Simple Semiotic Analysis of Music
Philip TaggFaculté de musique
Université de Montréal
www.tagg.org
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Music (channel)
Emitter ReceiverIntended
‘message’‘adequate’ response
s t o r e o f s y m b o l s
s o c i o c u l t u r a l n o r m s
‘inadequate’ response
‘inadequate’ response
shared by Emitter and Receiver
shared by Emitter and Receiver
receiver only
receiver onlyemitter only
emitter only
codal incompetence
codal interference
‘inadequate’ encoding
‘inadequate’ encoding
Communication ModelP Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
poïe
tic / con
structio
nal
est
hes
ic /
rece
ptio
nal
1Elementary semiotic
considerations
Semiotics or semiology ?
• / (sema/semeion) = sign (semiotics, semiology, semantifs, semaphore, etc.)
The study of signs and of what they represent
Charles Sanders Peirce : semiotics, tripartite model
Ferdinand de Saussure : semiologie, binary model
same basic subject, different terms and models
Sign or symbol ?(terminological problem)
symbol (Saussure) = sign (Peirce)!
symbol (Peirce) = sign (Saussure)!
meaning: any ‘thing’ representing any other thing than itself
a ‘thing’ representing another thing only by convention
SIGN
ARBITRARY SIGN
C.S. Peirce: Semiosis 1, 2, 3 (1)
• Firstness (emission)
• Secondness (the ‘channel’)
• Thirdness (reception)
object
sign
interpretant
final interpretants
via connotation
The thing/idea perceived before encoding (poïetic pole)
The object (firstness) encoded
Sign (secondness) interpreted(aesthesic pole)
= process of producing andinterpreting signs
C.S. Peirce: Semiosis 1, 2, 3 (2)Sign typology at level of secondness
• Icon
• Index (pl. indices)
• Arbitrary sign
Sign bearing physical resemblance to its object/interprétant
Sign linked to its object/interpretant by proximity or causality
Sign linked only by convention to its object/interpretant
C.S. Peirce: Semiosis 1, 2, 3 (3)aspects of approach after Morris
Internal (etic) organisation and arrangement (‘form’) of structural elements without necessarily considering their meaning
Links between signs and what they represent (emic) without necessarily considering their use in concrete situations
Use of signs in concrete sociocultural situations (economy, ideology, society, psychology, etc.)
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
‘Syntax and semantics, when found in splendid isolation,
become perverse disciplines’ (Umberto Eco, 1990)
Denotation and connotation
Type of lexical meaning associated mainly with arbitrary signs
Non-lexical type of meaning mainly associated with indices and which relies on one or more previous levels of semiosis
Denotation
Connotation
thunder (the word) = noise accompanying lighting
diminished seventh chord = chord consisting of three contingent and superimposed minor thirds
thunder (the sound) = humidity, rain, danger, etc.
diminished seventh chord = horror, 19th century style
Connotation: smoke alarm sound = danger!
multilevel semiosis (3 causal indices, 1 connotation)
sign
sign
sign
interpretant
interpretant
interpretant
smokealarm sound
fire
DANGER!
GET OUT!
DON’T DIE!
1. smoke triggers alarm; alarm means smoke (causal index 1)2. fire causes smoke; smoke means fire (causal index 2)
3. fire destroys and hurts; a fire in the home means danger (index 3)
Connotation & ‘polysemy’ : 2 quotes‘The difference between denotation and connotation is not... the difference between “univocal” and “vague” signification, or between “referential” and “emotional” communication... What constitutes a connotation... is the connotative code which establishes it; the characteristic of a connotative code is the fact that the further signification... relies on a primary one.’
(Eco, A Theory of Semiotics, 1979, p. 55)‘The thoughts which are expressed to me by a piece of music which I love are not too indefinite to be put into words, but on the contrary too definite.’(Mendelssohn, cited by Cooke: The Language of Music, 1959, p.
5)
2Specificity of
musical meaning
Music: axiomatic working definition
type of sonic, non-verbal, interhuman
communication which, according to particular
sociocultural conventions,can carry meaning
related mainly to
emotional, gestural, tactile,kinetic, spatial and prosodic
aspects of cognition.
‘Live’ communication spoken language visual arts dance music
a single individual himself/herself
two individuals
an individual a group
several individuals inside a group
a group an individual
several groups
concerted simultaneity
Domains of representation and music as the ‘embodying’ cross-domain level
motoric
(fine)
emotional
social
physical
motoric (gross)
linguistic
‘embodying’representation
(music)
Synaesthesia and synaesthesis
synaesthesia: disturbance of sensory perception by the intrusion of additional perception from another sense than that considered normal in a given situation
synaesthesis: normal perception using more than one of the five senses simultaneously
(syn) = with, (aisthesis) = perception
synaesthetic (adj.): relating to any type of perception using more than one of the five senses simultaneously
3Musematic analysis
Musemeterm invented by US musicologist Charles Seeger (father of Pete)
‘On the moods of a musical logic’ (1960)
‘Minimal unit of musical meaning’ (cf. morpheme)
Can it exist? Good question. We’ll have to see!
Musician’s assumptions
• Changing a musical structure often produces a change in effect on listeners.
• If true, there must be links between musical structures and what they communicate (their meanings, their interpretants).
• If true, there must be basic elements of structuration allowing for the production of musical meaning.
‘Musical structure’What’s that ?
PMFCParamusical Fields
of Connotation (relevant to IOCM)
PMFCParamusical Fields
of Connotation (relevant to AO)
AOAnalysisObject
IOCMInterobjectiveComparison
Material
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Parameters of paramusical expression
•Paramusical sound: chatter, chiming, clapping, rattling, applause, mains hum, vinyl crackle, engine noise, birdsong, sound effects, crying, laughing, screaming, scraping, hitting, water, wind, thunder, etc. ad. inf.
•Oral language: monologue, dialogue, commentary, voice-over, lyrics, accent/dialect, vocal type, prosody, type and speed of conversation/dialogue, &c...
•Written language: programme or liner notes, promo copy, title credits, subtitles, written devices on stage, expression marks and other performance instructions, &c...
• Visuals • font, graphic design, layout, painting, photo, sculpture, &c…• scenario, props, lighting, clothing, &c...• dramatic action, facial expressions, gestures, &c... • camera positions, cutting speed, editing technique, fades, pans, zooms, &c…
• Movement: dance, dive, drive, fall, fly, glide, hit, hover, jump, kick, lie, ride, rise, run, slide, sit, stand, stroke, stumble, sway, swerve, wait, walk, &c...
• (Re-)performance venue + concurrent activity: home, concert, club, TV, cinema, church, sports, dancing, riding, driving, restaurant, hotel, office, factory, circus, street, town, country, &c...
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Parameters of musical expression (1)• instrumentational
• timbral (timbre)
• number/type of voices/instruments
• mechanical devices: mutes, pedals, stops, plectrum, string types, reed types, mouthpieces, bows, sticks, brushes, &c...
• electro-acoustic devices: microphone types & techniques, loudspeakers, echo, reverb, delay, panning, filtering, mixers, amplifiers, equalisers, phasing, flanging, chorus, compression, distortion, vocoding, dubs, &c...
• performance techniques: vibrato, tremolo, tremolando, glissando, portamento, pizzicato, sul ponte, picking, strum, &c...
• vocal: booming, breathy, clean, clear, cracked, crying, deep, gravelly, harsh, hoarse, howling, growling, guttural, husky, light, melismatic, muffled, piercing, plaintive, raucous, rich, screeching, shouting, shrill, sonorous, soothing, squeaky, squawking, strident, syllabics, thin, warbling, warm, wheezing, whooping, &c...
• instrumental: as for vocal + blaring, bubbling, buzzing, chiming, clanking, clattering, crashing, grating, hissing, humming, jarring, muted, ringing, rumbling, scraping, stuttering, throbbing, tinkling, whirring, whistling, &c...
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Parameters of musical expression (2)
• temporal parameters
• duration: [1] of piece and relationship of this duration to other connected aspects of communication (film, rite, sports event, dancing); [2] of sections within the piece
• internal order/treatment of musical events: intros, cadences, bridges, continuations, interruptions, recurrences (reiterations, repeats, recaps), sequences &c…
• pulse, tempo: [1] base rate; [2] surface rate.
• rhythmic texture: polyrhythm, birhythm, monorhythm, &c...
• metre (rhythmic grouping of pulse, time signature, etc.), e.g. simple, compound, symmetric, asymmetric, additive, divisive, &c...
• accentuation, e.g. upbeat, downbeat, syncopation, regular,.
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Parameters of musical expression (3)
• tonal parameters
• tuning system: how octave is divided, retuning, detuning, &c.
• pitch range: average and total for each voice/part; ambitus, tessitura, &c.
• tonal vocabulary: scale, mode, motifs, number and type of different pitches/notes
• motivic/melodic contour: rising, falling, oscillating, arched, V-shaped, centric, wavy, terraced, tumbling strain, &c...
• harmonic parameters• tonal centre (if any)
• type of tonality: droned, modal, diatonic, tertial, quartal, bebop, impressionist, late romantic, twelve-tone, &c…
• harmonic change as long and short term phenomenon, harmonic rhythm.
• dynamics
• loud soft • sudden gradual
• constant variable
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Simple sign typology of music
anaphonesonicsonic: resemblance to paramusical soundkinetic: resemblance to paramusical movementtactile: resemblance to paramusical grain/touch
genresynecdoche
pars pro toto reference to ‘foreign’ musical style, thence to cultural context of that style
episodic marker
short, one-way process highlighting the order or relative importance of musical events
styleindicator
item of musical structuration typical for the ‘home’ style of the analysis object
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Breughel: Massacre of the Innocents
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli
Smetana: Vltava (Moldau)
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music
‘focal point’
‘stage’
‘auditorium’
Monocentric musical positioning
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music