Simple Semiotic Analysis of Music Philip Tagg Facult

Simple Semiotic Analysis of Music Philip Tagg Faculté de musique Université de Montréal www. tagg. org P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Communication Model P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music shared by Emitter and Receiver s t o r e emitter only o f s y m b o l s receiver only codal incompetence ‘inadequate’ encoding Intended ‘message’ Emitter ‘inadequate’ response Music Receiver (channel) ‘inadequate’ encoding emitter only ‘inadequate’ response codal interference receiver only s o c i o c u l t u r a l n o r m s shared by Emitter and Receiver ‘adequate’ response

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music AO IOCM Analysis Object Interobjective Comparison Material PMFC Paramusical Fields of Connotation (relevant to AO) (relevant to IOCM)

Parameters of paramusical expression P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music • 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 • 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, tremolando, glissando, portamento, pizzicato, sul ponte, picking, strum, &c. . . • timbral (timbre) • 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. . .

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, additive, divisive, &c. . . • accentuation, e. g. upbeat, downbeat, syncopation, regular, . P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

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

Simple sign typology of music anaphone sonic: sonic resemblance to paramusical sound kinetic: resemblance to paramusical movement tactile: resemblance to paramusical grain/touch genre synecdoche 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 style indicator 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

Monocentric musical positioning ‘stage’ ‘focal point’ ‘auditorium’ P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music