I’ve started this piece with the idea of representing the value of 3.3 recurring within within music. The idea comes from a fascination with this value. I found myself thinking a lot when I was younger about how an object can be described as “sharp” when perceived with a large difference in scale between the object and the viewer. Though to organisms on a minute scale these “sharp” faces are perceived as greater in size, removing their sharpness. If we larger organisms use specific apparatus such as a magnifying glass or a microscope we too can perceive more clearly the vast detail in objects. This depth of perception I believe can go on-and-on in either direction forever, making it’s value (scale) infinite or equally, non-existent. It only has existence when a single instance or frame of scale is perceived. I relate these frames of perception to the bars of a musical piece though so far I have struggled to find a way to represent 3.3 recurring as a single bar within a time signature.
What I want to create is basically a form of reverberation. Though I wish to precisely pinpoint each repeat along a mathematical pathway using seconds as it’s structure.
I looked into music theory and how time signatures relate to mathematics. I recognised that time signature is written as a fraction and assumed that was where it comes from. When thinking this I searched for and found the question “why are numerator and denominator called so?” (debo.stackoverflow, 23rd April 2017). This was an effort to better understand the symbolism used in division and if I could find it’s relation to music. I found that the top number is the “numerator” from the Latin word “numerus”, which means “number” and the bottom number is the “denominator” from the Latin word “denomino” which means “to name” (Alex, 32rd April 2017).
– Reference; (Debo.stackoverflow et al., 23rd Apr 2017, Why are numerator and denominator called so?, Stackexchange.com, Viewed on 17th Nov 2020, <https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/2247583/why-are-numerator-and-denominator-called-so#:~:text=Numerator%20tells%20us%20″how%20many,denomino”%20(to%20name)>).
I have found how to represent recurring decimal values as fractions in order to find coherence to musical language. I found that for 3.3 recurring to be converted to a decimal, the common practice is as follows;
to represent the value as x
x = 3.3
then to times x by 10
10x = 33.3
then to take away x from 10x
10x – x = 9x = 30
and now to find the value of x from this perspective we divide by 9
9x / 9 = 30 / 9
so 30 is the numerator and 9 is the denominator.
– Reference; (The Maths Prof, 6th Jun 2017, The Maths Prof: Changing Recurring Decimals into Fractions, Online Video, Viewed 17th Nov 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1iGzAugfcs>).
I was sceptical of how this result could work as a time signature so I looked up more about the musical side of this. I watched a YouTube video on “How to Work Out Time Signature” (Victoria Williams, 24th March 2014) and I came to the conclusion that writing time in classical music theory is solely reliant on the note values that it uses. As it turns out, there are no note values that represent a third, music theory only divides time in multiples of two so I had to rethink the way of executing my idea.
– Reference; (Victoria Williams, 24th Mar 2014, How to Work Out the Time Signature (Grade 5 Music Theory, ABRSM), Viewed on 17th Nov 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhNsmZ4rF5k&list=PLyZpSAfmPoZET8BagwvG6xA1qb1eQhuzN&index=2>).
3.3 Ideology
I have turned my attention to the thinking behind what the piece is, rather than the beat that would define it. By abstracting my deliverance, I’ll give emphasis to “perpetuality”, repeating the number three verbally and using effects and rhythms to create a feeling of everlasting.
To start I went into FL Studio to see how I could lay out a metronome. I found that 3 beats per bar with 3 steps per beat had a steady rhythm and 60 bars using this time signature at 60 BPM gave me exactly 3 minutes which I think is very fitting.
I decided to use a 3xOscillator plug-in with which I set up three sine waves and automation tracks for each of their “coarse” dials. I set them all to decrease entirely at the end with variations in their levels at the start and half way through. I did this in order to achieve a sound that becomes lower with a stooping motion. This relates to my idea of 3.3 acting similar to a funnel, getting increasingly dense as tome goes on. Similar to how a coin funnel will see a coin increase in speed as it descends.
I set the metronome and placed in a three note chord, split up into sections of one beat, two beats and three beats, placed them at times that sounded appropriate, without having any two bars the same so that it would retain a “freeness”. I liked the idea of life and how there is constant change at uncertain points, there is never full control.
I placed a reverb on the chords which brought out a very droning and full bodied sound and I removed pops at the start of each chord by softening their attack. I then removed the metronome, bounced it to a wav file and moved it onto my phone.
From here I set up a cardioid mic and played the chords through earphones and recorded several takes of dialogue over them. I spoke about the idea of the piece, often repeating words and phrases much like the recurring value. This lead me to ask questions, some of which I answer, other I left to suspend in silence.
As it stands right now, I need to arrange the tracks in order to have a form of coherence and “linearity”. It needs to be clear and make more sense.
I organised each of the dialogue tracks along the length of the piece, recorded clocks ticking and lay them over the piece, increasing in volume and density towards the end. I also added the spoken word “three” at every third second. After all of this I created my “Reflective Writing” and “Sound Report”.
Side Note
When reading Sonic Writing (Thor Magnusson, 21st Feb 2019,) I came across a sentence; “Secondly, as an effect of making music through action sequences, or patterned gestures, the human understanding of time evolves..” and it reminded me of a video I watched about the vast future of the universe and how going further in time sees things happening in time at increasingly larger intervals. This lead me to think that if 3.3 recurring demonstrated through time can go on forever in either direction, getting less dense/slower or more dense/faster it’s somewhat similar to how the universe happens.
– Reference; (Thor Magnusson, 21st February 2019, Sonic Writing: Technologies of Material, Symbolic, and Signal Inscriptions, Physical Book, Pages 3 to 4, Read on 8th January 2021).
– Reference; (Melodysheep, 20 March 2019, TIMELAPSE OF THE FUTURE: A Journey to the End of Time (4K), Online Video, Viewed in 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA>).
I saw a document when studying music cultures in college about Ancient Egyptian pyramids. I wrote:
– “A pyramid is a natural funnel of energy. It sources frequency from the wide base and channels it upwards, projecting it out from the top. This diagram shows the corona [Disbursement of radiation] energy travelling from a tesla coil upwards in a helix. This is what gave the ancient Egyptians the idea that by placing their worshipped dead within the main chambers of the pyramid their soul and life energy would be sent upwards to the stars and their gods. The most commonly known likeness of this idea of physics is the refraction of frequencies of light in a prism.”
– Reference; (Barry Carter, Unknown Date of Publishing, ORMUS and Pyramids, Online Document, Viewed 2018, <http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/tw/pyramids.htm>).