The Rhythms of Harmony in Space
(2024)
author(s): Ferdinand Schwarz
Limited publication. Only visible to members of the portal : NMH Student Portal
When sounds meet in space, they interact with each other, they diffract, change, and create new ones - these artefacts are always present, have always been heard, but here they become the music itself. Creating a space of both extreme clarity and overwhelming complexity, they lay bare a music that exists within our perception of steady sounds, a music that listeners create themselves through listening in space.
What forms of creating, performing, and listening can be developed by making the phenomenon of wave interference my main musical material? And what implications can this phenomenon have as a figuration for the entities involved in performing and listening?
Historical Clarinet Mouthpieces: An Analysis and Re-creation studyHistorical Clarinet Mouthpieces: An Analysis and 3D Re-creation study
(2023)
author(s): Sergio Sánchez Martín
published in: KC Research Portal
The mouthpiece of a clarinet plays a crucial role in sound formation and tuning, and there is still great potential for research within the field of historical clarinet mouthpieces.
This study explores the relationship between mouthpiece shape and performance practice in the first half of the 19th century when significant changes occurred in clarinet history. The author examines historical mouthpieces from various collections and creates 3D-printed replicas for experimentation. The research investigates how mouthpiece shape relates to changes in reed positioning and national styles, and how 3D printing technology can aid in understanding historical mouthpiece design.
The study finds evidence of a causal relationship between changes in reed positioning and mouthpiece geometry, especially reflected in the dimension of the mouthpiece window. The creation of a functional 3D-printed historical mouthpiece and experimentation with variations in shape shed light on how different parameters of the mouthpiece geometry affect the sound response. The research offers a useful tool for historical clarinet players to choose mouthpieces in a more historically informed way.
Diamond Marimba as a Creative Tool
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Arend Jan Hendrik Strootman
connected to: KC Research Portal
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Since a couple of years I teach music theory lessons for the sonologists at the Conservatoire in The Hague. Amongst others I'm explaining overtones and their use in Just Intonation in these lessons. A topic that is, albeit from a different perspective, also part of the second year curriculum for the composition department.
When the ratios, lattices, otonalities/ utonalities, harmonics/subharmonics, calculations in cents and hertz go into depth and become more complex, the connection with the sounding result can get lost easily.
As part of the lectorate in 2022/2023 I wanted to investigate in how far the diamond marimba can be a valuable asset in addressing the potential of Just Intonation via a physical manifestation. Due to its construction the instrument reflects limits and lattices and much that needs to be known for an understanding of ratios - can this instrument be(come) a tool to be able to train the sonic imagination in Just Intonation and microtonality?
In this exposition the preparations, building, try-outs, implementation in the classes and reflection can be found.