Recommend musical theory texts/essays

user_19 · Post by **user_19** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:04 pm

Just like the title says, please. I'm looking for introductory books, but I'll take note of more advanced material - and it would probably prompt more discussion in the thread so don't hold back.

apfEID · Post by **apfEID** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:05 pm

probably not what you are looking for but Curtis Roads' The Computer Music Tutorial and Microsound are extremely interesting reads about computer music theory; everything you need to know about digital synthesis of all kinds is in the first book, and even more everything you could ever want to know about granular synthesis is in the second book.
Both books tell you how everything works and how to make it yourself (without writing the code for you) but also give a fair amount of historical context.

user_912 · Post by **user_912** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:13 pm

For introductary books, Walter Piston wrote some good texts on Harmony and Counterpoint.

For 20th century theory James Tenney's Meta + Hodos is really seminal.

For general essays, the Arcana book has some interesting stuff.

Hope that helps!

user_1142 · Post by **user_1142** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:52 pm

anyone know of any good university-type texts?

kfw · Post by **kfw** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:57 pm

erimuh wrote:anyone know of any good university-type texts?

the piston is what they assigned me in comp/orch 101, can't get much more university than that. related but un-related: atali's "noise", the futursist manifesto(s), cage's "silence", a bunch of kostelantz from the 60s/70s. right on up through nyman's "experimental music" and the two curtis roads books mentioned above.

apfEID · Post by **apfEID** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:08 pm

I second both Atali 'Noise' and Cage's silence.

Stockhausen on Music is pretty interesting as well, as long as you aren't put off by how much Stockhausen loves himself.

user_1142 · Post by **user_1142** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:11 pm

okay cool, i didn't see that other walter piston suggestion at first. i'm going to try and see what i can find on half.com

jkudler · Post by **jkudler** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:41 pm

nyman is a classic. the christoph cox "audio culture" book is a great survey (even fucking *spooky* is in there <hiss>). poke around ubu.com too.

-jesse

hatta · Post by **hatta** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:47 pm

Look no further.

user_997 · Post by **user_997** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:18 am

jkudler wrote:nyman is a classic. the christoph cox "audio culture" book is a great survey (even fucking *spooky* is in there <hiss>). poke around ubu.com too.

-jesse

yeah i've read bits and pieces of that book, some well-known contributors in it ie. Cage, Varese, Eno, Russolo, Stockhausen, Aphex Twin, Scanner, Derek Bailey...the list goes on. i'd highly recommend it, and i'm sure anyone can find something interesting in it.

al jones · Post by **al jones** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:19 am

jkudler wrote:nyman is a classic.

user_938 · Post by **user_938** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:29 am

i'm well into that MICROSOUND book - brill stuff. Trevor WHISHART'S book "audible design" is also great for the technical stuff.

for the theory i reckon this is top reading: XENAKIS "formalized music"

theres tonnes of GRM books that are really worthwhile, especially MICHEL CHION's "La musique électroacoustique" and why not try abit of SCHAEFFER'S "solfege", but hows your French?

user_525 · Post by **user_525** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:51 am

I think the Piston books would take you upto a high standard.

But for the advanced I recommend the Musical Analysis Journal, the stuff they write about is difficult but it's well written. A lot of the internationally reknown theorists write for it. Another great one that springs to mind is the Charles Wuorinen book: Simple Composition.

Dohol · Post by **Dohol** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:55 am

Sound Structure in Music by Robert Erickson.

Very good. Oriented towards timbre and sound rather than harmony.

user_801 · Post by **user_801** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:20 am

Michel Chion's AUDIO VISION is a really fantastic read...in english and heaps of interesting stuff about the links between visual / cinema and sound / music.

user_801 · Post by **user_801** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:25 am

antboy wrote:Michel Chion's AUDIO VISION is a really fantastic read...in english and heaps of interesting stuff about the links between visual / cinema and sound / music.

l just stumbled across this:
http://www.michelchion.com/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

there is a full list of all his writings (mostly in french) and disography etc...

user_912 · Post by **user_912** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:29 pm

for the theory i reckon this is top reading: XENAKIS "formalized music"

Actually, unless you have a background in mathematics don't expect to make heads or tails of this book. At least I couldn't.

kfw · Post by **kfw** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:52 pm

hellospiral wrote:
for the theory i reckon this is top reading: XENAKIS "formalized music"
Actually, unless you have a background in mathematics don't expect to make heads or tails of this book. At least I couldn't.

definitely not the best place to start - a very daunting book. the "conversations with xenakis" book by... vargas?.. is a more enjoyable read and touches on xenny's background/politics/etc... as well as some of his compositional idea(l)s... -k

user_183 · Post by **user_183** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:07 pm

Music cognition is a subgenre of studies whichhas yet to be touched on. This area is not always populated with the most musically learned people, which is refreshing and maddening. There is good work to be done on the cultural attitudes underlying these experimental designs and conclusions, if you're looking for a PhD.

These two books cover a lot of the 'hard science':

The Psycholology of Music, Ed. Diana Deutsch
The Cognitive Neuroscience of Music, Ed. Peretz and Zatorre (OUP, 2003)

Here's a composer who has made a systematic attempt to bring harmony into the 21st century, bridging various tonalisms and bringing music theory into dialogue with science. His thesis is that music theory articulates a profound cognitive theory in and of itself (without the damn MRI machines, thank you!).

Fred Lerdahl, Tonal Pitch Space (OUP 2001).
Lerdahl and Jackendoff, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (MIT 1983).

user_1082 · Post by **user_1082** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:37 pm

If you're interested in tonal harmony and/or atonality, I have used works by Allen Forte and George Perle for university classes. I've heard good things about Kostka's Tonal Harmony book. These require a basic understanding of music fundamentals (pitches, scales), for which I would suggest Fundamentals of Music by Earl Henry.

For an introductory survey of 20th century music history and theory, I highly recommend the two "Twentieth-Century Music" books by Robert P. Morgan as well as Paul Griffiths' Modern Music and After (my personal fave).

I read Electronic and Experimental Music by Thom Holmes over summer and enjoyed it. If I taught a class on the history of such a topic, I would definitely use it.

I think everyone seriously involved in music should have Cage's Silence (and Feldman's Give My Regards to Eighth Street).