“Stria Composed” by John Chowning Essay

John Chowning has believed ave changed the face of modern music once and for all. He is considered to be one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and a father of such a musical instrument as the digital synthesizer. The best of Chowning‘s music compositions which brought him glory and respect among connoisseurs of modern music are Sabelithe (composed in 1966), Stria (1977), Phoné (1980-1981), Voices (2005), etc. Stria is one of his most famous works this is why it deserves special attention. Stria is a computer piece with algorithmic composition and fantastic structure in which all the elements are in contact but still differentiated; the composition consists of sounds embodying the golden mean with the pitch space being based on pseudo-octaves.

To begin with, Stria is one of the most famous and remarkable musical compositions in the field of digital music. Stria is the result of Chowning’s experiments with FM synthesis with the application of inharmonic spectra. It was the first time when the composer has been using a high-level programming language trying to find an inharmonic ratio in which the components could be united by a basic ratio. “It was not automatic composition by any means, but there were rules for determining the details of the structure, from the microsound level up to the level of a phrase.” (Kaufmann) Stria was composed rather rigorously though it still sounds quite natural. Chowning himself admits that creating this composition was fun for him; at the beginning, it was nothing more than an experiment and the composer got surprised when everything worked out.

Stria is known for its algorithmic composition and unique structure. This musical piece can be characterized by microstructure and macrostructure. Stria is divided into several blocks saved in separate files (three, to be exact). The events composing each of the blocks consist of single sounds generated by the algorithms, “which made it possible to integrate a non-tonal division of the frequency space and the ratio of non-harmonic spectral components” (“Performances”)

Chowning uses the golden mean in Stria; the golden mean has been used in other compositions as well but with other ratios rather than the one which Chowning used (the ratio is 1 to 1.618). Such a ratio allowed him to create a basis for overtones and several pseudo-octaves (namely, eight), “three above and five below the central frequency” (Meneghini 2). The length of the composition is 17 minutes; in the first part “the intensity increases and after 10 minutes (a number which approximately stands in the golden ratio with the total length), there is a climax followed by a quasi-silence moment, after which the intensity grows again.” (Meneghini 3)

Finally, the sounds in Stria are intermingled with the sounds of instruments and human voice which helps to unite two modes of consciousness. The intervals and proportions in the composition are inharmonic, which makes the sounds flowing. “Perhaps one could describe it as one ever-changing spectrum, or thousands of spectra with the blurred outline, interfering and sometimes beating with each other.” (Harvey 58) Stria is composed in such a way that each element presents a single sound the succession of which forms the whole musical composition.

In conclusion, Stria composed by John Chowning in 1977 can indeed be regarded as a composition that altered modern music, because its structure, golden mean, and sound elements are unique and make the piece worth listening to.

Works Cited

Harvey, Jonathan. In Quest of Spirit: Thoughts on Music. University of California Press, 1999.

Kaufmann, William. “Composers and the Computer Curtis Roads”. William Kaufmann, Inc. 1985. ServInt. Web.

Meneghini, Matteo. Stria, By John Chowning: Analysis Of The Compositional Process. Universita di Padova, 2003.

“Performances”. SoundPlay. 2008. New Adventures in Sound Art. Web.