i have used a composition tool called compose, programmed in lisp, to make all my compositions
since 2003.
this text outline the organization of this composition tool.
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the formal compositional work take place in something i call a proportional space.
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the proportional space is a serie of units.
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all units have a length of one.
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the proportional space can be divided into smaller spaces called fields.
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a field has a length of at least one unit.
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the total number of units that constitute a proportional space is called the resolution of the proportional space.
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every field in a proportional space correspond to a sound or a silence in the score.
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the sound or silence objects in a score is are represented by one or more score symboles.
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the score symbols are either notes or rests.
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the notes and pauses does not correspond to the fields in the proportional space.
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a field can be represented in a score by several notes, and even in advanced cases by complex structures made of combinations of notes and pauses.
but it remains a single sound or silence.
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there is no correspondence between the number of units in a field and the number of notes in the corresponding sound or silence in the score.
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the score structure is made of sections, partial sections, measures and partial measures.
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a partial measure correspond to a conductor beat.
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every measure have a measure time signature.
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every partial measure has a partial measure time signature.
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every measure has at least one partial measure.
example: a 6/8 measure beaten on every dotted quaver is then a measure with a measure time signature of 6/8, made of two partial measures with a partial measure time signature of 3/8.
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there can be several partial measure time signatures in one measure.
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to be able to work in the proportional space i first need to know its resolution.
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to know the resolution of a proportional space i have to construct that resolution.
this is done by making a nominal score.
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a nominal score is an empty score where i have decided how many nominal objects it can be in every partial measure.
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the nominal objects in a partial measure are of the same length.
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the number of nominal objects determine the nominal resolution of that partial measure.
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a nominal object correspond to one unit in the proportional space.
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if i count all the nominal objects in a nominal score i will have the total number of units of the proportional space.
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thus, the total number of nominal objects in the nominal score corresponds to the resolution of the proportional space.
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once I have the resolution of the proportional space i can start the formal compositional work.
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the temporal aspect of the formal compositional work is to divide the proportional space into nested fields.
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once these divisions are made the proportional space is now organized in a hierarchical content (that correspond closely to the "contenu formel" of G. G. Granger:
formes opérations objets).
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the bottom field in a hierarchical content at a given position is the active field.
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an active field can be either a sound or a silence.
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once i have the hierarchical content I can ask for its active fields.
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once i have the active fields i can now lay out them on the nominal score.
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i now have the raw score of the composition.
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once i have the raw score the rhythmical structure is subject to a extended series of transformations in order to have the final rhythmical structure.
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these transformations now take place on the score structure and is no longer related to the proportional space method.
i am thus changing to another set of rules.
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when i have the final rhythmical structure I have the final raw score.
this is how far the composition tool take the structures of the composition.
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all transformations made in the score after the production of the final raw score is made by hand.
paris, le 3 mars 2012
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