Speech music

Making music from spoken language

Definition

• Speech Music is the sole use of, or incorporation of speech, to either create or enhance music. Speech Music can be a piece using only words and their melodic quality to create pitch and melody or it can be a collection of words with an accompaniment of musical instruments, which either mimic the speech patterns or create a harmony to the words.

• It is not simply a song with words or a piece of music where the words are written to fit in with a specific rhythm and melody. Speech Music is guided by the natural pitch and rhythm of the words used. The rhythmic, melodic and harmonic content of the pieces are based on these elements used by the voice. Thus enabling the music to portray the true emotions and meaning of the voice and words used.

Historical Links Between Music and Speech

• Jonathan Marks claims that it is commonplace to identify attributes of music in speech. He also states the words such as rhythm, timbre, tone, intonation, key and coda are used in describing both phonetics and phonology, and music.

• Karlheinz Stockhausen identifies a line of development from speech to music, music being the language of more highly developed beings, towards which our speech is only a transition.

• Jespersen argues for the opposing view, claiming that the origin of our language was derived from singing. Jespersen also states that ‘It is a well known fact that the modulation of sentences is strongly influenced by the effect of intense emotions in causing stronger and more rapid risings and fallings of the tone of voice.’ This is where music and speech become similar in that they both contain melody or pitch sequences. Also the timbre of a person’s voice can contain information as to the emotional state of the speaker

Representative composers

• Scott Johnson - an American composer known for his pioneering use of recorded speech as musical melody. His 1978 work John Somebody for electric guitar and recorded speech is an early example of speech melody framed in tonal harmony. Its influence has been wide, notably on many works of Steve Reich including Different Trains and Three Tales.

• Jacob ter Veldhuis - was a rock guitarist with and obsession for television infomercials, wrote a piece titled “The Body of your Dreams”. It was written for piano and accompanying CD. The piano part consisted of jazz rhythms, heavy ostinatos and delicate arpeggios whilst the CD contained fragments from an infomercial about obtaining the perfect body. Phrases such as “No sweat! … oh, wow! … uppity, uppity … three pounds of muscles … press this button … wow … Oh, my gosh … makes my insides tickle” and “The Body of your Dreams” echo throughout the piece. This piece was looked at during the week 11 lecture.

• Laurie Anderson - Philadelphia Daily News April 12, 1993, "Singer and storyteller, video-and film-maker and experimenter in all things high-tech, Laurie Anderson is a modern renaissance artist and agent provocateur, the superwoman of multimedia showmanship."

• Steve Reich - began experimenting with speech as a form of music in 1965 with the completion of “It’s gonna rain.” He had a recording of Brother Walter saying it’s gonna rain. He split the phrase in two parts, it’s gonna and rain. He then played these and used phase shifting to create the work. The same as the phase sifting in his piece Piano Phase, which we have looked at in class. Other works of his incorporating speech music are "Come Out" and "Different Trains"

• David Byrne and Brian Eno - "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", a CD based on the novel by Amos Tutuola

• Mikel Rouse - known for his technically and thematically adventurous trilogy of multimedia operas

• Robert Ashley

• Michael Daugherty

Resources

Some good books from the library to look at are

• 'Writings on Music, 1965 - 2000' by Steve Reich c2002, Oxford University Press
• 'Musical Languages' by Joseph Swain c1997, W.W. Norton and Company

There is also a recording available of 'Different Trains' by Steve Reich in the library as well as a full score and individual parts for the string quartet.

A useful Journal Article

• 'Is Stress Timing Real?' by Jonathan Marks c1999, Oxford University Press

Also some good websites

Database of Recorded American Music {http://dram.nyu.edu/dram/Performer/12211}

Wikipedia {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page}

Peninsula Reviews {http://www.bronsonpianostudio.com/reviews/121204r1.htm}

Answers.com {http://www.answers.com/topic/laurie-anderson}

Sydney Opera House - Media Release {http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/sections/media_room/media_releases/press_release.asp?idPressRelease=205&sm=5&ss=19}

Because they are Dead - Blog {http://www.paulbaileyensemble.org/blog/2005/03/channel-surfing-with-mikel-rouse.html}