Orchestrating the Chimera: Musical Hybrids, Technology and the Development of a

"Maximalist" Musical Style

Author(s): David A. Jaffe
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 5 (1995), pp. 11-18
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513155 .
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ARTIST'S ARTICLE

Orchestrating the Chimera:

Musical Hybrids, Technology
ABSTRACT
and the Development of a
Thisarticledescribes the
"Maximalist" Musical Style "maximalist" approach
takesinhismusical
theauthor
composition.
Thisapproach embraces hetero-
geneityandallowsforcomplex
systemsofjuxtapositions andcol-
lisions,inwhichalloutsideinflu-
David A. Jaffe encesareviewedas potential raw
material. Thefocushereis onthe
notionof hybridization,inwhich
twoormoresharply defined and
highlycontrastingaspectsof ex-
perience arecombined to pro-
ducesomething thatis bothalien
THE MAXIMALISTIMPULSE ingly emphatic character. Like andstrangely familiar.
Recent
the primordial fire-breathing technological advances haveal-
An important aspect of much of my compositional work over lowedhybridizationto extendinto
the last 20 years-and one that has been gaining momentum Chimera, with her lion's head, therealmsofthesynthesis of
in contemporary art in general-has been what could be goat's body and serpent's tail, sounditself,theensemble rela-
they conjure a wealth of conflict- tionship between musical lines
called a "maximalist" (or, perhaps, "inclusive") attitude to-
andtheconnection between per-
ward material. Rather than seeking a rarefied, pure style free ing associations and provide a former andinstrument.
of outside references, I embrace heterogeneity, with all its glimpse into the realm of the
contradictions, and view all outside influences as potential mystical, in the form of the rec-
raw material from which something idiosyncratic and sharply onciliation of the irreconcilable.
defined may be created. My works in this vein are based on
interrelationships, juxtapositions and collisions and draw HYBRID SOUNDS
upon material as diverse as folk musics from around the
If challenged to imagine a "new"sound-one that has never
world, popular music, jazz and historical Western concert
music styles from many periods, as well as ideas derived from been heard-a person is likely to make reference to some-
such far-flung fields as literature, visual art, science and phi- thing familiar in the attempt at coming up with something
unfamiliar. One might say to oneself, "it has the strength of
losophy. Because of the extreme diversity of the pool of po-
tential raw material, such compositions tend to sound quite the ocean surf combined with the singing quality of a violin."
different from one another on the surface. Nevertheless, a This is the hybrid solution to coming up with a new sound.
common theme runs through all of them: the merging of Digital computers make it possible to create just such hybrids
at the basic level of sound production itself. These is done by
fundamentally incompatible material and the working out of
the dynamic this process sets into motion. The final effect selecting idiosyncratic aspects of one sound source and com-
expresses something of the fragmented and hybrid nature of bining them with different but equally idiosyncratic aspects of
another source, producing a new synthetic source with the
contemporary identity.
For me, the choice of basic material is a key precomposi- fully formed aspects of its two parents. The result may be a
tional decision with a generative influence as pervasive as the simple extension of a known family (such as a contra-contra-
choice of the 12-tone row was for Schoenberg and his follow- bass flute), or it may be a bizarre deviation.
ers. It sets up oppositions and parallels, which give rise to pos-
sibilities that can be developed and structured. The mate- ImpossibleAnimals
rials themselves may be coarse grain, such as entire musical In 1985, I was commissioned to compose a piece for chorus
and synthesized voices which I named ImpossibleAnimals [1].
styles, or fine-grain slices cut at some very particular angle.
With the notion of creating a fanciful exploration of the
Examples I have used include the patterned melodic struc-
ture of bluegrass banjo melodies, the abortive fracturing of boundary between human and animal behavior (as well as the
forward motion in the last movement of the Debussy String boundary between nature and imagination), I wrote a text
about imaginary animals seen while looking at clouds. The
Quartet, the relationship of solo parts to an underlying im-
text describes several composite animals ("allama with a llama
plied basic rhythm in Afro-Cuban percussion and the rapid,
fragmented orchestration of Strauss's Rosenkavalier.By using belly ... his neck is made of an opossum carrying another
these elements as breeding stock, it is possible to create, in opossum in his mouth .... "), concluding with a description of
effect, hybrid musical styles. a more familiar-though no less unlikely-beast ("has an up-
The results are even more startling when this approach is right posture, has an opposable thumb, has the ability to com-
extended to the world of computer music, where sounds and
instruments themselves can be hybridized, and the very con- David A. Jaffe (composer, educator, programmer), 295 Purdue Avenue, Kensington, CA
94708, U.S.A. E-mail: <david@jaffe.com>.
nection between performer and instrument can be chal- WW7,WURL: <http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/~daj>.

lenged. The resulting creatures, compounded as they are Received 28 February 1995.
from fundamentally incongruous parts, can be of a frighten- Manuscript solicited by Ricardo Dal Farra.

LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 5, pp. 11-18, 1995 11

? 1995 ISAST

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Fig. 1. Block diagram showing the process of transforming the song of a winter wren into the
half-human/half-bird hybrid used in the composition ImpossibleAnimals. Dark boxes show
source material. Circles show computer processing. Lines with arrows show data paths.
municate by means of organized speech
and a variety of symbolic systems"). To
complement this text, I searched for a
computer technique that could create a
hybrid between human and animal
sounds.
Figure 1 illustrates the process that
created the hybrid. I began with a bird
song recording of a winter wren (Troglo-
dytes troglodytes), chosen for its remark-
able length and variety.With the aid of a
Fourier-based analysis program called
PARSHL [2], I split the bird song into
basic sinusoidal components and
tracked each one through time. The re-
sult of this process was a set of extremely
finely resolved contours of frequency
and amplitude.
Armed with this mass of analysis data,
I began the task of shaping it to the mu-
12 Jlaffe, Orchestrating the Chimera
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a cabulary provided by MIDI instruments
m [4]), but also fluid phrases with vowels
p that change gradually and pitches that
time
outputwaveform
sical situation at hand. First I slowed the
bird song by a large factor, but without
changing its pitch. Then I lowered the
pitch by a different factor, bringing it
into the range of the human voice.
(These operations were made possible
by the fact that the analysis program
provides a parametric representation of
the sound.) As the wren trills were
slowed and transposed downward in
pitch, they became repeated phrases. I
was shocked to hear the wren seem to
turn into a northern mockingbird
(Mimus polyglottos)!
My eventual goal was to create a syn-
thesized vocal solo that would soar above
the live chorus. To do this, I needed to
tune the pitch of the bird solo to that of
the chorus, but it was not clear how to
tune material that is trilling or sliding in
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
pitch. So I wrote a series of computer
programs to transform the analysis data.
The first searches for quiet spots between
phrases. When it finds such a location, it
marks it as a new segment. The result is a
set of separate mini-phrases, or "chirps."
The second program takes this data and
shapes the pitch range dynamically, as
specified in the musical score, providing
a kind of meta-control over the dramatic
contour of the bird song. The third pro-
gram looks for places where the pitch is
relatively constant. When it finds such a
pitch plateau, it retunes the segment to
be in harmony with a series of jazz-style
chords that the live chorus sings. Since
sliding pitches are not perceived to have
a particular pitch, the program leaves
them alone.
The final step was the most revealing:
the bird song was rendered by a syn-
thetic human vocalist. This was achieved
with the aid of the Chant synthesis sys-
tem [3], which represents human sing-
ing by a series of glottal pulses, reso-
nated according to vocal-tract impulse
responses. This technique allows transi-
tions between the notes of a musical
phrase to be synthesized by simply inter-
polating from one pulse resonance
shape to another. In this manner, it can
synthesize not just a series of separate
isolated notes (as is too often the vo-
slide from one note to another. Param-
eters of the Chant system include the
vowel to be sung and various aspects of
vocal performance, such as vocal effort.
Using yet another home-brew pro-
gram, I applied the wren-derived pitch
contour to the transitions between a se-
ries of human vowels. For example, the
lowest pitch might correspond to "Ah,"
the highest pitch to "Ee"and the pitches
between to "Oo," "Uh" and "I."As the
pitch glides up, the vocal synthesis
gradually shifts from vowel to vowel, pro-
ducing "Ah-Oo-Uh-I-Ee,"as well as the
transitions between each adjacent pair
of vowels. Because this pitch-to-vowel
mapping is constantly in effect, even
during extremely rapid trills, this tech-
nique renders ornaments with a natural,
unmechanistic sound. For additional va-
riety, I used different sets of vowels as
the music progressed. This creates the
illusion that the imaginary animal is pro-
nouncing different words in some un-
known language.
Finally, I resynthesized the data into a
new and greatly transformed rendition
of the original bird song. The result is a
true hybrid, as if the brain of a winter 13
wren had been transplanted to a wildly IV. New York Version
J=90
gifted human singer. Yet there is noth- pizzs., (without Dog) ord.
ont . L.H. ssccato -i
ing "intermediate" about it; it does not Swnra vi6w t
l r .k_.\--^. ?rrf
erd_
o0l ^.? ,
id tasto
-
S1Ap I L. I
sound like a compromise between a bird
and a voice. Rather, it is a peculiar muta-
Jd
SXu;: Iv. - r- -0
tion of bird and voice, with its own pow- 1 S-G
-- ),
SWm I
I....-.
erful identity. When this solo is com- Itfu pont. o
sI^O taso ord.
bined with the live chorus, the effect is L,~~~~~~
5
weirdly evocative, a solo vocalise of utter-
ances full of emotion, sung by a member bg~~~? bf--5-?i; '1
T"-f
r t

of a species that has never existed. Si1 tas to

The combination of such highly con- 4 SAlu . are

trasting components in a single musical m '-'
m P
context results in a music that is at once 1-3-' sul C )
both radically challenging and strangely pont. ord. ' z
reminiscent of past experience. The ef- *
fect is similar to that of a cubist painting: [,^ .'w- r ~
.f
a nose may be sticking out sidewaysfrom
the wrong side of the head, but its iden- /-s ^\ ^-\ con sord.
Jcn ..4tz

tification as a nose gives it an expressive 5 st t f - - * 1

power that an abstract shape would not ,
non-pixx. n -ponion ,ceUo
or
l.
have, while simultaneously setting up a S.l pont.66 6 6con'ir.6
rich network of associations with every-
day life. The result can be something
quite alien, but with a strong, hauntingly 11 y I
familiar identity, like a vision from a
8 - X -X
-'t- - i
long-forgotten childhood dream. tremolo I
'
pizz. strtu
(without snaps) r.
Abstractions of Familiar Sounds i
Aja .i.
One hybridization technique that I have ;l i , iJ;
found particularly effective is abstrac- L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ v
tion. Beginning with what may be called in a jazz styl *)
>---
17 : V
"concrete" stylistic elements (those with : >m>

a high degree of predictability and fa-

miliarity,strong tonality, regular rhythm,
etc.), I introduce elements of irregular-
ity and unpredictability. A familiar style L? L, '- J J t
)
-'"i,t
a Se
J-J- ']J,
t ro i suc ry no te
....J~-
r,i,... r r r r f I
may emerge from a primarily abstract tA
f PP :.;AAr-f, 0
context, as shown in Fig. 2, an excerpt ")fo introductory notof

from the fourth movement of ThreeMu-

sicians, for viola and guitar [5], in which
a pointillistic pizzicato duet is gradually
transformed into a jazz duo. Alterna-
tively, a familiar style itself may be ab-
stracted, as shown in Fig. 3, taken from
the third movement of ThreeMusicians.
Here, bluegrass-music idioms are frac-
tured and distorted so as to break up the
regularity of the material, freeing it
from its conventional formal context
and allowing it to be "deconstructed,"
reinterpreted and used as fodder for my
own processes of organization.
Like hybridization, abstraction can be
extended to the domain of sound syn-
thesis. A particularly effective technique
begins with a computer simulation of an
actual physical sound-producing mecha-
nism and extends this model along
physical dimensions such as string thick-
ness, stiffness and tightness. This tech-
nique is known as physical modeling (or
virtual acoustics or waveguide synthesis)
Fig. 2. An excerpt from the fourth movement of the composition ThreeMusicians, illustrat-
ing the emergence of a jazz duo from an abstract pointillistic context.
[6,7], in contrast with conventional seriously limited. To solve these prob-
waveform synthesis techniques, which lems, I teamed up with Julius Smith,
provide no clear path to extending the who had been working on similar ap-
sound in physically meaningful ways [8]. proaches to bowed-string synthesis. He
My experience with physical model- recognized the technique as a simplified
ing dates back to 1980, when I was com- physical model and together we applied
missioned to write May All YourChildren signal processing techniques to it.
Be Acrobats,for guitar ensemble, mezzo- The resulting synthesis technique
soprano and tape [9]. I was searching [11], shown in Fig. 4, is composed of a
for a synthesis method to complement network of processing modules, each in-
the sound of the acoustic guitars and dicated in the figure by a box. Thick
had the good fortune to find myself in a lines from one box to another represent
chamber music ensemble with violist signal paths computed at the sound sam-
Alex Strong, who had just discovered a pling rate. Thin lines and arrows show
revolutionary plucked-string synthesis control parameters that change irregu-
technique [10]. I began applying his larly, possibly as a result of asynchronous
technique in a musical context and input, to create expressive variation. The
found that, while it produced quite con- computation done by each module is in-
vincing string sounds, its expressivitywas dicated by text inside its box; its role in

Jaffe, Orchestrating the Chimera 13

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 10 context of great variation. Unlike a
sampled sound, it can be stretched and
III. Fanfare for the Second Musician warped beyond the bounds of ordinary
physical experience, without ever leaving
the realm of string-like identity. For ex-
ample, for Silicon ValleyBreakdown[13], I
modeled a string with colossal thickness,
with a sound (beginning at 13:30') simi-
lar to what one would hear if it were pos-
sible to pluck a cable of the Golden Gate
Bridge. Each note of this mega-string
consists of 20 parallel strings, each of
these slightly mistuned and having its
own decay characteristic and location in
quadraphonic space. The complex beat-
ing pattern this sets up actually leaps
around the space, shifting over time as
the various strings decay. (This effect is,
unfortunately, only suggested in the ste-
reo version of the piece.)
Later in the piece, I exploit the simi-
larity between string resonance and
room reverberation to create hybrids
that flip from one identity to another.
Near the climax (12:09'), a series of
chords is played, building up a great
deal of resonance in the strings. I then
redefine the string physical model as a
reverberation system and play contrast-
ing material through it (12:34'). This
material, a rising glissando with a rich
harmonic spectrum, beats in a complex
manner as the harmonics move in and
16 out of the resonant peaks of the strings.
rrn '^.,1-- i
i
] _Ii I
-^f.
The situation has a direct physical ana-
logue-it is similar to playing an instru-
3 3 ment into a piano with the pedal
down-but differs from the physical sce-
nario in that none of the direct energy is
OjaA-?.OAj heard; the entire effect is created by the
resonance of the string model. I then
Fig. 3. An excerpt from the third movement of the composition ThreeMusicians, illustrat-
reverse this process (13:04'), going from
ing fragmentation and distortion as techniques of abstraction of bluegrass music.
a reverberation effect to one of string
resonance by performing a glissando on
the physical model is given in parenthe- real-world counterpart does. Rapid the reverberating strings, using discrete
ses. For example, the string is modeled changes in these control parameters steps. Each of these steps introduces
as a "delay line" that feeds its signal to a produce complex dynamic effects in the some high-frequency energy into the
low-passfilter that models the frequency- sound synthesis, which may even exceed string, producing a "pluck" sound that
dependent dissipation of energy along our understanding. That is, we need not instantly transforms the resonant room
the string. "Stringlength" is a parameter know what happens in the acoustic wave- back into a string. Such sleight-of-hand
that affects the string's pitch, as is the form in a particular musical situation; is made possible by the immutable
case with a real string. Other terms used the synthesis technique automatically string-like identity of the physical mod-
in Fig. 4 are defined in the glossary. Re- provides the correct natural response. eling technique, which allows great
cent developments [12] have shown that Parameters include those traditionally variation in the context of a well-defined
any pizzicato instrument can be simu- in the domain of the performer, such as timbral identity.
lated by exciting the string with the reso- pick position and dynamics, as well as
nances of the body of the instrument. those historically crafted by the instru-
HYBRID ENSEMBLE
This technique, being a physical ment maker, such as string flexibility,
model, has a number of features that string thickness, resonant qualities of RELATIONSHIPS
make it well suited to the creation of the body, and decay characteristics. All SiliconValleyBreakdowndeals with hybrid-
sound abstractions. First, its parameters of these are now available as time-vary- ization on higher levels as well. Its entire
not only mimic the behavior of a real ing performance parameters. formal structure grows out of an opposi-
string, but actually controlthe synthetic Another advantage of the technique is tion between concrete bluegrass music
simulation in the same manner as its its ability to retain its identity, even in the and a much more abstract atonal music,

14 Jaffe, Orchestrating the Chimera

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the latter based on a 12-tone row. These axis) at the same time (indicated by the
styles begin in stark opposition and y axis). Curves produce tempos that con-
gradually hybridize as the piece tinuously speed up or slow down. Figure
progresses, exchanging attributes and 5c shows two time maps that begin to-
eventually merging into a single synthetic gether, gradually diverge, then gradually
style (15:05'). The hybridization process converge, etc. This is a simplified version
proceeds in a multitude of ways. One es- of the map used in Silicon ValleyBreak-
bartime
pecially compelling transformation in- down,in which I distorted bluegrass mu-
volves abstracting the ensemble relation- sic using several sinusoidal deviations
ship between the synthetic performers. from the linear time map applied to
I began with a desire to abstract and multiple simultaneous instances of a
distort the familiar ensemble relation- melody, each with a different amplitude
ship of simulated performers in a blue- of deviation. The ensemble begins to-
grass music ensemble. However, I did gether (4:43'), but then the parts deviate
not want to sacrifice precise control over in complex ways, gradually returning to
where the points of coincidence occur. perfect synchrony at a precisely defined bartime
In order to solve these competing point in the score. The pseudo-banjo en-
needs, I developed a new technique semble has its own time map, which is
called the time map [14], which de- distinct from that of the pseudo-bass en-
scribes transformations from bar time semble. These two maps have contrast-
(time as traditionally represented on the ing synchronization points-as the ban-
musical page) to clock time (actual jos are coming into synchrony,the basses
times at which the musical events are are at their point of maximal deviation
performed). This technique can sup- from unison ensemble. The effect is
port wild, independent tempo devia- similar to that of a camera that goes out
tions for different parts, with no sacri- of focus, with near objects quickly losing
fice of the ability to predict exactly when their focus and distant objects gradually bartime
and where coincidences happen. brought into focus. By varying the de-
A number of time maps are shown in gree of deviation from the linear (i.e. the Fig. 5. Sample time maps. A is the identity
time map. B is a time map with two inter-
Fig. 5. The linear time map (Fig. 5a) sinusoidal amplitude), the ensemble ef-
secting trajectories, each composed of tem-
with slope 1.0 is simply the identity map- fect moves from unison to heterophony
pos that change in discrete steps. C is a
ping. Figure 5b shows two trajectories: and finally to polyphony. time map employing two trajectories with
trajectory 1 begins quickly, with a slope continuously varying tempos.
greater than 1.0, then abruptly changes HYBRID PERFORMANCE
to a slower tempo, with slope less than instruments or hyper-instruments, allow
1.0, while trajectory 2 begins slowly,then SITUATIONS a performer's gestures to be decoupled
abruptly changes to a faster tempo. The A different approach to hybrid en- from the physical sound-producing
point at which the two trajectories cross semble relationships becomes available mechanism of the musical instrument.
corresponds to a simultaneity-that is, when live performers join their com- The sensor measures the performer's
both parts are at the same point in the puter counterparts. Modern perfor- actions and describes this information
score (indicated by the value of the x mance sensors, sometimes called virtual to a computer, which then translates
these actions into any desired musical
excitation(pluck) initalstring result. This transformation gives rise to
new species of hybrids concerned with
pick pickforce Fig. 4. Signal-pro- performance control itself.
low pass filter
direction& (dynamiceffect) (musical cessing block dia-
hardness dynamic gram of the
~I ???~level)
Karplus/Strong Softening the Boundaries
comb filter locationof
plucked string with Between Instruments
(pickpositioneffect) pickalong
.~I~P~msnpp Istring Jaffe/Smith exten- In order to explore the softening of the
sions. Dark lines
adder delay line
boundaries that normally distinguish one
and arrows indicate
(bridge) " (string) instrument from another, I teamed up
signal paths; light
stringlength lines and arrows in- with percussionist/composer Andrew
dicate parameters Schloss in an improvisational duo called
allpassfilter lowpassfilter available for ex- Wildlife[15,16]. Our hardwareconfigura-
(stringinharmonicity) (stringdissipation) pressive variation. tion is shown in Fig. 6. I play the Zeta vio-
string
stiffness
sting
resonantfilter
lin, a hybrid instrument that is both am-
damping body shape
couplingfrom
and sustain (body resonances) plified violin and MIDI performance
otherstrings sensor, while Schloss plays the Boie/
scaler scaler MathewsRadio-Drum [17,18], a three-di-
(degree of otherstrings (sympatheticvibration) (degree of mensional sensor with two independent
coupling) coupling)
/'
mallets that provides six distinct degrees
counnlina to
otherstrings sound of freedom. (The name "Radio-Drum"
output stems from the use of radio signals to lo-

Jaffe, Orchestrating the Chimera 15

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Electric/MIDIviolin
. -. . I
Violinpedals
T_...
TG-77Synthesizer
Audio Mixer
Loudspeakers
cate the two mallets in space.) The ges-
tural output of these two virtual instru-
ments is processed by two computers in
series: a Macintosh computer running
Max software [19] and a NeXT computer
running Music Kit [20] and Ensemble
[21] software. Sound is synthesized by a
Yamaha TG77 synthesizer, the NeXT's
DSP and a Macintosh Sample Cell card.
This arrangement allows sounding notes
and timbres to depend on both of our
actions, as when a violin glissando
changes the pitch of chords played on
the Radio-Drum. Additionally, we allow
the computers themselves a degree of
autonomy so they too become active par-
ticipants in the musical discourse. Our
performance actions cause the comput-
ers to spawn independent processes, au-
tonomous artificial "lifeforms" that
breed, propagate, compete and interact
with us in a manner that may be symbi-
otic, parasitic or benign.
There is an inherent danger in this
domain. It is easy for the performers,
the computers and the audience to lose
the connection between the gesture and
the musical result, leading to a state of
meaningless chaos. Much of the work in
developing Wildlifeinvolved finding in-
teraction schemes that inspired us as
performers. The schemes that work best
give us a great deal of freedom, but pro-
vide mechanisms for reining in the com-
16 Jaffe, Orchestrating the Chimera
o - o~~~~~~- tween the violinist and the Radio-Drum
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
.....
Radio drum Fig. 6. Hardware
configurationof the
..I Il
Wildlifeimprovisa-
Radio Drumpedals
tional duo. The
dark lines and ar-
Macintosh lici
rowsindicatestereo
audio-signalpaths,
the light lines and
Max
Software arrows indicate con-
trol signal paths
(such as MIDI).
Sample Cell
Card
J
_. __
plexity. Two examples may help clarify
the sense of such a "computer-extended
ensemble."
The first movement begins with a
simple interaction scheme, allowing the
audience to clearly perceive the causal-
ity between a performed action and the
resulting sound [22]. The violin pro-
duces synthesized piano-like sounds via
a set of chord mappings, each of which
specifies a chord produced by the com-
puter when the violin plays a particular
pitch. The Radio-Drum performer
chooses which of several sets of such
mappings is active. For example, one set
produces chords derived from chro-
matic tone clusters, while another pro-
duces a different octave displacement
for each pitch. The Radio-Drum is parti-
tioned in half, allowing the performer
to play either single notes or chords,
with the Radio-Drum's x axis controlling
register, its y axis controlling duration
and its z axis controlling loudness. Over-
laying this partition is a grid that the
performer activates with a foot pedal to
select the active chord-mapping set.
When the grid is active, the familiar ges-
ture of striking the drum is abstracted
from its normal function and has the
drastic result of changing the harmoni-
zation of the violinist's melody.
The second movement introduces a
further degree of interdependence be-
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performer. As the violinist improvises a
slow, sustained melody, the computer
listens and remembers the pitches most
recently played. The Radio-Drum per-
former can then replay these pitches in
any order, with any rhythm and with
various instrumental timbres. Moving
left along the Radio-Drum corresponds
to a move further back in time, while
moving to the far right gives access to
pitches played most recently. Thus,
both players direct the flow of the mu-
sic, with the violinist continuously speci-
fying the available pitches and the Ra-
dio-Drum performer affecting the
degree of harmonic contrast.
Cross-Instrument Hybrids
I used an entirely different approach to
instrument hybridization in The Seven
Wondersof the Ancient World[23], an ex-
pansive 70-min piano concerto in seven
movements. The piece is scored for
Yamaha Disklavier grand piano, which is
controlled by the Radio-Drum and ac-
companied by an ensemble of eight in-
struments (harp, harpsichord, mando-
lin, guitar, bass, harmonium and two
percussionists). This is a purely acoustic
computer piece-there are no loud-
speakers. Similarly, nobody sits at the pi-
ano. Instead, the piano plays itself in re-
sponse to the physical gestures of the
Radio-Drum performer, as interpreted
by a computer. This configuration allows
the idioms, cliches and expressive vo-
cabulary of one instrumental tradition
to be transplanted onto the physical
sound-producing mechanism of an-
other. The language of percussion mu-
sic, with its rolls, bounces and flams,
speaks through the voice of the piano,
with its own deep and vastly different
tradition [24].
The Seven Wonders motif was sug-
gested by the grand, monumental and
yet very unpianistic sounds that the Ra-
dio-Drum-to-Disklavier mapping makes
possible. The motif also fits well with my
interest in great contrasts, as the Won-
ders reveal a crosshatch of parallels and
oppositions. Two deal with death-the
Pyramids and the Mausoleum. The
Hanging Gardens glorify cultivated na-
ture, while Artemis is the goddess of wil-
derness. The two statues invoke the
heavens-Zeus, the god of thunder and
rain; and the sun god of the Colossus of
Rhodes.
The primary challenge in the creation
of this piece was to find ways of using
the Drum-Piano hybrid idiomatically
and to exploit each component's
 one another. This is done using a real-
time performance time map. The
Drum's x axis determines how far the
voices move out of synchronization. As
the mallet moves to the right, the voices
move from unison rhythm to a kind of
heterophony and eventually to a
canonic texture.
Throughout the piece, the Drum-Pi-
I-, Pa;o ano hybrid plays music that would be
O(.c[
? f l{+ peaL^i o,n nsit )'" p?tyer'

Pel.
awkwardor impossible if played by a con-
ventional pianist. For example, the first
movement ("The Pyramids")focuses on
ponderous massive blocks of sound, each
comprising all 88 notes of the piano. I
devised a mapping of the Drum in which
the computer plays all 88 notes of the pi-
ano each time the soloist strikes the
Drum surface. The speed at which the
notes are played corresponds to the loca-
(

-it r\ Ci \ l tion along the y axis, while their loudness

f2.
( I
(?ui~).[. Lif)J,t-
fi'.
*) clUorLl Mhe,c-il G,ri-
V
ly^A,i&;.. nk y Var;n
oe
(Tr,7+'^r ^hr
i J i,8
D *1 l ' i
Fig. 7. An excerpt from "The Statue of Zeus," the third movement
the Ancient World,showing the Radio-Drum part switching between a "sequential drum"
mode, in which pitches are predetermined, and a quasi-improvisational mode, in which
pitch depends on the location along the x axis of the Radio-Drum.
strengths while avoiding its weaknesses.
The Disklavier restrictions include a
maximum of 16 simultaneous notes and
a limited repetition rate for any one
note. The Radio-Drum has its own limi-
tations. While it is excellent for virtuosic
rapid passages and simultaneous control
of multiple independent variables, it is
poor at picking out a particular value
from a large set, such as the keys of a pi-
ano. So, whenever possible, I structured
the piece around improvisational sce-
narios that allow the soloist a great deal
of freedom within the constraints-im-
posed through software programming-
of a particular sound vocabulary. In such
a context, I leave behind the role of the
traditional composer, who specifies what
will be played. Instead, I circumscribe an
area that defines what can be played.
The challenge becomes to allow the so-
loist sufficient flexibility for free expres-
sion, while providing sufficient con-
straints so that anything that he or she
I is determined by how hard the soloist
if- ,
ff&. ons . oi..1,.
i , &4 D np.
1pcy
ctaib Dr.un ;n CoAinuolraO (W wit, X v*ryingcAtr,ttt
rhy4h;^'.l ucrl. weltl
As as ckotA
+tv. l Cttceisft"lci.
A,-tl?, hc<,ts ef+<)
12 _ note glissandi, 8 groups of 11-note
I I
of The Seven Wondersof
can possibly express will be meaningful
in the context of the composed piece.
This solution works well for impro-
vised cadenzas, but is inadequate for
situations in which exact pitches are re-
quired. One alternative is the sequential
drumapproach [25], in which notes or
phrases of a prestored sequence are
played successively each time the soloist
strikes the Radio-Drum surface. Down-
ward-facing arrows in the score indicate
the Radio Drum rhythm and the con-
ventional notation shows the resultant
pitches. For example, in Fig. 7, the Ra-
dio-Drum plays for one measure in se-
quential mode, then moves into a quasi-
improvisational gesture.
An interesting variant of this ap-
proach is used in the second movement
of TheSevenWonders("The Hanging Gar-
den of Babylon"). Here, a precomposed
melody plays, duplicated at several trans-
position levels, while the soloist controls
the drifting of the voices with respect to
strikes the Drum. Meanwhile, the x axis
controls the correlation of the notes. The
far right edge gives the most correlated
effect, a single 88-note chromatic
fi . F
j ctoV Z
v7 yiA glissando, while the far left edge provides
the least correlated effect, 88 notes in
random order. Between these extremes
are such combinations as 4 groups of 22-
glissandi, etc. Multiple instances of this
process can be active at once, allowing
for a great deal of improvisationalvariety,
despite the severe constraint that each
Drum stroke must produce 88 notes.
SUMMARY
The maximalist attitude, which can in-
corporate any aspect of experience as
basic material, opens expressive vistas of
great expanse. It also enables a particu-
lar brand of radicalism that stems from a
willingness to embrace the strange and
unfamiliar, such as the Chimera-like hy-
brids presented here. In my application
of the hybridization procedure to such
diverse domains as musical style, sound
production, ensemble synchronization
and the coupling between a performer's
gestures and his or her instrument, I
have found it a fertile area of explora-
tion with the potential for fostering
compelling artistic statement.
Acknowledgments
Many of the ideas presented here were inspired by
the music of Henry Brant and Charles Ives. Thanks
also to composers Joel Chadabe, John Chowning,
Karel Husa, Paul Lansky, Marta Ptaszynska and
Leland Smith, and to my collaborators, Andrew
Schloss andJulius Smith. The Radio-Drum part in
TheSeven Wondersof theAncientWorldwas developed
in collaboration with Andrew Schloss, using his ex-

Jaffe, Orchestrating the Chimera 17

This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:00:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
tensive work vith the Radio-Drum as a foundation.
This piece was supported in part by a Collaborative
Composer Fellowship from the National Endow-
merit for the Arts, a U.S. federal agency. Impossible
Animals was commissioned by the Hamilton Col-
lege Chorus, while May All YourChildrenBe Acrobats
vas commissioned by David Starobin for the Pur-
chase Guitar Ensemble. Finally, thanks to Carol
Adee, Kitsten Spalding and Robert Cowart for sug-
gestions on this manuscript.
References
1. D. Jaffe, ImpossibleAnimals, for chorus and syn-
thesized voices; 10'. Also versions for SATB soloists
and synthesized voices; violin and synthesized
voices; oboe and synthesized voices; and five winds
and synthesized voices (Berkeley, CA: Well-Tem-
pered Prodtctions, 1986).
2. J.O. Smith and X. Serra, "PARSHL:A Program
for the Analysis/Synthesis of Inharmonic Sounds
Based on a Sinusoidal Representation," Proceedings
of the 1987 International ComputerMusic Conference,
JUrbana, Illinois (1987).
3. See X.O. Rodet, "Time Domain Formant Wave
Function Synthesis," ComputerMusicJournal8, No. 3,
9-14 (1984).
4. MIDI MlanuJacturersAssociationMIDI 1.0 Detailed
Specification (Los Angeles, CA: The International
MIDI Association, 1988).
5. D. Jaffe, Thr-eeMusicians, for viola and guitar; 11'
(Berkeley, CA: Well-Tempered Productions, 1986).
6. J.O. Smith, "Physical Modeling Using Digital
Wavegtuides,"ComputerMusicJournal 16, No. 4, 74-
87 (1992).
7. Mclntyre and Woodhouse, "On the Oscillations
of Musical Instruments," Journal of the Acoustical So-
ciety '/America63, No. 3, 816-825 (1983).
8. J.O. Smith, "Viewpoints on the History of Digital
Synthesis," Proceedingsof the 1991 InternationalCom-
piter Music ConJerence, Montreal, Canada (1991) pp.
1-10.
9. D. Jaffe, MlayAll YourChildren Be Acrobats, for
mezzo-soprano, eight guitars and computer-gener-
ated tape; 16' (Berkeley, CA: Well-Tempered Pro-
dutctions, 1980).
10. A. Strong and K. Karplus, "Digital Synthesis of
Plucked String and Drum Timbres," ComputerMusic
Journal 7, No. 2, 43-55 (1983). Reprinted in C.
Roads, ed., 'he Music Machine (Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, 1989).
11. D. Jaffe and J.O. Smith, "Extensions of the
Karplus-Strong Plucked String Algorithm," Com-
puter Music Journal 7, No. 2, 56-69 (1983). Re-
printed in Roads [10].
12. J.O. Sniith, "Efficient Simulation of Stringed
Musical Instl-uments," Proceedingsof the 1993 Inter-
national ComputerMusic Conference,7bkyo(1993) pp.
64-71.
13. D. Jaffe, Silicon ValleyBreakdown,for stereo com-
pulter-generated tape; 20' (Mainz, Germany: B.
Schott's Sihne Interniational, 1988). Also, version
for four-channel corputter-generated tape; 20'
(Berkeley, (A: Well-Tempered Productions, 1982).
14. D. Jaffe, "Ensemble Timing in Computer Mu-
sic," (ComputerMusic Journal9, No. 4, 38-48 (1985).
18 Jlafe, Orclhestrating the Chimera
This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:00:35 PM
15. D. Jaffe and A. Schloss, Wildlife,22'30" (Berke-
ley, CA: Well-Tempered Productions, 1992).
16. D. Jaffe and A. Schloss, "The Computer-Ex-
tended Ensemble," ComputerMusicJournal 18, No.
2, pp. 78-86 (1994).
17. R. A. Boie, L. W. Ruedisueli and E. R. Wagner,
"Gesture Sensing via Capacitive Moments," Work
Project No. 311401-(2099,2399) (Murray Hill, N.J.:
AT&T Bell Laboratories, 1989).
18. M. V. Mathews and A. Schloss, "The Radio-
Drum as a Synthesizer Controller," Proceedingsof the
International ComputerMusic Conference,Colombus,
Ohio (1989).
19. M. Puckette and D. Zicarelli, "Max," OpCode
Systems, Palo Alto, CA (1989).
20.J. 0. Smith, D. A. Jaffe and L. Boynton, "Music
System Architecture on the NeXT Computer," Pro-
ceedingsof the 88th Audio EngineeringSocietyConven-
tion (Los Angeles, 1989).
21. M. McNabb, "Ensemble, An Extensible Real-
Time Performance Environment," Proceedingsof the
89th Audio EngineeringSocietyConvention(Los Ange-
les, 1990).
22. A. Schloss and D. Jaffe, "Intelligent Musical In-
struments: The Future of Musical Performance or
the Demise of the Performer?" InterfaceJournalfor
New Music Research 22, No. 3, 183-193 (1993).
23. D. Jaffe, The Seven Wondersof the Ancient World,
for Radio-Drum-controlled Disklavier Grand Pi-
ano, mandolin, guitar, harp, harpsichord,
harmonium, bass and two percussionists; 70' (Ber-
keley, CA: Well-Tempered Productions, 1995). Ra-
dio-Drum part developed in collaboration with An-
dreswSchloss.
24. D. Jaffe and A. Schloss, "A Virtual Piano Con-
certo Coupling of the Boie/Mathews Radio-Drum
and the Yamaha Disklavier Grand Piano in The
Seven Wondersof theAncient World,"Proceedingsof the
1994 InternationalComputerMusic Conference, Aarhus,
Denmark(1994).
25. M.V. Mathews, "The Conductor Program and
Mechanical Baton," in M. V. Mathews andJ. R.
Pierce, eds., CurrentDirections in ComputerMusic
(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989).
Discography
David A. Jaffe, XXIst century mandolin, acoustic and
computermusicfor the mandolinbyDavid A. Jaffe, Well-
Tempered Productions compact disc WTP 5164
(1994). Distributed by Allegro. Includes GrassValley
Fire, 1988, performed by the Modern Mandolin
Quartet; American Miniatures (computer-processed
sound); Ellis Island Sonata (David Jaffe, mandolin);
and Silicon ValleyBreakdown(computer-generated
sound).
CDCM ComputerMusic Series, Vol. 8, Centaur com-
pact disc CRC 2091 (1991). Includes David Jaffe,
Telegramto thePresident,1984 (The Jefferson String
Qtuartet,tape).
TheDigital Domain, Elektra/Asylum compact disc 9
60303-2 (1983). Includes Jaffe, Finale from Silicon
ValleyBreakdown.
Dinosaur Music-Music by Chafe, Jaffe and
Schottstaedt, Wergo compact disc WER 2016-50
(1988). Originally published by CCRMA (Stanford,
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1984). Produced byJaffe. Incltides D. Jaffe, Silicon
Vallle Breakdovwn.
computermusicfrom BuenosAires
intercambio/exchange,
and California,Center for Computer Research in Mu-
sic and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University,
The Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
(CRCA) at the University of California, San Diego,
and the MtusicProduction and Research Laboratory
(LIPM) at the Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos
Aires and the Rockefeller Foundation, compact disc
(1994). Includes D.Jaffe, AmericanMiniatures.
Music FromCCRMA1, CCRMA cassette recording
(Stanford University, 1983). Includes Jaffe, Finale
from Silicon ValleyBreakdown.
New Music for Orchestra, Vienna Modern Masters
compact disc VMM 3024 (1994). Includes D. Jaffe,
Whoopfor YourLife! (Krakow Radio and TV Sym-
phony Orchestra).
The Virtuosoin the ComputerAge--V,Centaur Consor-
tium for the Distribution of Computer Music
(CDCM) Vol. 15, compact disc CRC 2190 (1994).
Includes D. Jaffe, 7erraNon Firma (Stanford Cello
Quaartet with David Jaffe, conductor and the
Mathews Radio Baton); also D. Jaffe and A. Schloss,
Wildlife(David Jaffe, Zeta violin; A. Schloss, Boie/
Mathews Radio-Drum; live electronics with
Macintosh and NeXT computers).
Glossary
adder-a processing module that adds its inputs to
produce its output. Used in the plucked string
model to simulate the bridge.
all-pass filter-a processing module that modifies
the phase of its input svithout boosting or attenuat-
ing any frequencies. Used in the plucked string
model to mimic the effect of string stiffness.
comb filter-a processing module that produces as
output the sum of its input and a delayed version of
its input, used in the plucked string model to
mimic the effect of pick position.
delay line-a processing module that delays each
sample by a certain amount, known as the "length"
of the delay line because it corresponds to the
length of the simulated string.
Fourier-based analysis-a method of analyzing
sound that involves using a mathematical tech-
nique to split a sound into coefficients of a set of
pure tones, each with its own frequency, similar to
the way a prism breaks white light into a rainbowsof
pure colors.
low-pass filter-a processing module that attentates
high frequencies more than low frequencies (or
boosts low frequencies more than high frequencies.)
parametric representation-a description of a
sound in terms of intuitively meaningful variables,
allowing it to be more easily manipulated.
resonant filter-a processing module that boosts
certain regions of the sound spectrum, producing
resonances, as in an acoustic tube.
scaler-a processing module that multiplies its in-
put by a parameter.
sinusoidal components-pture tones (i.e. sounds
with no harmonics). Fourier-based analysis tech-
niques split a complex sound into a set of sinusoi-
dal components.