Pencils and bytes: the MIDI technology and the reframing of the musical composition for films

• Grant number: 15/10579-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: August 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal Investigator: Jose Augusto Mannis
• Grantee: Otávio Luis Silva Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Artes (IA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The musical composition for films remained attached to the traditional orchestral model for decades, based on the printed sheet music record and symphonic pallet. From the middle of the 20th century, the advent of synthesizers and the MIDI protocol has substantially affected the compositional experience for films, providing not only a new pallet of sounds but also a deep reframing of canons attached to the figure of the composer, the musical aesthetics associated with audiovisual works and the autonomy of the composer towards the technological devices destined to musical composition. Such occurrence not only affect the musical field, but it also indicate new approaches regarding the process of thinking and making music for films, considering that the technology analyzed in this work are located in the beginning of the sound creation process, what heads to cognitive and practical changes in this field, resulting in a very specific and particular scenario of the 21st century.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SANTOS, Otávio Luis Silva. Between pencils and bytes: the effect of MIDI protocol usage on the transformation of musical creative processes for films. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Artes Campinas, SP.