Alan Stones-Electroacoustic Analysis: Part 2 Tape Solo

Mention should be made here of the importance of aural analysis in approaching this section of the piece. As there is no instrumental contribution to this part of the piece analysis obviously has to rely upon the aural, supported by the sonogram. As has been shown, the sonogram does reveal some very important aspects of the sections of the piece, particularly in revealing its unchanging harmonic background and how this is constituted. However in two important aspects, both related to pitch identification, the sonogram is less helpful than might be imagined, and the primacy of the aural experience is reinforced. The first of these concerns the low pedal E which is clearly and loudly present through the whole of this solo. According to the volume level shown on the sonogram, this pitch (41.2 Hz) should be barely audible. As previously noted however, the lower pitches on tape constitute the lower harmonics of this fundamental pitch and despite its actual low volume, the ear (or in fact the brain) ‘hears’ or constructs, a loud fundamental pitch from the energies of the related harmonics. Secondly, the melodic material previously identified within this acousmatic solo is not easily identified within the sonogram. This is in part due to the lack of large differences in dynamic levels between the pitch bands, the absence of strong attack points to mark the start of the identified pitches and the presence of varied octave‘ doublings’ of the identified pitches (which act like second harmonics, colouring the sound). The melodic material identified emerges out of the harmonic background and having once heard the descending a,g,d# at the opening of the solo the ear is predisposed to recognise this phrase and draw it out from the background harmony. Both of these examples show the ‘creative’, complex role listening takes, the need to interpret the images the sonogram produces and to trust what it is that we hear

(1) The orchestral score marks the end of the piece at 13’ 23” although both recordings of the work used stop short of this point, the first stopping at 13’ 06” (Saraste 1988), the second (Salonen 1984) continuing until 13’ 20” which corresponds to the duration of the copy of the tape part obtained from the publishers. Given the flexible nature of the timing of the ending of the piece, the very long fade out and the ritenuto within the orchestra, these timing differences are not unexpected.

Part II
	The Analysis

		2. Tape Solo The second half of Verblendungen is dominated by a forty-nine second section for tape only, which begins at 7’36”. A quick glance at the overall volume levels of the work gives some indication of the importance of this section of the piece (figure 17), with this part of the work returning close to the dynamic levels of the opening.
		Overall Dynamic Level (Orchestra and Tape Combined). Figure 17
		The strong attack at the start of the solo and the long crescendo leading up to this clearly indicates the start of the termination phase of the whole work, as previously identified. Clear reference is also made back to the opening’s explosive attack as well as to the start of the level 5 continuation and termination phases within the largest-scale onset, whose overall gestural shape (reversed attack-decay) it clearly echoes. Although marking a return to the clear articulation of large-scale structure through gesture found at the start of the piece, this is really the last major event of the piece and the gestural energy and impetus of this attack carries the work right through to its end, despite occurring at little over the half-way point of the complete piece(1). At either side of this solo, it is interesting to note how the orchestra ends and restarts its playing. The last instrumental material, just before the start of this solo (rehearsal figure X in the orchestral score onwards), where the upper strings fade out with high glissandi leaving just violin 1 paused on a G# harmonic, looks forward to the extreme, high frequency ascent at the end of the piece. Underneath this double bass 2 also pauses on the low pedal E, between them outlining the upper and lower pitch boundaries of the tape solo (and in fact the whole of the piece). The material with which the orchestra resumes after the solo (rehearsal figure Y) looks back to the chromatic sweeps which occur at the start of the (level 6) continuant phase (rehearsal figure L). The sonogram of the actual solo itself shows the tape sound to be made up of a number of irregularly pulsing pitch-bands. A closer view reveals a static background harmony or chord which remains unchanged, except for dynamic changes in individual pitch-bands, during the duration of this solo and for some time afterwards (fig. 18). When transcribed, the pitches of these horizontal bands can clearly be divided into two separate parts (fig.19).
		Tape Solo Sonogram showing pitch banding Figure 18 Tape Solo Pitch Content. Figure 19.
		The lower group of pitches belong to the harmonic series (numbered 1-16 on fig.19 with approximate pitch notation) once again based upon the low E, although here the fundamental itself is present only at a very low volume (as revealed by the sonogram). Above this harmonic series, the pitches adopt the tuning of the equal-tempered scale (incidentally the changeover occurring on an E), rising five and a half octaves above the pedal E, becoming more chromatically complete as they ascend. This is another instance of the joining of harmonic and non-harmonic pitch materials seen earlier (see figure 13), this time both on tape. Despite the apparent division of these two groups, the pitch-bands all appear to behave in similar ways, with each having gradually changing dynamic profiles and at the start of this solo the pitch bands are fused together to create the sense of a single, complex sound (as has previously occurred at the very beginning of the piece in material type 4). One of the reasons for this fusing is the fact that above the 16th harmonic (which marks the upper limit of the lower pitch group) subsequent harmonics are so close together that it is possible to identify amongst them pitches which conform to (or are very near to) the equal tempered scale. The upper pitch group can therefore be seen as a ‘ filtered’ continuation of the lower group, where all harmonics are present. After the attack point at the start of the solo it becomes possible to identify two different type of material which generally correspond to the two pitch-band groups identified above. The first, corresponding to the lower group, is a single pitched sound on the low E1 (marking a return of the earlier pedal note), having obvious connections to material type 2 from the very opening of the piece, but is much longer and more dynamically and spatially active. Above this, the upper group creates a series of overlapping, partially fused sounds. The varying volume of the individual pitch bands results in the emergence of recognisable pitches and fragments of melody from within the overall sound. Once again this shows the electroacoustic medium exhibiting note-based characteristics, particularly at a time when the orchestra is silent. The static nature of the background harmony also clearly looks back to the lengthening periods of harmonic stasis previously identified in the orchestral material of the works onset section, of which it can be seen as a large-scale extension. It is possible to transcribe the melodic material within emerges within this solo (although this does become more difficult as it proceeds) and show that it is rhythmically organised, continuing the orchestral score’s q=60 pulse. This is shown in Figure 20, which is notated in 34 to attempt to reveal if the three second meta-pulse identified at the opening is still present. This is somewhat inconclusive although the repeated three note descending cell identified (bracketed on the diagram), do all begin in the first two thirds of the bar. The lack of obvious distinction between harmony and melody which make portions of this solo difficult to transcribe melodically indicate a shift away from the opening’s structural clarity. The obvious gestural structure of the start, with its clearly identified six segmentational layers is not present within this solo, which lacks any obvious large-scale structural articulation. The melodic material transcribed gives some indication of hierarchical structure, with its repeated cell which seems to undergo a twice repeated process of rhythmic augmentation (in the first and last trios of cells) but this does suggest a clearer sonic image than is the case in reality, as often these is no clear distinction between melodic and harmonic pitches (and pitches fused together timbrally) particularly towards the end of this solo. It is possible to see this as a continuation of the process of structural change begun in the reduction of segmentational layers through the first five minutes of the piece. The repeated cell identified above gives a further example of how harmonic and non-harmonic materials are joined, bridging as it does the two pitch groups previously identified (the a and g from the upper, the d#/eb from the lower pitch-band group). This figure, with its varied rhythm, is insistent in its descending profile and marks a departure from the almost constantly ascending melodic material which has been present since the start of the work, giving a clear feeling of entering the closing phase of the piece (however extended this may be). The only real sense of descending pitch shape before this point is found in the glissandoing string material found after bar 139 in lower strings, although this is set against ascending scale patterns in woodwind. This first occurs in a less articulated form in bars 93-96, although in both the cases these glissandi are not perceived as melodic material. The first instance of this material (shown as chords 75 and 76 in figure 15a) does reveal a clear connection to the solo under examination here, as it contains within it the three pitches of the repeated melody as well as the only other clearly audible pitch in the treble register (the lower f#). The a and g, the only treble notes present in chord 75 are also present in chord 76 which adds the d#, (this also occurs briefly in the previous chord, number 74). This solo section marks the point at which the tape changes from its earlier supportive and reinforcing role to take up a more dominant foreground role, which it maintains until the end of the piece. In many ways it is possible to see the work after this point as a repeat of what has come before, re-orchestrated and rethought, this time with the orchestra and tapes roles reversed.

		Mention should be made here of the importance of aural analysis in approaching this section of the piece. As there is no instrumental contribution to this part of the piece analysis obviously has to rely upon the aural, supported by the sonogram. As has been shown, the sonogram does reveal some very important aspects of the sections of the piece, particularly in revealing its unchanging harmonic background and how this is constituted. However in two important aspects, both related to pitch identification, the sonogram is less helpful than might be imagined, and the primacy of the aural experience is reinforced. The first of these concerns the low pedal E which is clearly and loudly present through the whole of this solo. According to the volume level shown on the sonogram, this pitch (41.2 Hz) should be barely audible. As previously noted however, the lower pitches on tape constitute the lower harmonics of this fundamental pitch and despite its actual low volume, the ear (or in fact the brain) ‘hears’ or constructs, a loud fundamental pitch from the energies of the related harmonics. Secondly, the melodic material previously identified within this acousmatic solo is not easily identified within the sonogram. This is in part due to the lack of large differences in dynamic levels between the pitch bands, the absence of strong attack points to mark the start of the identified pitches and the presence of varied octave‘ doublings’ of the identified pitches (which act like second harmonics, colouring the sound). The melodic material identified emerges out of the harmonic background and having once heard the descending a,g,d# at the opening of the solo the ear is predisposed to recognise this phrase and draw it out from the background harmony. Both of these examples show the ‘creative’, complex role listening takes, the need to interpret the images the sonogram produces and to trust what it is that we hear
		(1) The orchestral score marks the end of the piece at 13’ 23” although both recordings of the work used stop short of this point, the first stopping at 13’ 06” (Saraste 1988), the second (Salonen 1984) continuing until 13’ 20” which corresponds to the duration of the copy of the tape part obtained from the publishers. Given the flexible nature of the timing of the ending of the piece, the very long fade out and the ritenuto within the orchestra, these timing differences are not unexpected.