Chapter 4 Method

This chapter will present the methods used for this master’s project.

4.1 Analysis of form in electroacoustic music

The method for analysis of form in electroacoustic music that I have constructed is in four

steps. My method has its base in spectromorphological thinking, but since my focus is on

form, my analyses do not dive deep into its terminology nor use it to explicate sonic qualities.

Neither will I use any of the notation systems of Schaeffer (2017), Thoresen & Hedman

(2007), or Sköld (2020) since it would only make the analysis process more complicated than

needed for this research. The focus of my analyses is not to make a perfect scientific analysis

of the music, but to use a method that could be used as an exercise in abstract thinking of

multilayered musical structure.

Step 1 of my method begins with adding the track into my DAW. In my DAW I have more

control of playback, I can make loops for easier listening, determine at what second an event

occur in the music, watch the waveform and see the amplitude of the track. Second part of the

first step is that I listen to the track from start to finish and during the listening I stop at every

time I feel that the form has changed, and I mark down the time. During this step I don’t take

any more notes than the timestamps. This is to prevent me from technological listening

(Smalley, 1997) and have better focus on my early impressions of the mesoform in the

composition.

Step 2 builds on reduced listening. In this step I make a loop with additional seconds before

and after the timestamps that I took in the previous step. While listening to a loop I’m taking

notes of what is happening during that part of the track. This will help me determine

relationships between the different parts of the form in the piece. When I have done this for all

the timestamps I finish by writing down my reflections regarding the piece. It could, for

instance, be observations of the composer’s methods or my reflections on the formal

structures in the piece (for an example, see Fig. 4.4).

Step 3 is to listen to the track once more while looking at my notations from the previous step,

to see if I have missed vital information and be able to add that information to my notations.

This step ends with a new reflection of my experience from this step of the analysis.

Step 4, the final step of my method, is a graphical approach. Here I sum down what I have

notated from each timestamp to keywords that I put in to a “box” marked with duration. I’ll

put together all the boxes in hierarchical order to be able to see the construction of the

mesoform. With the mesoform graphicly before me, I can use abstract thinking to connect the

different parts of the mesoform into the higher levels of macroform. I conclude with another

reflection of my thoughts about how the form works and details about the piece.

4.2 Method for organizing form in my own electroacoustic compositions

The method I will use for creating my multi-structure planning of form in my compositions

will be based on the multiscale planning approach. The compositions will start with different

approaches, either with a sound object or a part of the mesoform, and work from a bottom-up

perspective and finalize the form in a multiscale approach. And the other way will be to start

from a top-down perspective where I start with the macroform and create a multilayered form

according to the multiscale approach. I will do this both in my electroacoustic as well as the

acoustic compositions.

To aid me in my process I will create charts that are like the final step of the analytical work

(see figure 4.5: Step 4 of analysis Anchorings / Arrows). The charts will help me with the

abstract thinking of creating a multilayered musical structure. Make the work more easily to

execute in the method of multiscale planning, do changes in the form, and to plan out

different tactics to stipulate form.

For my electroacoustic compositions I will work primarily in the DAW Logic pro, and for my

acoustic pieces my work will be in the notation software Sibelius. For my work with my

charts, I’m using the software Freeform.

4.3 Interviews with composers

As a part of my research, I have conducted interviews over email with the composers Jens

Hedman, Erik Mikael Karlsson and Paulina Sundin. By conducting interviews with these

composers, I can further my understanding of how they have worked with form within their

pieces and compare that information to the information my analysis has provided. My

understanding about how to work with compositions in a studio-based environment, and

methods used by other composers will increase. I asked them the below questions to begin

with and then asked them follow up questions based on their answers. The initial questions

were:

Can you describe how you/your team worked with form and structure in the different phases

of the composition process?

How did you/your team generate material for the piece?

Can you/your team describe how different tools in the studio contributed to the composition

process?

Do you have any thoughts on form and structure that you would like to share?

4.4 Documentation of progress in my compositions

To document the compositional process, several methods have been used. One is saving

versions of the composition, both in Logic Pro, the DAW I use for my electroacoustic pieces

and in the notation software Sibelius in which I create the acoustic works. The second method

is similar, and entails saving sketches in Freeform with work in progress sketches of the form

and notes of what work on the composition that needs to be done. Additionally, I have also

collected handwritten notes from my composition classes with my teachers Fredrik Högberg

and Hans Hjortek.