Musical Parameters
Perception
To come up with a list of musical parameters worth changing, I drew on workshops and classes1 at the Conservatorium Maastricht and on research in the fields of music education2 and perception.3 The overall musical design process was less planned and more iterative than the following table would suggest. Intuition, feasibility regarding the software used (here mostly FMOD), time and budget constraints, testing, and personal live concert experience all played a role in the final decisions.
| Musical Parameter | Audience Change Perception |
|---|---|
| Melody | high |
| Harmony | medium |
| Rhythm/Groove | high |
| Orchestration | medium |
| Form | low |
| Dynamics | medium |
| Color | low |
| Register | low |
The impact on the perception of the audience is a key element, but one of the objectives was also to analyze whether the tools, methods, and research into randomness could lead to interesting results from the perspective of the composer or performer, for whom all parameters are essential.
Recording November to March 2022
The recordings were done during several sessions in different studios. Here are the different takes for all instruments and variations, recorded into Pro Tools:
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Table adapted from a class by Jesse Passenier, the arranging and Jazz Master coordinator at the Conservatorium Maastricht, during the Master of Music Jazz program. ↩︎
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Chapter on “The Parameters of Music Education”. Swanwick, K. (2015). A Developing Discourse in Music Education (The selected works of Keith Swanwick). Routledge. ↩︎
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Friberg, A., Schoonderwaldt, E., & Hedblad, A. (2011). Perceptual ratings of musical parameters. Gemessene Interpretation-Computergestützte Aufführungsanalyse Im Kreuzverhör Der Disziplinen, Mainz: Schott, 237–253. ↩︎