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Textones

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 11 months ago

Textones: Shakespearean Sonnet.

Textones design and information exhibited on this page are copyright (c) 03/11/2008.

For further adventures in Textones beyond that which is exhibited upon this page, please visit www.HouseofBossa.com/Textones

Team Members: John Estioko    Shaun Sanders    Joshua Felsinger

Textones project team 

 

Initial Concept:

 

    The conceptual idea of the project is to apply the analysis of literature to the composition of music. By using certain textual analysis tools, as well as using "close reading" to analyze text, words will turn into tones and meter will turn into rhythm. We hope to find patterns that might then be related to use of language as a cognitive funtioning tool.

 

    By using a musical analysis of text we are also attempting to find other methods of interpretation. We are limited to the available notes and time signatures of music. Yet in the same way we are able to use a myriad of aspects of music such as choice of instruments and existing tonal patterns (scales). In essence we are doing what the class seems to be based on: defying conventional methods of interpreting literary works.

 

 

Introduction:

     The Project: “Textones: Shakespearian Sonnets” is an attempt at transforming the words of Shakespeare into tonal patterns via textual analysis of the different parts of speech. Once analyzed, each part of speech is then assigned a tonal value. Due to the projects radical nature, it lacks a certain amount of affinity with other works; thus, finding similiar research was difficult. 

 

 

“Under the general demand for slackening and for appeasement, we can hear the mutterings of the desire for a return of terror, for the realization of the fantasy to seize reality. The answer is: Let us wage a war on totality; let us be witnesses to the unpresentable; let us activate the differences and save the honor of the name.”

Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.

 

 

    This quote comes from Jan-Francois Lyotards “The Postmodern Condition." The original article focuses on the shifts of art and literature from Classicism to the Postmodern. It comes as a call to arms for new ideas and conceptualizations, not dissimilar to the ideas found in Willard McCarty's Humanities Computing in which McCarty describes a model as “either a representation of something for purposed of study, or a design for realizing something new.” [p31 CR] In Katherine Wilsons Sound and Meaning in English Poetry she says “what is the music we expect from poetry?” To which she answers “A tune or song, to be sure” [91]. Though Wilson never offers any concrete evidence for her speculation, her claim, does not seem that unimaginable.  The decision of Shakespearian Sonnets as our primary text of conversion lies in the fact that sonnets tend to adhere to sets of rules such as metre. We quickly found that, due to Shakespeare's mastery of the English language, he tends to play with these rules, and this complicated our process considerably.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chromatic Tonal Value Chart

 

Nouns- proper nouns (names, titles etc)

Value = 1

Root note or 1st in the scale

Pronouns (I, you, them, us, etc)

              2

2nd

Verbs

              3

3rd

     noun      - objects

              4

4th

Prepositions (at, to, in, on, etc)

              5

5th

      noun    -  moods/states

              6

6th

Adjectives (modify a noun)

              7

7th

Adverbs (modify a verb)

              8

8th

    noun       - locations

9

9th

Conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

             10

10th

Articles (a, an, the)

             11

11th

     

Note: the 1st and 12th notes are the same.

 

 

 

 

 Example of method: Sonnet12.mp3

 

 

In correct sentence structure, the order of importance is:

 

Subject (noun) + Verb (action) + object

 

Eg. Bob threw the ball.

 

In our language patterns, we apply most importance to the nouns, and this logic is probably relevant to many languages. It doesn’t matter if you are speaking Dutch, your listener still wants to know who you are talking about and then what happened. Therefore, the proper nouns get the root value of the scale (ie. 1st note in the scale). Values were attributed according to how important the word would be to making sense of the sentence. For example, in language we use the article “the,” but we can mostly understand the sentence without it, so conjunctions get a low value.

 

An alternate value assignment system (and maybe a better one) could deal with importance of musical constructs. Maybe we could equate musical values to the parts of speech. For example, in much Western music, the 1st, 4th and 5th are often the most strongly structured elements in a piece of music (a la rock’n’roll), so maybe they should equate as follows:

 

1st        Nouns

4th        Verbs

5th        Objects

 

This alternate system is called the “Scale Oriented Chart” because the values are closer to how we might interpret some most commonly used scale intervals, taking into account the possible import of those intervals. Obviously, this method is far more subjective. For example, a flat 3rd is typically a minor and denotes a somber mood, therefore it is applied to mood/state nouns. Also, the pronoun “I” is possibly more important in our concept of self than a proper noun could ever be (we don’t refer to ourselves by name in third person), therefore, pronouns are assigned the root value. This is an attempt to apply logic to tonal values. Think of it this way: If you had to apply words to the opening 5 bars of Beethoven’s 5th, what would they be and why? In “The Simpsons,” Barney uses “Nobody’s here, nobody’s here” on his answering machine, and Homer plays the sax thus:"Sax-o-mo-phone, sax-o-m-o-phone"…sure proof that we're not crazy;)

 

 

Scale Oriented Tonal Value Chart (2nd iteration key)

 

Pronouns (I, you, them, us, etc)

1

Root note or 1st

Nouns- proper nouns (names, titles etc)

2

maj 7th

Verbs

3

4th

     noun      - objects

4

5th

     noun      -  moods/states

5

b3rd

Adjectives (modify a noun)

6

dom 7th

Adverbs (modify a verb)

7

9th

    noun       - locations

8

6th

Conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

9

natural 3rd

Articles (a, an, the)

10

11th

Prepositions (at, to, in, on, etc)

11

2nd

Pronouns (I, you, them, us, etc)

12

Root note or 1st

Examples of scale oriented tonal value assignment

Audio example of Sonnet 30

 

     Final Tonal Asignment

 

This chart represents something close to final assignment of values to parts of speech. While assignment is still quite subjective at this stage, it is not necessary to create perfect music, only to see what kinds of patterns might emerge from the applications of these tones to Shakespearean sonnet. However, some adjustment toward harmony has been made. For the purposes of this class, these assignations are final; however, they can be re-assigned later for more pleasing results. For example, the Bb assigned to adjectives is often discordant with the Root, and such discord might belie the general nature of an adjective; therefore, it might be advantageous to trade it out with a more harmonic, but little-used, alternate tone. Furthermore. after witnessing the results of the Textone experiment, it has become apparent that, while the subject of the sentence is important, it is the verb that is the "machine" that drives the sentence forward into the future. In this light, it may also be advantageous to trade the C (pronouns) for F (verbs), thus the verb tone would represent the truer constant root in the textone rather than the subject.

 

Scale Oriented Tonal Value Chart (3rd iteration key)

1

C

 

Pronouns

 

 

Root

2

Ab

 

Nouns--Labels

 

 

Maj 7th

3

Bb

 

Adjectives

 

Dom 7th

4

B

 

Nouns-location

 

6th

5

D

 

Prepositions

 

#5th

 

6

G

 

Nouns-objects

 

5th

7

E

 

Indirect objects

 

b5th

8

F

 

Verbs

 

4th

9

Gb

 

Adverbs

 

3rd

10

Eb

 

Nouns-mood/state

 

b3rd

11

Db

 

Conjunctions

 

2nd

12

A

 

Articles

 

b2

13

C

 

Pronouns

 

Root

 

 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Do You Dream In Color?

 

 

This color coded version of Sonnet 18 gives an indication of parts of speech.  Why use color? It is a powerful aid in detecting discrepancies in assignations of parts of speech and, therefore, tones. Interpretation of parts of speech has been done with regard for the action of the verb determining the subject of any given clause or phrase. For example, in line 8, "course" is given  the designation of indirect object because, although the verb "untrimmed" is acting upon it, it exists as part of the "fair from fair" clause, the first "fair" being the subject of the clause, the second being the direct object. It should also be noted that, as labels such as "lovely" and "temperate" cannot act as subjects, they have been relegated to the status of "Nouns-Moods/ states," or Eb. Also, anynoun other than a pronoun that can be considered a subject in a clause is given the designation "Nouns--labels," or Ab. (see final tonal assignment above.) Greatest success is achieved when the sonnet is printed out double spaced and then parts of speech are written above each word. Then this information is transfered into color text and  applied it to the Textone chart.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

 

SONNET XVIII

Legend:      Subject       Verb     Direct object    Indirect object   

                   Adjective   Adverb    Nouns—label  

Conjunction      Preposition  Article

 

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

 

TO HEAR THE TEXTONE OF SONNET 18 CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parts of Speech Application Grid

 

The Sonnet Textone chart is useful for the manual application of the above tones to parts of speech. Each line of the grid accomodates a single line of the sonnet, and where there is a blank, it is left as a silent meter count. Enjambment is taken into consideration, but only peripherally. Each square is to be filled in with the tonal value appropriate to the part of speech. If the word in question has more than one syllable, it will occupy the corresponding number of squares, eg.  "summer" would use 2 squares.

 

 

 

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

Bar

 

 

 

     

1

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 4

     

2

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Eb

 

 

 

Eb

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Eb

 

 

 

Eb

 

 

 

Eb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 7

     

3

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 11

     

4

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 15

     

5

 

 

 

Gb

Gb

Gb

Bb

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

G

G

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 19

     

6

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Gb

Gb

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 22

     

7

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

Gb

Gb

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 25

     

8

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 28

     

9

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 31

     

10

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

G

G

G

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 34

     

11

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 37

     

12

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 40

     

13

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

14

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

Textones design and information exhibited on this page are copyright (c) 03/11/2008.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

 

 SONNET XVII

Legend:      Subject       Verb     Direct object    Indirect object   

                   Adjective   Adverb    Nouns—label  

Conjunction   Preposition  Article

 

 

Who will believe my verse in time to come,

If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?

Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb

Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts.

If I could write the beauty of your eyes,

And in fresh numbers number all your graces,

The age to come would say 'This poet lies;

Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.'

So should my papers, yellow'd with their age,

Be scorn'd, like old men of less truth than tongue,

And your true rights be term'd a poet's rage

And stretched metre of an antique song:

But were some child of yours alive that time,

You should live twice, in it, and in my rhyme.

 

 

TO HEAR THE TEXTONE OF SONNET 17 CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

8

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

13

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Ab

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

Gb

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

Db

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

Bb

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio example of Sonnet 119

 

Audio example of Sonnet 66

 

By using CLAWS we were able to tag words in the work by part of speech, by tagging the text our work was somewhat facilitated. The main obstacle we ran into with this web based software was that words were not really defined in context so some phrases, especially those containing adjectives, were not defined correctly. The potential of part of speech tagging is that if it was done effectively there would be the possibility of having a tagging engine that directly outputs into a sound engine, facilitating the process and doing without the necessity of a human agent.

Audio example of Sonnet 138

 

 

 

 SOFTWARE USAGE UPDATE

 

While experimenting with various software systems with which to implement a user-friendly version of Textones--one where the average net surfer could apply tones to their own choice of literature--the Textones Project ran short of time. It became apparent that some sort of programming would be needed, and this is something we do not currently have to resources to undertake. Therefore, we settled on the simple but effective method of using typical sound sequencing software to create the Textones according to our analysis of each sonnet. Then, we simply loaded the completed audio files for close listening purposes in an attempt to demonstrate the possibility that literature can be modelled in an audio form. Below is a screen capture image of a Protools session.

 

NOTE: any adjective tone occuring immediately before a noun tone is held until the noun tone ends, thus "coloring" the noun tone in the same way an adjective colors a noun in text. Likewise, a verb tone is held to color the object it acts upon, but it is not held to effect the indirect object. Until suitable software is found or written for Textones analysis, snippets of audio signal must be cut and pasted into place manually.

 

 

 

Conclusions

 

The progress of this project followed some characteristics introduced to us by "Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals" by Salen and Zimmerman. The initial idea was formed and a prototype model was made in a relatively short span of time the idea was then refined and subsequent versions or iterations were made. Each step in the process takes on the past model and changes or adds to the model and develops the idea. The purpose of changing the model would either serve a functional purpose, for example, the method we used to organize the information; or to serve an aesthetic purpose, for example, changing the assignment of notes. Yet within these models there were rules that were observed that keeps the later iterations similar to the first prototype we made.

 

 

Textones design and information exhibited on this page are copyright (c) 03/11/2008.

 

 

John Estioko

Joshua Felsinger

Shaun Sanders

 

    Research

John Estioko

Joshua Felsinger

Shaun Sanders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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