Reed, S. Alexander
(2006)
The Musical Semiotics of Timbre in the Human VoiceandStatic Takes Love's Body.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
In exploring the semiotics of vocal timbre as a general phenomenon within music, theoretical engagement of the history of timbre and of muscial meaning bolsters my illustrative analyses of Laurie Anderson and Louis Armstrong. I outline first its reliance on subtractive filtering imparted physically by the performer's vocal tract, demonstrating that its signification is itself a subtractive process where meaning lies in the silent space between spectral formants. Citing Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and placing the body's perceptual experience as the basis of existential reality, I then argue that the human voice offers self actualization in a way that other sensory categories cannot, because the voice gives us control over what and how we hear in a way that we cannot control, through our own bodies alone, our sight, touch, taste, and smell. This idea combines with a listener's imagined performance of vocal music, in which I propose that because of our familiarity with the articulations of human sound, as we hear a voice we are able to imagine and mimic the choreography of the vocal tract, engaging a physical and bodily listening, thereby making not only performance but also listening a self-affirming bodily reflection on being. Finally I consider vocal timbre as internally lexical and externally bound by a linguistic context. Citing Peirce and Derrida, and incorporating previous points, I show vocal timbre as a canvas on which a linguistic and musical foreground is painted, all interpreted by the body. Accompanying theoretical discussions is a concerto addressing relevant compositional issues.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
10 July 2006 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
21 April 2005 |
| Approval Date: |
10 July 2006 |
| Submission Date: |
19 April 2005 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Music |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
body; concerto; Derrida; Laurie Anderson; linguistics; Louis Armstrong; meaning; Merleau-Ponty; music; music theory; Peirce; semiotics; timbre; voice; William Gibson |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04192005-095642/, etd-04192005-095642 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 19:38 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:40 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/7313 |
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