Techniques and Terminology for the Analysis of Electroacoustic Music and More

The author will illustrate his personal proposal of analytical steps to follow in carrying out the analysis of an electro-acoustic piece, in the complete conviction that the techniques and terminology involved in the analysis of electroacoustic music can be applied to any type of music. First of all, we will focus on the meaning of the word "Analysis", going on to consider together the various stages in the process of analysis, beginning with historical and aesthetic framework. We will then consider the aims and methods of construction of a score of the sound text and the operative procedures to be implemented in the process of creating a score: description of the sound objects, their behavior, the links between the sound sources, and the spatial qualities of the piece. Before arriving at the conclusions, further types of listening will be taken into consideration, correlated to a summary macro-score and to observation of sonograms. Finally, the analyzed work will be placed in Emmerson's Grid. The presentation of this ‘vademecum under construction’ will be accompanied by a hypertext glossary of the technical terms used therein.