Analyzing with Compositional Static Artifacts of MIDI-mediated Mixed-Media Music

This dissertation examines the static artifacts of electroacoustic multimedia music written after the development of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) in 1983. Static artifacts is an umbrella term I have coined for the collective types of traditional and extended musical notation, text or graphic scores, screenshots of digital audio workspaces (hereafter: DAWs), code, and so on that are non-dynamic visual manifestations of a piece of music. The digital era brought about fundamental shifts in compositional practices and notation. In this dissertation, I examine some of the varied ways that composers use technology in mixed-media electroacoustic works, considering both how they notate the electronics and how one may analyze the work taking into account the technology and unique notation.I demonstrate methods of analysis in several case studies focusing on compositions by Philippe Hurel, Trevor Wishart, Anne Deane Berman, and Paulo Chagas, and with particular attention to their static artifacts. I draw from notation studies and semiotics to support recent theories of electroacoustic analysis by scholars such as of Simon Emmerson and Leigh Landy (2016). I also use the method of multimedia analysis from Nicholas Cook (1999) for works that incorporate visual, textual, and dramatic elements. Where applicable, I apply the composers’ written thoughts, from books or articles, to the static artifact they made for a piece of music. Wishart and Chagas, for example, have both written extensively on their own styles and on the state of electronic music and electronics in music. While I find there are more similarities than differences between the case studies, each composer manages a unique way of incorporating electronics into their music and into their static artifact. My work provides analysts with more tools for electroacoustic analysis by shedding light on the static artifact