![]() These usages are not limited to electronic music, but include acoustic instruments, art installations, audiovisual performances, and technological devices, among other forms of creation.įrom 20 April to, our researchers conducted an online survey of composers and sound artists in English and French using the software LimeSurvey. We present the results of the first phase of the project covering a literature review Footnote 1 and a survey of artists who have used the sine wave as an essential component of their creative process. Through our research-creation project Towards an Aesthetics of the Sine Wave, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of artistic approaches to the sine wave in music and sound art. Other contributions include Cat Hope ( Reference Hope2009) on her use of low frequencies, Seth Cluett ( Reference Cluett2006) on the relationships between sine waves and architecture, and Chiyoko Szlavnics ( Reference Szlavnics2011) on the influence of psychoacoustics on her work. Foremost, Marian Zazeela and La Monte Young (Young Reference Young1969, Reference Young2000, Reference Young2001 Young and Zazeela Reference Young and Zazeela1969) wrote on aspects of sine wave usage in many of their sonic and audiovisual pieces. 94, 97) on Toshiro Mayuzumi.īesides Stockhausen (Stockhausen, Eimert and Enkel Reference Stockhausen, Eimert and Enkel1954 Stockhausen Reference Stockhausen1956, 1961 Whitney Reference Whitney1964), writings by the artists themselves on their use of sine waves are scarce. Others who discuss the use of sine waves to varying degrees include Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner ( Reference Hinkle-Turner2006: 30) on Ruth Anderson, Richard Glover ( Reference Glover, Harrison and Gottschalk2018: 80, 81, 92) on Chiyoko Szlavnics, and Cathy L. Grant ( Reference Grant2005: 60, 64, 84) and Seth Kim-Cohen ( Reference Kim-Cohen2013: 112). This investigation into the sine wave’s conceptual use is briefly addressed by authors such as Simon Emmerson ( Reference Emmerson1986: 25), M. ![]() Interestingly, Toop addresses the ambiguity of the uneasy relationship between the sine wave and its ‘prophet’, for whom the sine wave had both musical and metaphysical qualities. Electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s use of sine waves seems to be addressed mainly in one article (Toop Reference Toop1979). ![]() Our literature review revealed that contemporary artists associated with the sine wave such as Ryoji Ikeda also received scant attention on that matter. While Blamey’s thesis focused on the outputs of only two artists, it represents an in-depth discussion on sine wave aesthetics. Blamey’s doctoral thesis ‘Sine Waves and Simple Acoustic Phenomena in Experimental Music: With Special Reference to the Work of La Monte Young and Alvin Lucier’ (Blamey Reference Blamey2008). Alvin Lucier and La Monte Young are among those most analysed, as in Peter J. Yet, the range of artists who have used sine waves creatively is salient, including Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, Ryoji Ikeda, Karlheinz Stockhausen and La Monte Young. Likewise, discussions focused on specific artistic works (Demers Reference Demers2010 Higgins and Kahn Reference Higgins and Kahn2012 Glover Reference Glover, Potter, Gann and ap Siôn2013 Solomos Reference Solomos2015 Saladin Reference Saladin2017 Licht 2019) only briefly mention the use of sine waves without analysis. ![]() Writers refer to the Cologne School, with general statements about ‘ sine-wave generator as the only sound source’ (DiMartino Reference DiMartino2016: 190) or to practitioners being ‘intrigued by the musical possibilities of the sine tones’ (Hinkle-Turner Reference Hinkle-Turner2006: 14) without discussions of the aesthetic premises involved. Most music literature about sine waves (e.g., Schwartz Reference Schwartz1973 Nyman Reference Nyman1999 Hinkle-Turner Reference Hinkle-Turner2006 DiMartino Reference DiMartino2016) report on either their use or application as a technical tool. But no instrument naturally produces or can conveniently be made to produce such perfect tones. ![]() It is perfectly balanced, regular, and continuous, a perfect system of ‘atoms’ of sound. The musical ‘ideal’ is the perfectly pure tone, devoid of all upper partials. ![]()
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