Audience accessibility : applying game rules in music composition

Abstract

The composer can and should be the first recipient of his or her own music. In addition, the composer writes music for others, identified as the Audience. This research is undertaken out of a fundamental and practical necessity of the composer to find possible answers to the question of what audience accessibility means for composers. This research plays a role in cultivating this author at an important juncture as a composer who is seeking to build aesthetic as well as practical pillars for producing music.

This research aims to identify the elements which support audience accessibility in music composition. In order to execute this task, game rules are applied to music composition. The game chosen for the author’s composition is an ancient Chinese board game, mahjong. What the author found in the game of mahjong is a tremendous potential to draw from its rules both communicability and elements of musical entertainment. The newly composed piece, Suite Mahjong No. 1 will be presented in Chapter Four.

In this thesis, the philosophical ideas of Immanuel Kant are applied as the framework. Kant’s interpretation of beauty, art, techniques, and common sense are introduced as the foundation of this thesis and will contribute to the further discussion of the audience accessibility as a result.

The findings of Chapter One indicate that audience accessibility cannot be proven solely from aesthetic merits. The findings contribute to shifting the focal point to the further discussions in the technical portion of the nature of art. In Chapter Two, the author’s five prior compositions are presented and discussed from the perspective of audience accessibility. The findings of Chapter Two indicate the author’s keen interest in using games, especially puzzle materials, in music composition. In this chapter, the author analyzes the weaknesses of original forms in the author’s own compositions. This development contributes to the further discussion of the role of rules in both game and music in Chapter Three. The findings of Chapter Three indicate that struggles, conflicts, and challenges serve as substance of entertainment in both game and music. The findings are supported by examining the functions of the puzzle, the attributes, and the mechanism of tension - release.

In Chapter Four, the new composition Suite Mahjong No. 1 is presented and analyzed. As a conclusion, Suite Mahjong No. 1 will be evaluated with respect to the major findings of this thesis including the following aspects: the aesthetic merits, the practical merits, and the entertainment merits. The focal point will be whether applying mahjong rules in music composition serves to achieve audience accessibility.

This study aims to provide support to all those who seek answers to the meaning of audience accessibility in the creative process.