Musical questions and answers thread

[RichardB]

A new term for me: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26563364

I thought the term as applied to music originated with Boulez, whose theoretical writings are not so familiar to me.

[Mandryka]

It is a Boulezian concept, he may have got it from Deleuze. It came up for me recently when I was trying to understand Boulez's thoughts about Dufourt and Grisey.

By the way, Jonathan Kramer's paper on moment form is available through JSTOR.

[Mandryka]

This is what ChatGPT said about smooth and striated time.

Pierre Boulez, a French composer and conductor, used the term "smooth time" to describe the fluidity and continuous flow of music that lacks clear rhythmic or harmonic landmarks. In his essay "Time and Music," Boulez contrasted smooth time with "striated time," which he described as the more traditional, hierarchical approach to rhythm and meter found in Western classical music.

Smooth time, according to Boulez, is characterized by a lack of clear, regular pulse and by a focus on continuous development rather than repetition. It allows for greater flexibility and fluidity in the music, and often involves complex polyrhythms and unpredictable changes in tempo.

Boulez's concept of smooth time was influenced by the ideas of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who used the terms "smooth" and "striated" to describe different modes of space and time in his book "A Thousand Plateaus." Boulez applied these concepts to music, using them to challenge traditional notions of rhythm and structure and to explore new possibilities for musical expression.

Blah blah blah


Richard Barrett is a composer who has explored the use of smooth time in his music. His compositions often feature intricate polyrhythms and irregular meter, creating a sense of fluidity and continuous movement.

One example of Barrett's use of smooth time can be found in his composition "Codex V," written for ensemble and electronics in 2004. The piece features a constantly shifting rhythmic structure, with multiple layers of polyrhythms and complex interactions between the acoustic instruments and electronic sounds.

Another example is his composition "Dark Matter," written for string quartet and electronics in 2012. The piece features a continuous, flowing structure with a focus on developing a single musical idea over an extended period of time. The rhythms are irregular and constantly changing, creating a sense of fluidity and motion.

Overall, Barrett's music often features complex rhythmic structures and a focus on continuous development over time, which can be seen as examples of his exploration of the concept of smooth time.

[RichardB]

Outstanding.

One example of Barrett's use of smooth time can be found in his composition "Codex V," written for ensemble and electronics in 2004. The piece features a constantly shifting rhythmic structure, with multiple layers of polyrhythms and complex interactions between the acoustic instruments and electronic sounds.

codex V is a score for performance by improvising musicians on any 12 or more unspecified instruments which might or might not involve electronics. The principal material consists of a single relatively simple melodic line to be interpreted differently (or improvised against) by different subgroups. It contains no multiple layers or polyrhythms.

Another example is his composition "Dark Matter," written for string quartet and electronics in 2012. The piece features a continuous, flowing structure with a focus on developing a single musical idea over an extended period of time. The rhythms are irregular and constantly changing, creating a sense of fluidity and motion.

DARK MATTER (sic) is not for string quartet but for voice and 18 instrumentalists with electronics. It doesn't feature a continuous flowing structure but is divided into 11 parts with different instrumentations, although they often overlap; nor does it develop a single musical idea in any conventional sense of the word.

So nul points for ChatGPT there, which would be more amusing were it not for the fact that students are quite possible writing this nonsense into essays and their professors aren't sufficiently familiar with the music to realise how wrong it is. I guess that counts as a first world problem though...