- Accompanist (role)
- Ad libitum
- Agenda
- Aleatoricism
- Aspect
- Balance
- Bartle types
- BCG
- (Cognitive) flow
- Conductor (role)
- Constellation
- Constructor (role)
- Co-optionality
- Cue cards
- Dice
- Dimension
- Downbeat
- Downtime
- Elegant Game
- Emergence
- End Condition
- Event (musical event)
- Extended technique
- Facilitator
- Fighting
- Flow
- Found sound
- Gameplay flow
- Genre
- Heteronomous Music
- Horizon of intent
- Improvisation rite
- Insert game
- Inspire cards
- Instrument Preparation
- Judge (role)
- Karaoke
- King-making
- Learning curve
- Ludomusical dissonance
- Meaningful Choice
- Mechanic
- Music game
- Non-idiomatic music
- Notation Cards
- Open work
- Parameter
- Pervasive Game
- Player (role)
- Prompter (role)
- Psychographics
- Quarterbacking
- Rhythm cards
- Rhythm game
- Roles
- RPG
- Rule Cards
- Speedrun
- Stacking
- Trading
- Transition
- Upgrade
- Victory condition
- Xenochrony
- XP
- Yes, and...
This glossary entry is a draft. You can help by editing it or discussing in the comments
A basic quality of the musical material that might be changed without modifying the value of other parameters of the same material.
Aspect/parameter/dimension
This article introduces some clarity in terminology for the usage on the wiki. Historically the basic term in the literature is parameter, but it's used quite inconsistently from author to author.
Usage
As we defined parameters in relation to one another, it makes the most sense to consider them in sets, contextually. Many composers have devised different sets of parameters and historically, the requirement for cross-independence is not always observed. This page will provide a comparison of a few options. For an earlier historical overview, check Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen's Sound is Multi-Dimensional
The parameters may apply either to a single source of sound, and also to a more complex musical moment. On the wiki we use Aspect as the most general possible term for material quality. As an example of non-parametrical Aspect consider genre, which is changed directly from one to another by modifying a lot of basic parameters at once, although it's of course possible to imagine a set of Aspects that will leave a genre as a proper, independent parameter.
The most common parameters ("Big 4")
We use Dimension for a specific type of a linear parameter. And it's worth noticing that four main dimensions are commonly used in different sets of parameters — we'll call that "Big 4" for short:
- Pitch,
- Volume (a.k.a. Dynamics),
- Duration (convertible to Density), and
- Timbre.
The comparison
In this section, we'll see what different sets of parameters are historically present in different sources.
| Author | Source | Changes to Big 4 | Extensions of Big 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milton Babbitt | Who Cares If You Listen? | Pitch split to pitch class and register as separate parameters | "Big 5" (Pitch splits into two params) |
| Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen | Sound is multi-dimensional | Duration as density | 4 added: Pulse-No Pulse, Tempo, Tonal-Atonal, Degrees of contrast |
| Pierre Boulez | Interview | Dynamics as intensity and attack | - |
| W.A. Mathieu | The Listening Book | - | 2 added: Texture, Feeling and Intention |
| Iannis Xenakis | Formalized Music | Dynamics as attack | open-ended, preliminary |
References
📜 Babbitt, Milton. 1958. “Who cares if you listen?” High Fidelity, February: 38-40.
https://archive.org/details/rm_High-Fidelity-1958-Feb/page/n39/mode/2up?view=theater
📜 Bergstrøm-Nielsen, Carl. 2006. Sound is Multi-Dimensional: Parameter analysis as a tool for creative music making. https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/sound-is-multi-dimensional-parameter-analysis-as-a-tool-for-creat
📜 Gable, David. 1985. “Ramifying Connections: An Interview with Pierre Boulez.” The Journal of Musicology 4(1): 105–13. https://doi.org/10.2307/763725
📜 Mathieu, William Allaudin. 1991. The Listening Book: Discovering Your Own Music. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications.
📜 Xenakis, Iannis. 1971. Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
If you think anything should be added to this subpage, please drop a hint or a link for future editors.