Musical montage (literally "putting together") is a technique where sound objects or compositions are created from collage.
Micromontage is the use of montage on the time scale of microsounds, its primary proponent being composer Horacio Vaggione in works such as Octuor (1982), Thema (1985, Wergo 2026-2), and Schall (1995, Mnémosyne Musique Média LDC 278-1102). The technique may include the extraction and arrangement of sound particles from a sample or the creation and exact placement of each particle to create complex sound patterns or singular particles (transients). It may be accomplished through graphic editing, a script, or automated through a computer program. (Roads 2001, 182-187)
Regardless, digital micromontage requires (ibid):
- creation or compilation of a library of sound files on several different time scales
- importation into the library of the editing and mixing program
- use of the cursor, script, or algorithm to position each sound at a specific time-point or time-points
- editing of the duration, amplitude, and spatial positions of all sounds (possibly done by script or algorith)
Granular synthesis incorporates many of the techniques of micromontage, though granular synthesis is inevitably automated and micromontage may be realized directly, point by point. "It therefore demands unusual patience," though it may be compared to a pointillistic paintings of Georges Seurat. (ibid)
See also: Sound collage and granular synthesis.
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