EAW2015 - A Tecnologia ao Serviço da Criação Musical, 2015
Shortly after his arrival in the USA Varèse attended a demonstration of the telharmonium, the ins... more Shortly after his arrival in the USA Varèse attended a demonstration of the telharmonium, the instrument his mentor Busoni had envisaged as an answer for microtonal intervals. At about the same time he stated: “what I'm looking for are new technical means which can lead themselves to every expression of thought.” At several occasions Varèse elaborated on what those means could be, and what they should be able to produce. The present paper discusses some of the nuances of his discourse, parallels being drawn with the instruments he was acquainted with at different times: Bertrand’s dynaphone, the fingerboard theremins specially commissioned for Ecuatorial and the ondes Martenot used on the 1961 version, his Ampex 401A, used to collect sound materials for Déserts and the diffusion system of the 1958 Phillips Pavillion. The capabilities of these resources and their control interfaces are analysed from an organological perspective, and the way they relate to Varèse’s sound ideals and demands is discussed, leading to the conclusion that he felt attracted towards very basic instruments with versatile interfaces. He used a tape recorder to explore the idiosyncrasies of existing sounds, but he also composed for the Philips Pavillion, itself a musical instrument with a highly idiosyncratic spatialization system.
At the Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Instruments (EUCHMI) there are two virginal... more At the Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Instruments (EUCHMI) there are two virginals where the strings are plucked extremely close to 1/4 of their length over a substantial part of the compass. Principles of Acoustics dictate that in such cases the fourth partial of the resulting sound is unlikely to be produced with any appreciable magnitude. Similar situations affecting different partials also occur when the plucking point is located at other fractional parts of the string length, such as 1/3 or 1/5. A database of plucking points, based on museum catalogues, was created and analysed, so that pitch regions are identified where such phenomena are likely to occur for different categories of instruments.
The main cue used in harpsichord tuning is related to beat phenomena produced by partials of two simultaneously played notes, whenever there is a small difference between their frequencies. Partial four being relevant for major thirds and perfect fourths, these intervals may result less accurate, or less reliably tuned, in instruments like the above virginals.
Historical sources were surveyed for expressions which describe the cues that tuners were supposed to use in identifying the ideal of an interval. Although expressions such as Schwebungen are mostly related with beats, broader meanings are discussed. Hints of the use of alternative, not beat-related cues, are identified.
A series of practical tuning experiments was performed in which selected intervals were tuned, the accuracy of the tuning process being assessed from recordings, which were subjected to spectral analysis. Only cues that could be related to historical sources were used. The effects of factors such as pitch, pitch region, instrument, interval type, and particularly the potential absence of relevant partials were investigated, statistical methods playing a substantial role in the research.
A logbook was created, where the experimenter detailed the cues used for each tuned interval in one of the experiments. The recorded information provided some insight into a number of strategies a tuner may use for coping with difficulties in cases of absent or weak partials.
The impact of inharmonicity on the exact size of just intervals was also examined, both on theoretical grounds and based on data from the experiments.
A number of case studies were included, where a comparison was made between missing partial notes predicted from plucking points and the degree of absence of those partials in the actual spectra for some historical instruments.""
[en] Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) often heralded the need apply to music creation and research the ... more [en] Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) often heralded the need apply to music creation and research the resources that emerged along with the development of electronics. However, only towards the end of his was he able to be granted access to such resources, as he was invited to compose Poème Electronique for the Philips Pavillion at the 1958 Brussels World Fair.
This research aims to collect context elements, as facts accurately located in time, in order to evaluate the interconnections between technological progress in Electroacoustics and electronic musical instruments and the aesthetic aims of Varèse, taking Poème Electronique’s material accomplishment as a case study.
study and reassessing the way this work is a product of its own time.
[pt] O compositor Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) apregoou com frequência anecessidade de aproveitar, no domínio da criação e da investigação musical,dos recursos que surgiram com o desenvolvimento da electrónica. No entanto,apenas no final da sua vida teve acesso a esses recursos, ao ser convidadopara compor a obra Poème Electronique para o Pavilhão Philips da ExposiçãoUniversal de Bruxelas (1958). A presente investigação teve como objectivoreunir elementos de contextualização, factual e cronologicamente definidos,que permitam avaliar a articulação entre os progressos tecnológicos ao nívelda electroacústica e dos instrumentos musicais electrónicos e os objectivosestéticos de Varèse, tomando como caso exemplar a realização material do Poème Electronique e reavaliando a medida em que esta obra é um produtodo seu tempo.
One of the harpsichords recently donated by the late Roger Mirrey to the Edinburgh University Co... more One of the harpsichords recently donated by the late Roger Mirrey to the Edinburgh University Collection of Musical Instruments is the only instrument known to be signed «Alessandro Cresci», a maker from whom virtually nothing is known.
This instrument shows similarities with those of the Cristofori circle, but a number of its characteristics are not very common. The cypress soundboard is unusual for as late a date as 1760. Like in the much earlier Thewes claviorgan, its jacks run through holes cut into the soundboard, so that the proximal bridges rest on free soundboard. The topmost 16 notes of the 4' string set rest on a separated proximal bridge.
The instrument, which is no longer in working condition, shows several layers of workmanship, and it appears to have been very crudely tampered with in recent times. A large hole sawn into the baseboard allows easy observation of the inner structure, including what seem to be latter reinforcements and several vestiges on the underside of the soundboard. The keyboard is patchwork: the front of many keys appears to have been cut and replaced in different places. The whole instrument is puzzling in many ways.
This paper describes the Cresci harpsichord, putting forward and discussing, on the basis of the research work done so far, some hypothesis in relation to this instrument's history and the reasons of its uniqueness.
There is an absolute maximum length a string can have in order to produce a specific note without... more There is an absolute maximum length a string can have in order to produce a specific note without breaking. For the higher notes of a plucked-string keyboard instrument this can be barely enough for the jacks and registers that need to fit within the limited space between nut and bridge. Particularly problematic are situations such as a range that extends to f''' or higher, the presence of 4' or 2' registers, a high number of jack rows or a short scale, such as found on brass strung instruments or those intended for a high pitch standard. Also, the process of ravalement might require some degree of contrivance to deal with problems that the original maker didn’t have to worry about.
Another consequence of the limited available space is that, whatever solution is found for the higher notes, the maker has a restricted degree of freedom for choosing the plucking points in this region. Sometimes, in order to gain some extra space, the maker resorts to a change in the string material (with divided bridges and/or nuts) or simply an increased scaling for this portion of the instrument. Registers which are in the farthest position from the nut can become nearer from the bridge, making the sound more nasal for the last notes, as opposed to what would be expected.
This paper examines different solutions found on a number of specific instruments and discusses their implications as far as the timbre of the top octave is concerned.
The Russel Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments includes two virginals, one polygonal made i... more The Russel Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments includes two virginals, one polygonal made in 1586 by Alessandro Bertolotti, another rectangular made c.1620 and attributed to Francesco Poggio. Although their construction is quite different, they share a remarkable similarity in one aspect: from C to e'', and with only two exceptions, their plucking point percentages match to within 1%.
Plucking a string nearer or farther from its end is a well-known way of obtaining different timbral qualities from a harpsichord, so it might be expected that these two virginals would sound very much alike. However, this is not the case, as the timbral difference between these instruments is easy to spot.
In this paper, the Bertolotti and Poggio virginals are compared from the point of view of both sound and construction. As a case study, they allow us to access:
a) how relevant to its timbre is the plucking point profile of an instrument?
b) which other constructional details might be important to the timbre of a virginal?
Despite their differences, the sounds of these instruments do have some degree of similarity, both from the physical and sensorial point of view. This similarity is highlighted by contrast, through comparison with two other virginals, by Honofrio Guarracino (1678) and Stephen Keene (1668), with different plucking point profiles. Illustration is provided through recordings of a short musical passage played in each instrument.
The theory of natural intervals is based on the coincidence of harmonics and a consistent system ... more The theory of natural intervals is based on the coincidence of harmonics and a consistent system of heterodyne components resulting from two periodic tones. It relies on the assumption that harmonics frequencies are exact multiples of their fundamental. This theory is not exact in the case of the harpsichord, as its string stiffness creates inharmonicity - deviations in each harmonic’s pitch varying with its number squared. This means there is no longer one single value for an interval that agrees with the ‘natural’ interval concept. The scope of this paper is to explore a range of solutions to this problem applied to a single major chord within a single register in a specific harpsichord, given this instrument’s inharmonicity coefficient (Fletcher’s ‘B’ factor). As the differences between these solutions are on the edge of both mechanical precision obtainable in tuning and human hearing discrimination capabilities, results of these models are presented with both computer-generated tones and recordings of real harpsichord sounds.
EAW2015 - A Tecnologia ao Serviço da Criação Musical, 2015
Shortly after his arrival in the USA Varèse attended a demonstration of the telharmonium, the ins... more Shortly after his arrival in the USA Varèse attended a demonstration of the telharmonium, the instrument his mentor Busoni had envisaged as an answer for microtonal intervals. At about the same time he stated: “what I'm looking for are new technical means which can lead themselves to every expression of thought.” At several occasions Varèse elaborated on what those means could be, and what they should be able to produce. The present paper discusses some of the nuances of his discourse, parallels being drawn with the instruments he was acquainted with at different times: Bertrand’s dynaphone, the fingerboard theremins specially commissioned for Ecuatorial and the ondes Martenot used on the 1961 version, his Ampex 401A, used to collect sound materials for Déserts and the diffusion system of the 1958 Phillips Pavillion. The capabilities of these resources and their control interfaces are analysed from an organological perspective, and the way they relate to Varèse’s sound ideals and demands is discussed, leading to the conclusion that he felt attracted towards very basic instruments with versatile interfaces. He used a tape recorder to explore the idiosyncrasies of existing sounds, but he also composed for the Philips Pavillion, itself a musical instrument with a highly idiosyncratic spatialization system.
At the Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Instruments (EUCHMI) there are two virginal... more At the Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Instruments (EUCHMI) there are two virginals where the strings are plucked extremely close to 1/4 of their length over a substantial part of the compass. Principles of Acoustics dictate that in such cases the fourth partial of the resulting sound is unlikely to be produced with any appreciable magnitude. Similar situations affecting different partials also occur when the plucking point is located at other fractional parts of the string length, such as 1/3 or 1/5. A database of plucking points, based on museum catalogues, was created and analysed, so that pitch regions are identified where such phenomena are likely to occur for different categories of instruments.
The main cue used in harpsichord tuning is related to beat phenomena produced by partials of two simultaneously played notes, whenever there is a small difference between their frequencies. Partial four being relevant for major thirds and perfect fourths, these intervals may result less accurate, or less reliably tuned, in instruments like the above virginals.
Historical sources were surveyed for expressions which describe the cues that tuners were supposed to use in identifying the ideal of an interval. Although expressions such as Schwebungen are mostly related with beats, broader meanings are discussed. Hints of the use of alternative, not beat-related cues, are identified.
A series of practical tuning experiments was performed in which selected intervals were tuned, the accuracy of the tuning process being assessed from recordings, which were subjected to spectral analysis. Only cues that could be related to historical sources were used. The effects of factors such as pitch, pitch region, instrument, interval type, and particularly the potential absence of relevant partials were investigated, statistical methods playing a substantial role in the research.
A logbook was created, where the experimenter detailed the cues used for each tuned interval in one of the experiments. The recorded information provided some insight into a number of strategies a tuner may use for coping with difficulties in cases of absent or weak partials.
The impact of inharmonicity on the exact size of just intervals was also examined, both on theoretical grounds and based on data from the experiments.
A number of case studies were included, where a comparison was made between missing partial notes predicted from plucking points and the degree of absence of those partials in the actual spectra for some historical instruments.""
[en] Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) often heralded the need apply to music creation and research the ... more [en] Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) often heralded the need apply to music creation and research the resources that emerged along with the development of electronics. However, only towards the end of his was he able to be granted access to such resources, as he was invited to compose Poème Electronique for the Philips Pavillion at the 1958 Brussels World Fair.
This research aims to collect context elements, as facts accurately located in time, in order to evaluate the interconnections between technological progress in Electroacoustics and electronic musical instruments and the aesthetic aims of Varèse, taking Poème Electronique’s material accomplishment as a case study.
study and reassessing the way this work is a product of its own time.
[pt] O compositor Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) apregoou com frequência anecessidade de aproveitar, no domínio da criação e da investigação musical,dos recursos que surgiram com o desenvolvimento da electrónica. No entanto,apenas no final da sua vida teve acesso a esses recursos, ao ser convidadopara compor a obra Poème Electronique para o Pavilhão Philips da ExposiçãoUniversal de Bruxelas (1958). A presente investigação teve como objectivoreunir elementos de contextualização, factual e cronologicamente definidos,que permitam avaliar a articulação entre os progressos tecnológicos ao nívelda electroacústica e dos instrumentos musicais electrónicos e os objectivosestéticos de Varèse, tomando como caso exemplar a realização material do Poème Electronique e reavaliando a medida em que esta obra é um produtodo seu tempo.
One of the harpsichords recently donated by the late Roger Mirrey to the Edinburgh University Co... more One of the harpsichords recently donated by the late Roger Mirrey to the Edinburgh University Collection of Musical Instruments is the only instrument known to be signed «Alessandro Cresci», a maker from whom virtually nothing is known.
This instrument shows similarities with those of the Cristofori circle, but a number of its characteristics are not very common. The cypress soundboard is unusual for as late a date as 1760. Like in the much earlier Thewes claviorgan, its jacks run through holes cut into the soundboard, so that the proximal bridges rest on free soundboard. The topmost 16 notes of the 4' string set rest on a separated proximal bridge.
The instrument, which is no longer in working condition, shows several layers of workmanship, and it appears to have been very crudely tampered with in recent times. A large hole sawn into the baseboard allows easy observation of the inner structure, including what seem to be latter reinforcements and several vestiges on the underside of the soundboard. The keyboard is patchwork: the front of many keys appears to have been cut and replaced in different places. The whole instrument is puzzling in many ways.
This paper describes the Cresci harpsichord, putting forward and discussing, on the basis of the research work done so far, some hypothesis in relation to this instrument's history and the reasons of its uniqueness.
There is an absolute maximum length a string can have in order to produce a specific note without... more There is an absolute maximum length a string can have in order to produce a specific note without breaking. For the higher notes of a plucked-string keyboard instrument this can be barely enough for the jacks and registers that need to fit within the limited space between nut and bridge. Particularly problematic are situations such as a range that extends to f''' or higher, the presence of 4' or 2' registers, a high number of jack rows or a short scale, such as found on brass strung instruments or those intended for a high pitch standard. Also, the process of ravalement might require some degree of contrivance to deal with problems that the original maker didn’t have to worry about.
Another consequence of the limited available space is that, whatever solution is found for the higher notes, the maker has a restricted degree of freedom for choosing the plucking points in this region. Sometimes, in order to gain some extra space, the maker resorts to a change in the string material (with divided bridges and/or nuts) or simply an increased scaling for this portion of the instrument. Registers which are in the farthest position from the nut can become nearer from the bridge, making the sound more nasal for the last notes, as opposed to what would be expected.
This paper examines different solutions found on a number of specific instruments and discusses their implications as far as the timbre of the top octave is concerned.
The Russel Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments includes two virginals, one polygonal made i... more The Russel Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments includes two virginals, one polygonal made in 1586 by Alessandro Bertolotti, another rectangular made c.1620 and attributed to Francesco Poggio. Although their construction is quite different, they share a remarkable similarity in one aspect: from C to e'', and with only two exceptions, their plucking point percentages match to within 1%.
Plucking a string nearer or farther from its end is a well-known way of obtaining different timbral qualities from a harpsichord, so it might be expected that these two virginals would sound very much alike. However, this is not the case, as the timbral difference between these instruments is easy to spot.
In this paper, the Bertolotti and Poggio virginals are compared from the point of view of both sound and construction. As a case study, they allow us to access:
a) how relevant to its timbre is the plucking point profile of an instrument?
b) which other constructional details might be important to the timbre of a virginal?
Despite their differences, the sounds of these instruments do have some degree of similarity, both from the physical and sensorial point of view. This similarity is highlighted by contrast, through comparison with two other virginals, by Honofrio Guarracino (1678) and Stephen Keene (1668), with different plucking point profiles. Illustration is provided through recordings of a short musical passage played in each instrument.
The theory of natural intervals is based on the coincidence of harmonics and a consistent system ... more The theory of natural intervals is based on the coincidence of harmonics and a consistent system of heterodyne components resulting from two periodic tones. It relies on the assumption that harmonics frequencies are exact multiples of their fundamental. This theory is not exact in the case of the harpsichord, as its string stiffness creates inharmonicity - deviations in each harmonic’s pitch varying with its number squared. This means there is no longer one single value for an interval that agrees with the ‘natural’ interval concept. The scope of this paper is to explore a range of solutions to this problem applied to a single major chord within a single register in a specific harpsichord, given this instrument’s inharmonicity coefficient (Fletcher’s ‘B’ factor). As the differences between these solutions are on the edge of both mechanical precision obtainable in tuning and human hearing discrimination capabilities, results of these models are presented with both computer-generated tones and recordings of real harpsichord sounds.
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Papers by Pedro Bento
At several occasions Varèse elaborated on what those means could be, and what they should be able to produce. The present paper discusses some of the nuances of his discourse, parallels being drawn with the instruments he was acquainted with at different times: Bertrand’s
dynaphone, the fingerboard theremins specially commissioned for Ecuatorial and the ondes Martenot used on the 1961 version, his Ampex 401A, used to collect sound materials for Déserts and the diffusion system of the 1958 Phillips Pavillion.
The capabilities of these resources and their control interfaces are analysed from an organological perspective, and the way they relate to Varèse’s sound ideals and demands is discussed, leading to the conclusion that he felt attracted towards very basic instruments with versatile
interfaces.
He used a tape recorder to explore the idiosyncrasies of existing sounds, but he also composed for the Philips Pavillion, itself a musical instrument with a highly idiosyncratic spatialization system.
The main cue used in harpsichord tuning is related to beat phenomena produced by partials of two simultaneously played notes, whenever there is a small difference between their frequencies. Partial four being relevant for major thirds and perfect fourths, these intervals may result less accurate, or less reliably tuned, in instruments like the above virginals.
Historical sources were surveyed for expressions which describe the cues that tuners were supposed to use in identifying the ideal of an interval. Although expressions such as Schwebungen are mostly related with beats, broader meanings are discussed. Hints of the use of alternative, not beat-related cues, are identified.
A series of practical tuning experiments was performed in which selected intervals were tuned, the accuracy of the tuning process being assessed from recordings, which were subjected to spectral analysis. Only cues that could be related to historical sources were used. The effects of factors such as pitch, pitch region, instrument, interval type, and particularly the potential absence of relevant partials were investigated, statistical methods playing a substantial role in the research.
A logbook was created, where the experimenter detailed the cues used for each tuned interval in one of the experiments. The recorded information provided some insight into a number of strategies a tuner may use for coping with difficulties in cases of absent or weak partials.
The impact of inharmonicity on the exact size of just intervals was also examined, both on theoretical grounds and based on data from the experiments.
A number of case studies were included, where a comparison was made between missing partial notes predicted from plucking points and the degree of absence of those partials in the actual spectra for some historical instruments.""
This research aims to collect context elements, as facts accurately located in time, in order to evaluate the interconnections between technological progress in Electroacoustics and electronic musical instruments and the aesthetic aims of Varèse, taking Poème Electronique’s material accomplishment as a case study.
study and reassessing the way this work is a product of its own time.
[pt] O compositor Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) apregoou com frequência anecessidade de aproveitar, no domínio da criação e da investigação musical,dos recursos que surgiram com o desenvolvimento da electrónica. No entanto,apenas no final da sua vida teve acesso a esses recursos, ao ser convidadopara compor a obra Poème Electronique para o Pavilhão Philips da ExposiçãoUniversal de Bruxelas (1958). A presente investigação teve como objectivoreunir elementos de contextualização, factual e cronologicamente definidos,que permitam avaliar a articulação entre os progressos tecnológicos ao nívelda electroacústica e dos instrumentos musicais electrónicos e os objectivosestéticos de Varèse, tomando como caso exemplar a realização material do Poème Electronique e reavaliando a medida em que esta obra é um produtodo seu tempo.
This instrument shows similarities with those of the Cristofori circle, but a number of its characteristics are not very common. The cypress soundboard is unusual for as late a date as 1760. Like in the much earlier Thewes claviorgan, its jacks run through holes cut into the soundboard, so that the proximal bridges rest on free soundboard. The topmost 16 notes of the 4' string set rest on a separated proximal bridge.
The instrument, which is no longer in working condition, shows several layers of workmanship, and it appears to have been very crudely tampered with in recent times. A large hole sawn into the baseboard allows easy observation of the inner structure, including what seem to be latter reinforcements and several vestiges on the underside of the soundboard. The keyboard is patchwork: the front of many keys appears to have been cut and replaced in different places. The whole instrument is puzzling in many ways.
This paper describes the Cresci harpsichord, putting forward and discussing, on the basis of the research work done so far, some hypothesis in relation to this instrument's history and the reasons of its uniqueness.
Another consequence of the limited available space is that, whatever solution is found for the higher notes, the maker has a restricted degree of freedom for choosing the plucking points in this region. Sometimes, in order to gain some extra space, the maker resorts to a change in the string material (with divided bridges and/or nuts) or simply an increased scaling for this portion of the instrument. Registers which are in the farthest position from the nut can become nearer from the bridge, making the sound more nasal for the last notes, as opposed to what would be expected.
This paper examines different solutions found on a number of specific instruments and discusses their implications as far as the timbre of the top octave is concerned.
Plucking a string nearer or farther from its end is a well-known way of obtaining different timbral qualities from a harpsichord, so it might be expected that these two virginals would sound very much alike. However, this is not the case, as the timbral difference between these instruments is easy to spot.
In this paper, the Bertolotti and Poggio virginals are compared from the point of view of both sound and construction. As a case study, they allow us to access:
a) how relevant to its timbre is the plucking point profile of an instrument?
b) which other constructional details might be important to the timbre of a virginal?
Despite their differences, the sounds of these instruments do have some degree of similarity, both from the physical and sensorial point of view. This similarity is highlighted by contrast, through comparison with two other virginals, by Honofrio Guarracino (1678) and Stephen Keene (1668), with different plucking point profiles. Illustration is provided through recordings of a short musical passage played in each instrument.
At several occasions Varèse elaborated on what those means could be, and what they should be able to produce. The present paper discusses some of the nuances of his discourse, parallels being drawn with the instruments he was acquainted with at different times: Bertrand’s
dynaphone, the fingerboard theremins specially commissioned for Ecuatorial and the ondes Martenot used on the 1961 version, his Ampex 401A, used to collect sound materials for Déserts and the diffusion system of the 1958 Phillips Pavillion.
The capabilities of these resources and their control interfaces are analysed from an organological perspective, and the way they relate to Varèse’s sound ideals and demands is discussed, leading to the conclusion that he felt attracted towards very basic instruments with versatile
interfaces.
He used a tape recorder to explore the idiosyncrasies of existing sounds, but he also composed for the Philips Pavillion, itself a musical instrument with a highly idiosyncratic spatialization system.
The main cue used in harpsichord tuning is related to beat phenomena produced by partials of two simultaneously played notes, whenever there is a small difference between their frequencies. Partial four being relevant for major thirds and perfect fourths, these intervals may result less accurate, or less reliably tuned, in instruments like the above virginals.
Historical sources were surveyed for expressions which describe the cues that tuners were supposed to use in identifying the ideal of an interval. Although expressions such as Schwebungen are mostly related with beats, broader meanings are discussed. Hints of the use of alternative, not beat-related cues, are identified.
A series of practical tuning experiments was performed in which selected intervals were tuned, the accuracy of the tuning process being assessed from recordings, which were subjected to spectral analysis. Only cues that could be related to historical sources were used. The effects of factors such as pitch, pitch region, instrument, interval type, and particularly the potential absence of relevant partials were investigated, statistical methods playing a substantial role in the research.
A logbook was created, where the experimenter detailed the cues used for each tuned interval in one of the experiments. The recorded information provided some insight into a number of strategies a tuner may use for coping with difficulties in cases of absent or weak partials.
The impact of inharmonicity on the exact size of just intervals was also examined, both on theoretical grounds and based on data from the experiments.
A number of case studies were included, where a comparison was made between missing partial notes predicted from plucking points and the degree of absence of those partials in the actual spectra for some historical instruments.""
This research aims to collect context elements, as facts accurately located in time, in order to evaluate the interconnections between technological progress in Electroacoustics and electronic musical instruments and the aesthetic aims of Varèse, taking Poème Electronique’s material accomplishment as a case study.
study and reassessing the way this work is a product of its own time.
[pt] O compositor Edgard Varèse (1883-1966) apregoou com frequência anecessidade de aproveitar, no domínio da criação e da investigação musical,dos recursos que surgiram com o desenvolvimento da electrónica. No entanto,apenas no final da sua vida teve acesso a esses recursos, ao ser convidadopara compor a obra Poème Electronique para o Pavilhão Philips da ExposiçãoUniversal de Bruxelas (1958). A presente investigação teve como objectivoreunir elementos de contextualização, factual e cronologicamente definidos,que permitam avaliar a articulação entre os progressos tecnológicos ao nívelda electroacústica e dos instrumentos musicais electrónicos e os objectivosestéticos de Varèse, tomando como caso exemplar a realização material do Poème Electronique e reavaliando a medida em que esta obra é um produtodo seu tempo.
This instrument shows similarities with those of the Cristofori circle, but a number of its characteristics are not very common. The cypress soundboard is unusual for as late a date as 1760. Like in the much earlier Thewes claviorgan, its jacks run through holes cut into the soundboard, so that the proximal bridges rest on free soundboard. The topmost 16 notes of the 4' string set rest on a separated proximal bridge.
The instrument, which is no longer in working condition, shows several layers of workmanship, and it appears to have been very crudely tampered with in recent times. A large hole sawn into the baseboard allows easy observation of the inner structure, including what seem to be latter reinforcements and several vestiges on the underside of the soundboard. The keyboard is patchwork: the front of many keys appears to have been cut and replaced in different places. The whole instrument is puzzling in many ways.
This paper describes the Cresci harpsichord, putting forward and discussing, on the basis of the research work done so far, some hypothesis in relation to this instrument's history and the reasons of its uniqueness.
Another consequence of the limited available space is that, whatever solution is found for the higher notes, the maker has a restricted degree of freedom for choosing the plucking points in this region. Sometimes, in order to gain some extra space, the maker resorts to a change in the string material (with divided bridges and/or nuts) or simply an increased scaling for this portion of the instrument. Registers which are in the farthest position from the nut can become nearer from the bridge, making the sound more nasal for the last notes, as opposed to what would be expected.
This paper examines different solutions found on a number of specific instruments and discusses their implications as far as the timbre of the top octave is concerned.
Plucking a string nearer or farther from its end is a well-known way of obtaining different timbral qualities from a harpsichord, so it might be expected that these two virginals would sound very much alike. However, this is not the case, as the timbral difference between these instruments is easy to spot.
In this paper, the Bertolotti and Poggio virginals are compared from the point of view of both sound and construction. As a case study, they allow us to access:
a) how relevant to its timbre is the plucking point profile of an instrument?
b) which other constructional details might be important to the timbre of a virginal?
Despite their differences, the sounds of these instruments do have some degree of similarity, both from the physical and sensorial point of view. This similarity is highlighted by contrast, through comparison with two other virginals, by Honofrio Guarracino (1678) and Stephen Keene (1668), with different plucking point profiles. Illustration is provided through recordings of a short musical passage played in each instrument.