Azimuth – page 6

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III. The Schema

The original idea for creating a schema meant to determine the various possible combinations of samples, was to organize the creation of a multitude of related sample variants in order to provide the greatest diversity of sonic combinations (see Appendix). However, with this approach came a risk that needed to be considered; creating sounds that consist of a high degree of interrelatedness could produce homogeneity of sound that would nullify the very diversity sought. As it began to take form, the complexity of creating such a schema became apparent. About halfway through the first draft came the realization that formalizing this schema was in fact designing the composition as a whole on many levels, the most prominent being that of surface level structure. Each section created would ultimately consist of an individual form based on two factors: first, the Cmask sub-score used to render it and second, the selection of samples to be combined to form it (determined in the schema). The schema was crucial in determining how the piece was to move through time with regard to, first of all, formal elements such as themes and sub themes, motives, subtle nuances and etc., created by the similar yet different results of interactions between specific samples and common or related sub-scores and secondly through the ebb and flow of the timbral quality of each sample. At this point the process was begun again, this time with a clear purpose.

Figure 8 (see bottom of page 7) is an excerpt from the spreadsheet utilized to formulate the schema. It was necessary to designate a naming convention that would make it easy to identify the samples, so a four digit number was used. The first digit, on the left, is the “Step” number, the second was the “Mix” number, the third the “Group” number and the fourth the “Sample” number.

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