towards conformity again. The traditional composition of music was automated by the application of technical systems which exhibited a level of control in music. One important application was total serialism which employed complicated precompositional arrangements using preplanned technical systems. Electronic media had made possible the control of the music elements. Through the use of such automated and technical processes in the creation of music, "depersonalization"(Simms, 144) penetrated music. The depersonalization was evident in composers like John Cage who proposed music as an abstract art with no concrete content and presented to the listeners an experience with sounds and silences, rather than communication of musical thoughts and feelings between him and the listeners. The expression of emotions was suppressed in this new experimental music, which signified the society after 1950s where emotions had been exhausted because of war.

As a result of such new style of music, musical instruments underwent evolution and in the twentieth century, electronic instruments were widely used for composing music. Musical instruments are the indispensable tools which enable music to be communicated. The concept of depersonalization in music made possible for electronic musical tools become socially acceptable. These electronic tools such as the tape recorder emphasized on the techniques of production rather than the expression of emotions. The definition of music became diversified and music took new forms in the twentieth century. The century was notable for its great variety of instruments and their treatment due to the impact of technological developments. Some earliest electronic musical instruments that made use of electronic means to generate frequencies in the production of sound were perhaps the Theremin and ondes Martenot invented in 1920s. Leon Theremin's instrument made use of the seemingly inaccessible technology during that time and his experiments provided a sound foundation for subsequent development in electronic musical instruments which are widely used today. Maurice Martenot's ondes Martenot had a keyboard and a small control panel which produces a smooth sound. These were electronic instruments that were monophonic. The polyphonic instruments which were capable of playing more than one note at a time, such as the Thaddeus Cahill's 1906 invention, the Telharmonium was controlled using a keyboard and was played by the telephone to the listeners. Though this invention failed due to interference with the normal telephone lines, it was one major effort that laid the groundwork for electronic music synthesizers. Such electronic musical instruments were constantly being experimented to supply timbres that traditional instruments could not supply.

There was also re-creation of traditional instruments to improve the performance of these existing instruments. Electronic equipment was used to generate and modify sound produced by traditional instruments. Aerophones, chordophones, idiophones and were some of the traditional classification of musical instruments. Electrical amplification was applied in these traditional tools of musical language in the twentieth century. Microphones, used for picking up sounds, amplifiers and built-in-loudspeakers were added to the instruments to enhance the quality of sound. They were used to amplify the sound of musical instruments, altering the nature of the sound and making it more audible to the listeners during a performance. Electric guitars and basses were examples of musical instruments that produced audible sound based on amplification, unlike the old instruments which produced sounds based on the type of materials used. The electronic organ was one popular example of an electrical instrument since it was first introduced in 1930s. It was capable of producing different types of sound which boosted the performance of music by adding variety through the use of a single instrument. The synthesizer, a vital electronic instrument in today's music scene, was a machine which generates any form of sounds for which it has been prepared. The tape recorder which could make better instrumental performance, together with the above enhancements for musical instruments, stimulated the modern composers to create an alterative form of music which is the electronic music.

These technological developments in musical instruments especially the tape recorder paved the way for the establishment of modern electronic music. The continual search for new technological instruments and new means of expression brought about electronic music, which was a significant aspect of twentieth century music. Electronic music, as defined in Jon H. Appleton and Ronald C. Perera's The Development and Practice of Electronic Music", is a "generic term describing music that uses electronically generated sound or sound modified by electronic means"(2). By 1950s, music was mainly used as a language to transmit innovative ideas through various experiments with technology. The tape recorder was one key invention that provided a new musical experience for composers to further experiment and produced electronic music. Without the tape recorder, electronic music would not have existed. By itself, the tape recorder could serve as a medium in electronic music performances, eliminating the need for instruments and musicians to play "live" on stage. However, in such scenarios, tape music would be conceived as an electonic media by itself rather than as an enhancement. Instead, electronic music studios were established for the production of tape music. Tape music quickly gained recognition and took root in the musical scene in the twentieth century.

Twentieth-century innovations such as musique concrète further developed electronic music. Two French composers, Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry in 1948, introduced this important concept. Various natural sounds, made by man and its environment, were assembled and recorded on tapes to produce a combination of sounds. The sounds might be modified in the composition of music using tape recorder. The various sounds were combined into an artistic compostion subjected to the creativity of the composers. Musique concrete exhibited a alternative use of electronic resources like tape recorder to increase the composers sound resources, extending creativity to a new level. Musique concrète indirectly led to modern genres of music which have become the mainstream music today. Electronic music emphasizes on the techniques and styles in the production, rather than the process of personalizing the music. These new genres of music made use of the techniques that were available from the musique concrete concept where composers experiment with various instruments and produced their unique genre of music. Some examples of these music include disco, funk, electronic dance music and electro. They display an extravagant use of electronic instruments such as the electric guitar that produces sound based on amplification, and the synthesizers for rhythmic electro beats like swing and jungle.

The use of digital computers is perhaps the most important stage of development in the electronic music. Computer music has gradually replaced the term "electronic music" as the musical language today. The use of electronic techniques in the creation of computer music allows greater level of control. There are five basic applications of computers: data processing, processing musical notation, musicological research, musical composition and sound synthesis. In an electronic studio, computer can be used as a digital control device over sounds or it can be use to generate sounds on its own. Technological developments make better the computers' functions. The computer systems were upgraded at intervals to increase the speed of processing information which greatly aids in the calculation of time for musical composition. This enables modern musicians to better control their works with the development of the hardware. Music composition is revolutionalised when the computer becomes an instrument to compose instead of mainly a sound-generating device for performing music. These computer music languages enable the musician to manipulate his music. As sound is represented as musical notations in scores, sound is represented as data in computer systems. The ideas can be expressed in symbolic and numeric representations in computers which facilitates the composer's flow of thoughts. They are entered into the computer and the organization of the data can be automated and programmed in the way the composer might have wanted the ideas to turn out. However this reflects a problem as the programme is subjected to the bias of the software engineer in his perception of music. In setting the parameters in the programme, the engineer is the one who determines the output, and controls how the music can be conceptualized. the structure of the computer programme might affect the way composers create music who conform their musical work within the limitation of the musical structure in the programme. However when put to appropriate use, computer programming can be a powerful tool to stretch one's imagination in various directions. The limitations of a programme can be change to incorporate new concepts where the flexibility of the computer will allow the creative mind to explore new directions provided that the composer is equipped with available resources.

The aesthetic feature of computer music varies from the usual concept in traditional composition of music. The musical experience is explained in a different way from it used to be. Traditional music focuses on the styles of the composers and the techniques of the performer. In computer music, composers focus on computer techniques in their approach. The powerful tools and computer programmes offer composers greater freedom in experimenting music. The aestheticism lies in the freedom of expression and exploration of new horizons in the creation of music. With technology easily accessible in the twentieth century, the listeners had the ability to experience music at a better quality which enables the listeners to relate better to the present musical experience. In the listener's perception, aesthetics of a piece of music is dependent on the listener's association with past experience or their imagination. Computer music enhances musical experience through creating a more communicational and convenient environment. The aesthetic feature of computer music could well lie in the control of the sound quality of the computer music. Tape recorder, synthesizers, computer programmes can tailor to the needs of the music that a composer seeks to create. Computer is probably the first instrument to allow subtle control of the timbre of their instruments which encourage the composer's expression of ideas. The control of pitch and amplitude variations also enables the composers to better express their music in being able to experiment boldly. In computer music, the composers can make use of the flexibility of the computer to combine or vary between different sounds, adding variety to the music. Sound production of computers helps to provide an aesthetic component in computer music.

As composers are free to advance their programmes to aid in their composition, they can express their aesthetic intentions for a piece of music by minimizing the level of limitations. Computers offer abstract levels of composition which could be made use by the composers freely. It is only dependent on the composers' ability to approach the system in his creation of a musical work. They need not compromise their original aesthetic intentions due to limitations made by earlier musical languages.

The intimate interaction between the composer and the computer resulted in new means of musical expression. This changes the perception of music. Firstly, the role of the performers is reinterpretated. Computer technology has enabled music to be widespread via the Internet, computer music is digitalized and can be transmitted at one's convenience. Music is no longer restricted to stage performances and took on a new form rather than simply appreciation of the musical style. Techniques in computer composition brought a new wave in the music culture where the listeners start to take a technical approach towards computer music. The performer is no longer the essential for the performance of music. However, without the development of computers, would one consider the performers' place in modern music then? Undeniably, the performer's role in the presentation of music has been reduced to a less significant role with the computers as effective sound-generating device. There had been discussions that live performances still score as compared to computer music, because the latter lacked the humanism element. However, without computer music, the listeners would probably not consider the place of performers in music in providing the humanism element.

Composers took on a new role, becoming performers themselves. An electronic composer deals solely with the computer to transform their musical ideas into a piece of musical work. The computer becomes the composer's assistant to perform the music. Traditional composers deal with the details of his composition such as the notes and the nuance of his music. The performer is the one to perform the music at his discretion and interpretation of the composition. With the computer technology available, the composer has to program the music and interpret the music at his own judgment, to edit or perform the music with the instrument. Computers become an extension of the composer's musical ideas, similar to the traditional instruments where the instruments took on the personality of the performer. Composers manipulate computer programmes to organize his music just as traditional performer can manipulate the instruments to suit his needs and his style of performing.

The computer technology serves as an aid to compliment the composition of music. Computers are basically data processors that accept data, process it and interpret the results for the composers. This depends on the programme that is customized to produce the kind of results that the composer might have wanted. Musical ideas are input into the computer and composers are allowed to sharpen their musical thoughts as the progress in the composition at each stage of working with the computer. Digital programming is versatile and composers can manipulate them to suit his composition.

However, with the use of computer in musical composition, the composer cannot stay as merely one who creates the music, but rather one who controls the computer system. The composer would be rendered helpless, if he attempts to make certain changes to his music, but could not if he did not have the slightest idea of how to operate the computer systems to enhance his music. He would then have to conform to the programme that was made available to him by the audio engineers and restricted his creativity in music. If the composer only knows music but has no idea about waveforms, amplifying devices and other components designed to process data, he would be overly dependent on the audio engineer who does not have a knowledge of music. Complex compositional programmes are difficult to operate and often a time the user might not be able to get the relevant assistance required. This hinders the composition of music and the flow of musical thoughts is disrupted. The composer has to make sure that he is in control of the digital system so as to ensure a smooth compositional procedure and to create at his liberty.

The introduction of computers in musical compositions brought about certain ethical and aesthetical problems. Computers make use of data instead of musical notes to present a piece of composition. The nature of the compositional process has changed. Ethically this disturbs traditional musical concept in composition and is regarded as "immoral" (Lincoln, 37). Traditional composers might be fearful of being unable to adapt to the change in the traditional way of composing, possibly losing valuable musical ideas from these group of composers. Traditionalism seems to be of a less respectable level as electronic composition prevails. The composers are assessed according to the techniques and style of music rather than the knowledge and interpretation of music. Employing the latest technology inventions to create music promotes elitism which relegate the position of traditional composers who might have the musical talent but not the necessary technical knowledge in the twentieth century music scene. Modern composers have to be aware that though the computer is a capable assistant, it is only an instrument and not the composers. The music composed, should still has a certain extent of personalization rather than total depersonalization.

The aesthetic problem lies in the lack of reinterpretation of music which used to allow different aesthetic views about the music to be expressed. Traditional musical performances enable the performers to interpret the original music, in different ways from the composer as well as other performers on the same piece of music. The use of technological innovations like computers and tape recorders produces exact mechanical duplication of the same piece of music and do not freely allow other reinterpretation. Different interpreters using the exact instruments might interpret the same musical composition differently, extending their personality into the music. Such expression of different aesthetic views is being restricted with the use of technology. The composer has to be in full control and responsibility in his interpretation of music. Whereas traditional composition includes a great deal of chance and error, computer music has become "aesthetically neutral" because individual's ability in aesthetic judgment has ceased to be important. The composer can create music as long as he can define the digital processes and input the instructions accurately into the computer programme.

Norman H. Crowhurst concluded in Electronic Musical Instruments that music has always been the meeting place between art and science. The rapid development of science and technology especially in the twentieth century has brought about musical evolution, revolutionising the concept of music as a language. The musical language has developed into a new arena with the availability of technology which allows composers to continually experiment with new music. The use of digital computers in the composition of music has redefined the relationship between the composer, the author of the musical language, and the musical instruments, the language tool. The development of the tape recorder, electronic synthesizer and computer technology were stages in electronic music where an entirely new concept of music was offered to composers. Alternative forms of music, such as the atonal music, electronic music and computer music brought a new wave in the musical scene today. Technical inventions have provided the technique and style that in particular motivated the composition of electronic music that is widely accepted today. The composers are challenged to explore new ideas to make effective use of the technology that is available. Composers today have to be multi-tasked, not only to be able to create music, but to be able to create using computers. This will allow a wider distribution of their music to gain more recognition rather than conforming to the traditional way of composition which is gradually being abandoned. Questions about ethics and aesthetics of computer music and its composition have been raised, perhaps that depends on the concept of music that the modern composers and listeners have. The composers should make the conscious effort to adjust themselves so as not to conform to yet another definition of music. New innovations should always prevail in the musical scene, opening doors to creativity. We should allow music to be experimented by all who seeks; after all, music is one language that is versatile to all.

References

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