Augmented Vocality: Recomposing the Sounds of Early Irish and Old Norse

增强声乐：重构早期爱尔兰语和古挪威语的声音

• 批准号: AH/T006978/1
• 负责人: Lamberto Coccioli
• 金额: $ 49.47万
• 依托单位: Birmingham City University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT006978%2F1
• 关键词: Augmented; Vocality; Recomposing; Sounds; Early

Phrases such as 'the early medieval period' and 'the Viking age' are rich in imagery. For many people, these words conjure a mental landscape of swords, helmets, longboats and thatched huts. They form part of a shared cultural imagination that encompasses primary school projects, the historically-inspired fantasy world of Tolkien and popular series such as Vikings (2013-19) and The Last Kingdom (2015-). The legacy of such imagery in European fine arts is both deep-rooted and perennial, a fact that was highlighted by exhibitions such as the British Museum's Vikings (2014) and Celts: art and identity (2015-16). In contrast, the ephemeral nature of sound means that there is no clear legacy of the sonic past. When a language ceases to be spoken its literature becomes increasingly restricted to the scholars and specialists who have learned to read it. The focus shifts from performance and dissemination to translation and discussion. Texts that once existed as sonic artefacts of a vibrant oral tradition become fossilised in the silence of the printed page. The language loses its voice.'Augmented Vocality: Recomposing the Sounds of Early Irish and Old Norse' proposes a novel programme of practice-based research and a methodology to analyse and explore the sounds of early medieval languages. Combining linguistic expertise with sophisticated voice processing technologies the project aims to give new life to early languages and help reclaim the oral quality at the heart of medieval literature. In particular, vocal music composition with live electronics is a powerful tool to develop new insights and reanimate texts from early languages for audiences well beyond the field of literary studies. The project focuses on two languages, Early Irish and Old Norse - both chosen for their particular sonic qualities and the richness of the surviving texts - and comprises three integrated strands:Cataloguing and sampling of words and phonemes from selected texts;Analysing the vocal samples to inform the development of voice processing and live electronics software;Creation of musical compositions for voices, ensemble and live electronics in response to the original sounds and texts.Each strand of the project will result in specific outputs, including:Digital audio databases and sample libraries of Early Irish and Old Norse words and phonemes;Vocal processing software tools adapted to the specific sounds of the chosen languages;Live electronics software to support composition and performance with the vocal source material;At least two musical compositions for one or more voices, ensemble and live electronics;A project website with musical scores, recordings of performances, downloadable software and access to the digital audio databases;Public concerts in partnership with three renowned music ensembles in the UK, Ireland and Norway;Conference presentations and workshops in the UK, Ireland and Norway;At least two peer reviewed journal articles.As an interdisciplinary project, Augmented Vocality addresses the following research questions in the fields of linguistics and music technology, composition and performance:How to design a digital audio database and a sample library of words and sounds from medieval languages?How to develop voice processing techniques to respond to the specific sonic features of the source material?How could words and sounds from a medieval language be used as a resource for musical composition? How could live electronics help illuminate the meaning and the sonic qualities of medieval texts, words and sounds?Is it possible to reclaim the oral nature of a medieval text in a contemporary music performance context?

诸如“中世纪早期”和“维京海盗时代”之类的短语充满了意象。对许多人来说，这些词变出了一幅由剑、头盔、大艇和茅草屋组成的精神景观。他们形成了一个共同的文化想象的一部分，包括小学项目，托尔金的历史灵感的幻想世界和流行的系列，如维京人（2013-19）和最后的王国（2015-）。这种意象在欧洲美术中的遗产既根深蒂固又经久不衰，大英博物馆的维京人（2014）和凯尔特人：艺术与身份（2015-16）等展览突出了这一事实。相比之下，声音的短暂性意味着没有声音过去的明确遗产。当一种语言不再被使用时，它的文学就越来越局限于那些学会阅读它的学者和专家，重点从表演和传播转移到翻译和讨论。曾经作为充满活力的口头传统的声音艺术品存在的文本在印刷页面的沉默中变得模糊不清。语言失去了声音。‘增强声音：《重新整理早期爱尔兰语和古挪威语的声音》提出了一个以实践为基础的研究方案，并提出了一种分析和探索早期中世纪语言声音的方法。该项目将语言专业知识与复杂的语音处理技术相结合，旨在为早期语言赋予新的生命，并帮助恢复中世纪文学核心的口语质量。特别是，声乐作品与现场电子是一个强大的工具，开发新的见解和复活的文本从早期语言的观众远远超出了文学研究领域。该项目的重点是两种语言，早期爱尔兰语和古挪威语-两者都选择了他们的特殊音质和丰富的幸存文本-并包括三个综合股：编目和抽样的单词和音素从选定的文本;分析声音样本，以通知语音处理和现场电子软件的发展;为人声、合奏和现场电子设备创作音乐作品，以回应原始声音和文本。项目的每一部分都将产生特定的产出，包括：数字音频数据库和早期爱尔兰语和古挪威语单词和音素的样本库;适合所选语言特定声音的语音处理软件工具;支持声乐源材料的作曲和表演的现场电子软件;至少有两个音乐作品的一个或多个声音，合奏和现场电子;一个项目网站与乐谱，表演录音，可下载的软件和访问数字音频数据库;与英国、爱尔兰和挪威的三个著名乐团合作举办公共音乐会;在英国、爱尔兰和挪威举办会议演讲和研讨会;至少两篇同行评审的期刊文章。作为一个跨学科的项目，增强声乐解决了语言学和音乐技术，作曲和表演领域的以下研究问题：如何设计一个数字音频数据库和一个来自中世纪语言的单词和声音的样本库？如何开发语音处理技术来响应源材料的特定声音特征？中世纪语言中的文字和声音如何被用作音乐创作的资源？电子产品如何帮助阐明中世纪文本、文字和声音的意义和音质？在当代音乐表演的背景下，是否有可能恢复中世纪文本的口头性质？