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closer look at
(Polskie tłumaczenie dostarczone przez Olga Babenko)
Music Animation Machine
To understand the Music Animation Machine you don't need to know any of the
symbols (note values, clefs, sharps and flats, etc.) of conventional music
notation. You just need to watch and listen at the same time.
MAM notation is extremely simple:
Each note is represented by a colored bar (see diagram
The bars scroll across the screen from right to left as the piece plays, and
each bar lights up as its note sounds (so you can't lose your place).
The length of each bar corresponds exactly to the duration of its note as
(not in any way "quantized").
The vertical position of the bar corresponds to the pitch -- higher notes are
higher on the screen, lower notes are lower.
The horizontal position indicates the note's timing in relation to the other
These conventions are so simple that even very young children
notation and reap the benefits of seeing that music has structure and logic.
What is MAM notation good for?
By eliminating the multi-layered symbols of conventional notation (which a performer
needs in order to interpret a composer's intentions) the MAM display can reveal
melodic motion, compositional texture, and structure to the listener.
When it uses color to show pitch class (see Harmonic Coloring),
the MAM lends insight into harmonic motion, consonance/dissonance, and
modulation. Alternatively, the MAM can use color to highlight instrumentation
or compositional elements.
Unlike a conventional score, the MAM uses a single"pitch space." In
conventional notation, different instruments are distinguished by placing the
notes for each instrument on a separate staff. This makes it difficult to see
the relationship between the notes of two instruments, since the viewer must
mentally combine two or move staves into one. In MAM notation, all the notes
are on the same "staff," with different instruments distinguishable by
Most important, the MAM display is always viewed synchronized
with the sounds of the piece it represents, reinforcing through synesthetic
experience the relation of sound to visible structure.