Sound Actions

Conceptualizing Musical Instruments

Alexander Refsum Jensenius, University of Oslo

UiO, 30 January 2023

Instrument?

A theoretical music technology book,

informed by embodied music cognition

Technocognition

—

Music as an active process

Musicking

To music

“To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing.”

(Small, 1998, p.9)

Musicking Quadrant

Time

Music as an embodied process

Embodied Music Cognition

Marc Leman. Embodied Music Cognition and Mediation Technology. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2008.

Multimodal perception

Imagery

  • “Listening” with your inner ear
  • “Seeing” with your inner eye

Imagine a falling glass…

How big is the glass that just crashed in the floor?

How was the sound?

Action–Sound Couplings

Physical properties (acoustical and mechanical) of the objects involved

Affordances

Sonic Affordances

Musical Instruments

Is there a difference between a violin and a fiddle?

Tellef Kvifte (1989)

“Vehicle for exploring and expressing
musical ideas and feelings through sound.”

(Libin, 2018)

Organology

Embodied organology

Music-related body motion

Action

The cognitive chunking of perceived/performed motion or force

Motion

The displacement of an object in time and space

Force

The push or pull experienced in interaction

Gesture

The meaning attached to the perceived/performed action

Functional Aspects

Representation of Sound Actions

Notation

Action-Sound Couplings

Acoustic instruments

Action-Sound Separation

Sound-production vs Sound-modification

Some considerations

Is the orchestra an instrument?

Can a space be an instrument?

From Sound Maker to Music Maker

What is a performer?

Concert Pianolist Rex Lawson
Concert Pianolist Rex Lawson

Action-Sound Mappings

Electro-acoustic instruments

A speaker is needed!

"So modern electronic instruments are incomplete without their ‘bodies’—the amplifiers and loudspeakers by which they’re heard.

Brian Eno (Weium and Boon, 2013)

No sound, no instrument!

What does this mean for our classification?

No instrument: no engine, no speaker
No instrument: no engine, no speaker
No instrument: no speaker
No instrument: no speaker
Instrument: controller, engine, speaker
Instrument: controller, engine, speaker

Action-Sound Separation

Embodied

Crackle Box
Crackle Box

Analog

Victorian Synthesizer
Victorian Synthesizer
Hammond E organ
Hammond E organ

Digital

Virtual

Automatic

Conceptual

Some considerations

Is the computer an instrument?

Is the studio an instrument?

Is a microphone an instrument?

Spatiotemporality

Amplification

Spatiotemporal separation

Telematics

From Ivory to Silicone

  • “Similar” in many ways
  • Different construction
  • Different “feel”
  • Very different affordances

Unconventional Instruments

Electroacoustic instruments can be:

  • cheap
  • easy to get started with
  • welcoming for kids
  • have no square corners

Performing in the Air

Inverse sonic microinteraction

Postlude