Read more
This book studies the "hyperorchestra" as used in music for the screen and draws from the intersection of practice and theory. The term hyperorchestra derives from hyperreality, a postmodern philosophical concept coined by Jean Baudrillard. The hyperorchestra is a virtual ensemble that inhabits hyperreality. It approaches music spectrally with the aim of becoming a more effective vessel for meaning generation. The book is informed by concepts from postmodern philosophy, such as hyperreality and Marshall McLuhan's theory of media. The book is also informed by the author's own compositional practice; it describes contemporary processes, current software tools, orchestration and instrumentation principles, and contemporary approaches to music composition (such as spectral music). In doing so, the book proposes a new perspective for analyzing contemporary film music that pinpoints the importance of the relationship between timbre, meaning, and the different narrative levels within an audiovisual piece.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- PART I: Theoretical and Practical Foundations.- 2. From Hyperreality to Digital Cinema: A Theoretical Overview.- 3. Conceptualizing the Hyperorchestra.- 4. The Digital Tools for the Hyperorchestra: MIDI, Virtual Instruments, and Digital Music.- PART II: The Hyperorchestra and the contemporary aesthetics for screen music.- 5. Hyperorchestral Aesthetic Frameworks for the Screen Music Composer.- 6. Hyperorchestration: Sonic Strategies for the Creation of Meaning.- 7. Conclusion.
About the author
Sergi Casanelles is the program manager of the Screen Scoring program at New York University, where he teaches screen music theory and practice. His class, Contemporary Scoring, covers the practical approaches to composing for the hyperorchestra and applies many of the concepts in this book. As an award-winning composer, he has written concert and screen music. His research and publications focus on the intersection of technology, screen music, theory, and practice.
