Listening Strategy

We do not listen to music in uniform, fixed, or pseudo-objective ways. Creative practice and research in electroacoustic music have highlighted the ways in which we may perceive different musics in very different manners, and adopt different approaches in our listening. It is also very frequent that different listening strategies may be adopted during the course of a single piece of music. Much learned in this area about listening responses is acknowledged and employed by composers and musicians in their strategies for the creation of electroacoustic music.

It is the perceived salience of aspects of musical surfaces and structures that will lead listeners to adopt different strategies in their listening. For example, we will undoubtedly listen to a fast monophonic sequence of autonomous sonic events in a very different fashion to an immensely dense and slowly evolving granular texture. Similarly, we are likely to listen to narrative in a different manner from a highly abstract musical surface.

Since electroacoustic music is a time-based art, our listening may be highly directed by the musical codes and structuring devices of the composer, or we may be left the freedom to listen in more non-directed ways.

The idea in ecological theories of perception that any stimulus will contain the key to its eventual understanding by the perceiver is perhaps apropos.

Stratégie d'écoute

Nous n'écoutons pas la musique d'une manière uniforme, identique d'une audition à l'autre ou pseudo-objective. En effet, la recherche et la création en musique électroacoustique ont mis en évidence le fait que notre perception et nos approches d'écoutes sont très différentes d'une musique à l'autre. Il est également très fréquent que différentes stratégies d'écoutes soient adoptées durant l'audition d'une seule et même pièce. De nombreux résultats de recherche appris dans ce domaine sont reconnus et utilisés par les compositeurs et les musiciens dans leurs stratégies de création de musique électroacoustique.

C'est la perception des saillances des surfaces et des textures musicales qui guide les auditeurs dans le choix des différentes stratégies d'écoutes. Par exemple, nous écoutons d'une manière totalement différente une séquence d'événements sonores monophoniques rapides et une texture granulaire dense évoluant lentement. De même, nous sommes susceptibles d'écouter différemment une séquence narrative et une séquence musicale totalement abstraite.

Puisque la musique électroacoustique est art du temps, notre écoute peut être fortement guidées par les codes musicaux et les structures élaborées par le compositeur ou être laissée libre de choisir un parcours personnel. Dans ce cas, l'idée, issue des théories naturelle de la perception, que tout stimulus contiendrait la clé de sa compréhension par l'auditeur, est à prendre en compte.

Strategia di ascolto

La musica non viene ascoltata in modo uniforme, fisso o oggettivo. La ricerca e la pratica della musica elettroacustica si è sempre posta il problema di illustrare i modi in cui la musica o le musiche vengono percepite, adottando varie strategie d ascolto. E' molto frequente, nei brani di musica, che differenti modi di ascolto convivano all'interno dello stesso brano. Per questo i compositori e musicisti di musica elettroacustica spesso studiano e utilizzano i vari risultati delle ricerche, per trasformarle in strategie compositive.

L'ascoltatore adotta varie strategie di ascolto a seconda degli aspetti salienti percepiti nelle superfici e nelle strutture musicali. Ad esempio, una sequenza monofonica molto veloce composta di eventi autonomi verrà ascoltata in modo diverso da una tessitura granulare molto densa e lenta. Similmente, una forma narrativa verrà ascoltata in maniera differente rispetto ad una situazione musicale estremamente astratta.

Poiché la musica elettroacustica è un'arte basata sul tempo, l'ascolto può essere direzionato da strategie e codici musicali compositivi, come pure può porsi in maniera libera senza costrizioni. Le teorie ecologiche affermano a questo proposito che ogni stimolo sonoro contiene già in sé stesso la strategia di ascolto più indicata.

Hörstrategie

We do not listen to music in uniform, fixed, or pseudo-objective ways. Creative practice and research in electroacoustic music have highlighted the ways in which we may perceive different musics in very different manners, and adopt different approaches in our listening. It is also very frequent that different listening strategies may be adopted during the course of a single piece of music. Much learned in this area about listening responses is acknowledged and employed by composers and musicians in their strategies for the creation of electroacoustic music.

It is the perceived salience of aspects of musical surfaces and structures that will lead listeners to adopt different strategies in their listening. For example, we will undoubtedly listen to a fast monophonic sequence of autonomous sonic events in a very different fashion to an immensely dense and slowly evolving granular texture. Similarly, we are likely to listen to narrative in a different manner from a highly abstract musical surface.

Since electroacoustic music is a time-based art, our listening may be highly directed by the musical codes and structuring devices of the composer, or we may be left the freedom to listen in more non-directed ways.

The idea in ecological theories of perception that any stimulus will contain the key to its eventual understanding by the perceiver is perhaps apropos.

Estrategia de escucha

Nosotros no escuchamos a la música de un modo uniforme, fijo o pseudo-objetivo. La práctica y la investigación creativa en el campo de la música electroacústica han hecho hincapié en las formas en las que podemos percibir diferentes músicas de distintos modos, y adoptar enfoques diferentes en nuestra escucha. Es también frecuente adoptar diferentes estrategias de escucha durante el curso de una misma pieza musical. Mucho de lo que se ha aprendido en este campo acerca de las respuestas hacia la escucha es atribuído y empleado por compositores y músicos en sus estrategias para la creación de música electroacústica.

Lo que conducirá a adoptar diferentes estrategias de escucha son aquellos aspectos de las superficies y estructuras musicales percibidos como salientes. Por ejemplo, nosotros indudablemente escucharemos a una rápida secuencia monofónica de eventos sonoros autónomos de un modo muy diferente a una textura granular densa y que evoluciona lentamente. De modo similar, podríamos escuchar la narrativa de manera diferente si nos posicionáramos en una superficie musical extremadamente abstracta.

Dado que la música electroacústica es un arte temporal, nuestra escucha puede estar claramente dirigida por los códigos musicales y los recursos estructurantes del compositor, o nos pueden haber dejado la libertad de escuchar de modos menos pautados.

Tal vez sea pertinente en este contexto mencionar la idea de las teorías ecológicas de la percepción, que dice que cualquier estímulo contendrá la clave para su eventual comprensión por quien lo percibe.

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