Iago Morse Code Project
This piece is a large scale work that has been composed this year by Peter Mcilwain and the Chief Practical Composition students in the School of Music – Conservatorium as part of the activities of the Sonic Art Group. The work consists of 8 sections in rondo form - A B C B D B E B and features software instruments, synthesised sounds, graphics software and scores for acoustic instruments, all of which have been created by the Sonic Art Group.
Motivated by jealousy and hatred, Iago is a character in Shakespeare's Othello who uses deceptive language to achieve his goals. His use of deception is so effective the he manages to convince his master Othello to kill his wife Desdemona on the pretext that she is sexually and spiritually unfaithful to him. When Iago privately expresses his hatred of Othello he calls him “the Moor” (an archaic term for Moslem). Shakespeare's reference to racism and religion has a striking resonance with the geo-political circumstances of today. This resonance is reflected in the piece by the use of a news ticker that contrasts quotes of Iago and President George Bush (Jr) and juxtaposed images that relate to the topics explored in the piece. The quotes of Iago are also represented in the form of Morse code signals and recordings of readings that have been resynthesised.
An ongoing theme in the Sonic Art Group is the exploration of the meaning and impact of sound. Sound can be both, symbolic of communication (speech consists of sound symbols) and, a communication or sensual experience in itself. Musical notes carry both symbolic (i.e. harmonic and structural messages) and sensual communication and for this reason music is a useful medium for exploring the semantics of language. Similarly the sonic textures presented in this concert feature Morse code as it is normally heard, as a symbolic communication. This is then transformed into a continuous sonic (and sensual) stream of sound. This use of Morse code is intended as a metaphor for the process in which language is mutated and manipulated according to the objectives of those sending the communication. Unfortunately the process of mutation is increasingly used in a dishonest fashion and this is particularly true of the political rhetoric that is portrayed in contemporary global mass media.
Structure
Tableau structure re Messiaen (Quartet for the End of Time etc)
One recurring tableau (5 to 6 occurrences) - Morse Code & Time stretched melody
- First and last to feature big bang
Interspersed tableaus (4 to 5 occurrences):
- Metasynth — used generally
- Percussion — used generally
- Text retranslation — used generally
- Vocoder — featured in one tableau
- Chords & melody — featured in one tableau
- Vocal recombination — featured in one tableau
- Song
Computers:
- Graphics — (borrowed laptop 0SX?)
- Sampleplayback with MIDI controller — Kim
- Real-time processing with MIDI controller — PMc
| Section | Time | Computer 1 Visuals | Computer 2 | Computer 3 | Instruments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1) Iago speaks on TV | 2' | textmorseread:
blue background with black stripe mask: Jessica [space bar] |
MorseCodeAudio: Peter Mc[atmospherics.aif] |
Tristan: reading, mic direct into PA | |
| 2) Morse Code & text | 2' | textmorseread
cue: Jessica[ T ] |
|||
| 3) Trumpet Vocoder & Piano | 4' | mosaic ticker cue: Jessica |
Sampleplay: Alex |
Vocoder: Kim |
Pru: Trpt, Anthony: Pn, |
| 4) Morse code audio | 4' | mosaic ticker: | Sampleplay: Tristan |
MorseCode
Audio: Andrew |
|
| 5) Violin Harmonizer Improvisation, | 7' | mosaic ticker: | Sampleplay & ScaleHarmoniser: Kim |
Fibonacci Piano
player: PMc |
Philip:
Vln, Bryan: Pn1, Alex: Pn2, |
| 6) Morse code wider range | 4' | mosaic ticker: | Sampleplay: Jessica |
MorseCode
Audio: PMc |
|
| 7) Duet - scored | 3' | mosaic ticker: | Sampleplay: Jessica [Duet3.aif & Sound10 ] |
||
| 8) Morse Code | 4' | mosaic ticker: | Sampleplay: Pru |
MorseCode Audio: Kim |
|
Total time |
30' |
Instrumentation
- 2 laptop computers
- Piano
- Synth
- Trumpet
- Vocal
- 2 Percussion
String or Wind Quartet (or both?)
Pitch Materials
7 octave scale
oct 1 - Ab
oct
2 - C, Ab
oct 3 - C, E, Ab
oct 4 - C, Eb,
Gb, A
oct 5 - C, Db, Gb, A, Bb
oct 6 - C,
D, Eb, F, Gb, Ab,
oct 7 - C, D, Eb, Gb, G, Ab, B
Pitch Frequency
C - 6, Db - 1, D - 2, Eb - 3, E - 1, F - 1, Gb - 3, G - 1, Ab - 5, A - 2, Bb - 1, B - 1
Target Pitches for Section 5
Compositional Methods
- Morse code generation
- Time stretching
- Vocal recombination (rhythmic)
- Chords progression
- Melody
- Percussion (using scale related rhythmic patterns or morse code patterns)
- Text retranslation
- Metasynth (custom scale)
Text Materials
Extracts from Othello relating to the character Iago
Extracts to be altered using:
- Bable Fish - retranslated
- Randomly recombined
- Serial recombination
Othello text:
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/othello/
Section 1 - Iago Speaks on TV
My meaning shifts
between the sound of my voice
and the words in the sound of my voice.
What you hear depends on whether you listen
to
the sound of my voice
or the words in the sound of my
voice.
The words of my voice
are symbols that you hear
without hearing the sounds
in the sound of my voice.
The
symbols are a code
and with the code
I can
say things that I don't say
with the words or even
the sound of the words in my voice.
Just listen to the sound of my voice,
it carries music
and desire,
you will believe the desire
because
you hear the sound of music
in the words in the sound
of my voice.
The sound of my voice
is a mask that I show you,
a mask that you make in your
mind,
and you make the mask an image of me
and you think you know me.
But you
don't know that you have made a mask
and so you may
not notice
the shifts in meaning
between
the sound of my voice
and the words in the sound of my
voice,
and so you may not hear
that I am
speaking to you with a mask.
Visual Elements
Text - literal and altered extracts
Morse Code - extracts
Newsticker - extracts
Audio Pollock?
Images relating to mind map?
Changing mosaic of images with news ticker
Section 5 - Fibonacci Piano & Violin Solo
| Octave | No. of pitches/event per cycle | Duration of cycle in semiquavers | Duration of events in semiquavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 7 | 8 | 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 ( = 8 ) |
| 6 | 6 | 13 | 3 3 1 2 2 2 ( = 13 ) |
| 5 | 5 | 21 | 2 5 4 5 5 ( = 21 ) |
| 4 | 4 | 34 | 9 9 9 7 ( = 34 ) |
| 3 | 3 | 55 | 19 18 18 ( = 55 ) |
| 2 | 2 | 89 | 45 44 ( = 89 ) |
| 1 | 1 | 144 | 144 |
Software
Free Floating Materials
- Recombined text
- Vocoder & solo instrument
- Harmoniser
- Metasynth textures - Custom Scale
Sound Samples (mp3)
- Scale Harmoniser - Tristan violin
- ScaleVocoder - Pru trumpet
- MorseCodeAudio - with Tristan violin harmoniser masked
- Violin Duet - version by Peter Mc