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"Ensenada" print by The Delta Nudes, ca. 1971
The Theory of Phonetic Organization is a musical practice conceived by Bavarian avant-garde composer N. Senada (with later assistance from Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman).
The theory suggests that composers ignore the traditional rules of music theory in favour of organising music from the sounds it comprises, thus resulting in an emphasis on sound textures over melody. Similar in concept to musique concrète, artists using phonetic organization are often encouraged to use non-musical sound objects to create their pieces, as well as using production and mixing techniques as a form of expression.
Despite predating Senada's better-known Theory of Obscurity, the Theory of Phonetic Organization remains best known for inspiring The Residents' compositional method, and is primarily associated with their debut album Meet The Residents (although other albums such as Not Available and Eskimo have also been referred to as experiments in the concept).
Definition[]
Development and early examples[]
The Bavarian music theorist N. Senada (who was born Nigel Sinatra) first began developing a musical theory involving arrangement of sounds in his early career as a composer in Germany in the 1930s.
Believing that he was a poor composer, but an "excellent architect", Senada viewed musical composition in a manner akin to an architect designing a house, with the "bricks" comprising Senada's compositions usually being melodies lifted from other popular works. The earliest surviving work composed in this manner, Senada's 1937 opus "Pollex Christi", also included gaps in the "blueprint", which were intended to be filled with plagiarized melodies of the performer's own choosing.
The Theory of Phonetic Organization appears to have been further developed in the late 1960s or early 1970s by Senada following his meeting with Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman, a guitarist, violinist and "unknown Englishman" who Senada (according to legend) encountered in the Bavarian woods while recording "birdsound". Lithman and Senada together "translated" Senada's compositions from around this time (such as "Cantaten und Symphonen mit Eine Poem") into phonetics,[1] "recording noises that (they) heard all around" and "calling them music".[2]
Phonetic organization in the work of The Residents[]
As N. Senada never published any of his own writings in his lifetime (presumably in accordance with his Theory of Obscurity), the earliest known published reference to the Theory of Phonetic Organization proper was in the liner notes accompanying Meet The Residents, the first album by Senada's protégés The Residents, in 1974:
"The Residents have taken the basic ideas of the phonetic organization but have applied the theories to a more Western style of music. The translation does not always hold intact, though there is more than enough example of this staggering new music style."
A few years later, in the liner notes to their third album The Third Reich n' Roll, The Residents once again referred to the Theory of Phonetic Organisation, stating that their (then unreleased) second album Not Available was a "conceptualization of the theory of obscurity, as applied to phonetic organisation.
When Ralph Records' managing director and Cryptic Corporation spokesperson Jay Clem was asked to explain the theory in the 1977 Residents Radio Special, he was unable to find words, instead attempting to explain it by implementing the theory into his speech, making strange sounds instead of words. By 1980, Clem was able to offer a clearer definition:
"It's a way of arranging sounds. It's a technique by which The Residents do records. Simply, this means the organization of sound. More generally, it means that the musician or recording artist need not necessarily follow the established rules of music; theoretically, you can take any group of sounds and organize them in an interesting manner, and this is what The Residents try to do.
There's a certain basic primitive quality to all The Residents' work. They rely more on the primal instincts. Corresponding to the tribal cultures like Africa, South America, North Pole, whatever, the percussion and basic beat is a rudimentary concept involved in early forms of music.
The Residents' work of art is indeed the record itself, and the creative process is done in the studio. The main instruments used are the studio and its various components."
However, in an interview with Vacation magazine, a Cryptic spokesperson claimed:
"The theory actually applied itself to lyric writing more than it did to the music. It was a point of view by which the contents of the words were made subordinate to the sound of the words as they put themselves together. This applied itself to the music sometimes because The Residents would write the words first, then try to create music to follow the lyrics."[3]
Eskimo and Eskimo Deconstructed[]
While Meet The Residents attempted to apply the Theory of Phonetic Organization to western pop music, and Not Available used it in accordance with the Theory of Obscurity, The Residents' sixth studio album Eskimo was created in accordance with the Theory of Phonetic Organization alone. The album was made up largely of non-musical sounds, arranged into a cohesive, semi-musical experience.
The method is perhaps best showcased via the 40th anniversary "Deconstructed" vinyl edition of Eskimo in which the album's raw elements are presented, allowing listeners to hear the initial "building blocks" from which Eskimo was made. The liner notes encourage listeners to practice phonetic organization by reconstructing Eskimo from its basic elements.
See also[]
External links and references[]
- The Mysterious N. Senada (1907-93) at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
- ↑ "We work with phonetic wood instruments, which he made himself, and we translated his music into phonetics, and now we play music together with our group." Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman, A Live Radio Broadcast, KHSC-FM, Arcata, California, October 30th 1971
- ↑ "He was recording bird noises. He thought Mahler's music was based on them, you see. So, uh, we got together and went around recording noises that we heard all around, and, uh... generally, uh... calling them music." Snakefinger, KSAN-FM San Mateo radio interview, 1978
- ↑ Ian Shirley, Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents, Cherry Red Books, 2016
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Meet The Residents (1974) Side A |