Monday, May 07, 2012

Arrangement of Elements

Compositions in sound involve control and disorder, flexibility and restraint, choice and chance.



Regarding listening and hearing as separate functions in terms of varying degrees of attention, one active and the other passive, and designing sound to accommodate the flux of these perceptions, musical elements may be organized according to principles of design.

Rather than focusing predominately upon manipulation of rhythm, melody, harmony, and percussion, qualities of balance, emphasis, subordination, movement, proportion, pattern, unity, dominance, variety, contrast, and spatial placement-- to cite notable aspects of artistic composition-- play a role in the choice and arrangement of elements in the production of transformation ambient music.

The composer, by direct and indirect influence, attends to the transformation of sound that is realized in the finished work.