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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

An Uncertain Machine

McDonnell, David
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337949908

Abstract Details

2012, DMA, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music: Composition.
The working title for An Uncertain Machine was Fear of Input. At the core of the work lies a lumbering sequence of dense sonorities, which are meant to represent the vast amount of environmental data we receive from our senses every day. Somehow our brains have learned to filter out much of this deluge in order that we all might live functional, albeit unaware, lives. The music begins with a highly stripped down version of these sonorities and as the piece progresses towards its core, more and more notes are added until the full contents of the original generative sounds are heard. These are ruminated upon for an extended period. The listener is then whisked away in pseudo-retrograde, back to the original opening material, now more poignant for the sense of what has been lost. Much of this was inspired by watching my baby daughter first become aware of, and then learn how to function in her new environment. The following narrative occurs to me: A small bipedal robot, completely unexposed to nature and the outside world, mysteriously finds itself on a path at the entrance to a large forest. As it journeys further in the growth becomes more dense and tangled, the forest sounds more numerous and strange. Finally at the center of the forest the growth is so dense it nearly overwhelms our friend. He journeys backwards in his mind to the beginning of his trek and finds himself at peace right where he is.
Mara Helmuth, DMA (Committee Chair)
Douglas Knehans, DMA (Committee Member)
Mike Fiday, PhD (Committee Member)
52 p.
Music
Spectral; Isorhythm;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McDonnell, D. (2012). An Uncertain Machine [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337949908

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McDonnell, David. An Uncertain Machine. 2012. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337949908.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McDonnell, David. "An Uncertain Machine." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337949908

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1337949908
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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12