David McSherry

Signs And Symbols

In Week One we are introduced to the reading of cultural artefacts. How differing approaches and schools of thought (Structuralism, Post Structuralism) try to unravel layers of myth and meaning using semiotics and context. I am obviously steeped in social and cultural references points but I have had no formal education in the world of critical theory, I’ve never heard of Barthes and Saussure, never mind read any of their work. So, it’ll be interesting!

We are also introduced to the role of the score in musical analysis. The limitations of a traditional, western style notated score, the attempts to interpret a musical piece using a graphical score (see Ligeti’s Artikulation below) and to a piece of French analysis software called the Acousmographe.

Praxis Makes Perfect

Everyone keeps telling me it will fly by but from here, January 2012 seems like a hell of a long way off. I enrolled on the MA in Music Production (composition pathway) at Leeds College of Music today and January 2012 is when (hopefully) I’ll graduate. The reading list and the workload also seem a little daunting and the drive from Lincoln is, well, you can imagine.

Reading for next week is Analytical Methods of Electroacoustic Music by Mary Simoni, A Guide to Musical Analysis by Nicholas Cook and Gerd Leonhard and Dave Kusek’s The Future of Music (good job I’ve already read that one) along with a whole load more.

So am I glad I’ve decided to load myself up with even more stuff to do? Of course I am! After years of writing and producing music, it’s a chance for me to dig deep into critical environments, social context, analysis and theory. To write some more music and reassess some of the music I’ve made in the past, maybe even finding more reasons as to why it sounds the way it does…. as Tony Wilson would have said: “Praxis makes perfect”.