The Visual Sound-Shapes of Spectromorphology: an illustrative guide to composition

Blackburn, Manuella

Abstract

Since its conception, Denis Smalley's spectromorphology has equipped listeners and practitioners of electroacoustic music with appropriate and relevant vocabulary to describe the sound-shapes, sensations and evocations associated with experiences of acousmatic sound. This liberation has facilitated and permitted much-needed discussion about sound events, structures and other significant sonic detail. More than 20 years on, it is safe to assume that within the electroacoustic music community there is an agreed and collective understanding of spectromorphological vocabulary and its descriptive application. Spectromorphology's influence has been far reaching, inciting approaches to electroacoustic music analysis (Thoresen 2007), notation (Patton 2007), composition and education through its flexible functionality and accessible pool of vocabulary.

Citation

Blackburn, M. (2011). The Visual Sound-Shapes of Spectromorphology: an illustrative guide to composition. Organised Sound, 16(1), 5-13. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355771810000385

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Feb 25, 2011
• Publication Date: 2011-04
• Deposit Date: Dec 13, 2023
• Journal: Organised Sound
• Print ISSN: 1355-7718
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8153
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 5-13
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355771810000385
• Keywords: Computer Science Applications; Music