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Introduction |
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Mobile and Stable Listening Structures A mobile listening musical structure refers to the relative degree of motion and the contrasts in motion existing among the parts or strands of a sound structure. Your listening process constantly shifts focus between sounds or strands of sound. This is due to the information continually being thrown around among the various sounds. A stable listening musical structure relies on a fixed order or hierarchy of sounds forming a certain amount of predicability. A stable structure will assign certain roles or functions to its sounds so that you as listener can predict what you are listening to. Predicability is important in order for you to hierarchically organise your listening. Example four, 'Washing the Water' was an example of stable structure in which all the sounds generally conformed to a fixed hierarchy. The following examples demonstrate to various types of mobile and stable listening structures. EXAMPLE SEVEN SymphonyNo. 3, 2nd movement, (excerpt) Ludwig van Beethoven (mobile) In this example, the main melody is first stated in the second violins. This is transferred over to the first violins followed by the violoncello section. While this is happening, can you hear what happens to the accompanying instruments when the main theme is played? They also have an independent quality of their own. Your focus continually shifts from one section to another with little predictability. EXAMPLE EIGHT Roll Over Beethoven, Chuck Berry Here the layers are quickly established allowing you to focus on a hierarchy of sounds. The singer's voice obviously being in the foreground while the bass, drums, guitar and piano (very distant in volume) accompany in the background. This is due to the placement of everybody in relation to the microphone. EXAMPLE NINE Jack Armstrong Blues, Louis Armstrong (stable - mobile - less mobile) A stable sound structure is established with the piano solo in the foreground while the drums and bass accompany in the background. The trombone, clarinet and trumpet change the sound structure into a highly mobile one. Do you continually shift in focus between the parts or listen to the same instrumental sound? When the vocalists enter, the music becomes less mobile with the accompanying instruments supporting. The clarinet does contribute to a secondary melodic line, making the music more mobile than the opening stable structure but considerably less mobile than the full ensemble section. EXAMPLE TEN Durations, Morton Feldman. (1961) All the sounds in this example have an equal role. As a result, the structure is constantly mobile, as your listening focus shifts from one piece to another. There is no predicability here, consequently, a more demanding piece of music to listening to. The piece Durations by Morton Feldman is an important work from the sixties. Here the composer has intentionally avoided any hierarchical organisation of the music. No sound is more important than any other. He has given no indication regarding variations of loudness as all instruments are to be played as soft as possible. He has notated the music as single notes without any duration nor with any attempt to vertically organise the material. The resulting sound will be different from performance to performance. Listening to this work is similar to the listening process we use when listening to our environments. Each listener will hear differently the sounds receding and moving to the foreground. |