Tornado in the Sea: A Media Transposition of the Barracuda Series Painting into a Musical Composition

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
A work of art can be a medium of expression or communication.The texts contained in a work of art correlate with certain contexts.One example of this is the painting by Zaimie bin Sahibil entitled Barracuda Series.This work is the embodiment of a work of art which was inspired by the results of the artist's study of the maritime ecosystem in the coastal area of Sabah, in 2016.Textually, the painting portrays a shoal of barracuda fish which form a spiral dimension in the depths of the blue ocean.The colors and lighting depicted represent the clear beauty of the seawater.According to Zaimie (interview, October 2022), his processing of form used a semi realist approach with a technique of complementary colors, or colors that create a contrast between one object and another.
Contextually, Barracuda Series conveys a utopian paradigm of the future of the ecosystem of the maritime community in the coastal area of Sabah.This idea was conceived persuasively in response to the deviation in the activities of the coastal community which have caused damage to the marine environment."Fishing with the use of explosives and chemicals is becoming more and more prevalent" (Zaimie, interview, October 2022).The beauty of the ocean floor, which is the theme of this painting, is presented as a paradox of the reality of the marine ecosystem.The message contained in the work is the hope that the coastal community will support the process of ecosystem conservation."What will become of this country if future generations are only able to see barracuda fish and witness the beauty of the natural ecosystem of the sea in two dimensional form?" (Zaimie, interview, October 2022).
The Barracuda Series artwork provided inspiration for the composer to create a musical composition entitled Tornado in the Sea.This work was treated with a concept of media transposition, to transform a work of fine art into a musical composition.The process of media transposition includes activities such as translation, adaptation, and transferal of one type of art to another (Damono, 2018: 9).With reference to this statement, there were several processes that were applied in the implementation of this particular media transposition.The material object was translated and adapted into musical form.The extra-aesthetic ideas and values that were adapted referred to the values contained in the Barracuda Series painting.Kartika (2016: 46) stated that "The differences in the relationships between different branches of the arts present the same aesthetic problems.The differences that occur are only physical because of the use of different materials."This statement reinforces the fact that the musical composition Tornado in the Sea is a change in form of the painting Barracuda Series.
The concept of media transposition was implemented through interpretation and transformation on both an external and internal structural level.According to Ricoeur in Wahid (2015: 14), "Interpretation is an idea which is used to decipher a meaning that is hidden within the apparent meaning."Interpretation was used as a bridge in the analysis of the material object.The meaning deciphered here was the inter-aesthetic and extra-aesthetic elements contained in the Barracuda Series painting.
The composer used the Levi-Strauss concept of transformation on an external and internal structural level.According to Pudjitriherwanti, et al. (2019: 79), the Levi-Strauss concept of transformation refers to two structural parts, namely the surface structure, which consists of the relationships between elements which form the manifestation, and the deep structure, which is an arrangement that is made based on the physical structure but is not always empirically apparent.Transformation of the surface structure refers to inter-aesthetic aspects in textual form, while transformation of the deep structure refers to extra-aesthetic aspects in the form of contextual meaning and values.
Works which have used the concept of media transposition to create a musical composition include the work by Surya Dendes (2020) entitled "Mangaji: Reinterpretation of Oral Literature in a Musical Composition."In this work, a phenomenon that is found in Minangkabau Pasambahan literature is transformed into musical elements as a stimulus for presenting motifs and rhythms.The words from the Pasambahan literature are treated as a musical theme through symbols of Morse code.Another work by Siswadi (2013), entitled "Nirmana Interlocking Tones: Media Transposition of Fine Art to Sound," is based on the picture Nirmana by Aris Widyasmara.Elements of fine art such as fields, colors, lines, dots, and textures are transformed into musical elements.As his transformative medium, Siswadi uses instrumentation that includes Javanese gamelan, saxophone, violin, and cello.
Based on the observation of this work, it is evident that the transformation focused on intra-aesthetic aspects.The extra-aesthetic aspects still present a context which is relevant to the work that served as the object of the media transposition.In the transformation process, changes were made to the surface structure, while in the deeper structure, no such changes occurred (Ahimsa-Putra, 2001:62).

METHOD
The musical composition Tornado in the Sea is the manifestation of the media transposition of Zaimie bin Sahibil's painting entitled Barracuda Series (Figure 1).The concept of media transposition was implemented by carrying out an interpretation and transformation of the painting to create a musical composition.This process involved a number of stages in the method of creation.
According to Hardjana (2003: 79), a composition indirectly demonstrates the ongoing work process and the realization of a musical work.With reference to this statement, the creation of this work involved a number of work stages that were implemented constructively through a method of creation.These stages included: an analysis of data sources, experimentation, contemplation, arrangement, and formation.The work process utilized the results of extra-aesthetic interpretation and intra-aesthetic transformation to create an innovative musical text.This provided the opportunity and served as a stimulus for increasing the creativity of the musical treatment.The following stages were implemented in the creation of the musical composition: The first step was to analyze the data sources.The analysis was carried out by utilizing both etic and emic sources.Etic data sources refer to the results obtained from a study and literature review, while emic data sources include observation, interviews, and archival documents (Kartika, 2016: 48-50).Second, Experimentation was carried out on the instruments that were used in the creation of the musical composition.This included an exploration of the instruments and of other possibilities for playing the instruments in nonconventional ways.The exploration referred to the transformation of form that was relevant to the material object.The experimentation included combining different playing techniques to produce innovations in timbre and intensity of sound.
In this case, the contemplation involved a process of incubation.The results of the experimentation and exploration were left to settle for a while without abandoning the process of media transposition that would be worked on between the material and formal objects.The artist carried out a contemplation to revisit and discover the correlation with the manifestation of visual elements that would undergo a transformation to become musical elements.Then, the process of structuring was carried out by selecting the results of the experimentation that would be used to become a series of constructive musical texts.The structuring process produced of figures and motifs that had resulted from the transformation.The construction of form within structure is a vessel for the language of artistic expression (Hardjana, 2003: 79).After reviewing the musical material that had been produced from the experimentation, and the results of the analysis of data sources, the composer made an of the material to create a basic outline in order to establish the musical themes.
The formation process was carried out by taking into consideration the inter-aesthetic and extra-aesthetic elements of the material object, then transforming them into a series of textures and sound intensities.The textures and sound intensities were formed from a series of musical themes.In this case, the formation was not only sourced from the previous stages.The subjective intuition and external factor of appreciation, along with references from the composer's repertoire, also influenced the process of formation.The integration of these various aspects created an authentic artistic form from aspects that were relevant with the material object.The stage of formation produced a form of musical composition within a The final stage to be implemented was the execution.The execution was carried out by the musicians who were involved in the process of transferring the musical material, the evaluation, and the performance of the work.The idea and concept of the work was adapted as a foothold in making an interpretation of the instrument playing.The process of transferring the musical material was done using notes and symbols of musical notation that had been agreed upon beforehand.The evaluation was carried out directly in the form of a discussion, and allowed the possibility of adding or eliminating certain musical material by the composer and the musicians.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The musical composition Tornado in the Sea was created using a concept of media transposition, from a visual form to a musical composition.The concept of media transposition was implemented through interpretation and transformation on both an external and internal structural level.In essence, a concept is an abstract idea, a definition, or the formulation of ideas to be manifested into the form of a work (Garwa, 2021: 390).Based on this definition of concept, the composer made an adaptation and transformation of elements of visual art to become musical elements.The object of transformation was viewed in terms of its visual elements, specifically the lines, colors, space, and lighting contained in the Barracuda Series painting.These elements were then transformed to become musical elements in the form of a structure consisting of figures, motifs, melodic phrases, textures, timbres, and techniques.
The adaptation of extra-aesthetic aspects was carried out through an interpretation of ideas that were still relevant to the Barracuda Series painting.The extra-aesthetic values contained in the painting convey a utopian paradigm of the future of the ecosystem of the maritime community.The work offers a persuasive response to the deviation of the coastal community's activities pertaining to the marine environment.The interpretation of this idea was that the healthy and natural maritime ecology will be damaged if its community does not take part in its conservation.
The musical composition Tornado in the Sea was created using an interpretative approach.According to Scruton (2018: 46), there are two stages involved in a musical interpretation.The first stage is the interpretation of character with the musical composition, where the result of the translation lies in the performance and the reception of the work.The second stage is the interpretation that refers to the musical notation as the transfer medium.The composer carried out an interpretation of the material object as the idea and concept of creation.This was then transformed into a musical form by means of oral transferal and with the use of notation of musical symbols as the transfer media.From this transferal process, an interpretation was made by the musicians who were the executors in the presentation of the work.
The composition Tornado in the Sea uses the instrumental format of a trio, with piano, violin, and kalimba.This formation was chosen as it was representative of the Sabah coastal region, which is part of the Coral Triangle.This region is a global conservation center for a diverse range of marine life (Coral Triangle Initiative, 2014: 89).Textually, the three instruments can fulfil the requirements of texture and timbre that are needed in the musical composition.The title Tornado in the Sea was adopted from the composer's interpretation of the object of the painting.The impression of the object in the dimension created is shoal of fish in a circular formation like a tornado.Contextually, the title is a paradox of the idea of a utopian paradigm of the conservation of maritime ecology by the coastal community.It implies that if the community does not play a part in the conservation, the destruction of the maritime ecology will be unavoidable, like the destruction of a community that has been hit by a tornado.In this context, an analogy is made of a tornado in the sea as a representation of the damage that will occur to the maritime ecosystem.Wisetrotomo (2022: 296) stated that "Art creation is sparked by the surrounding reality, then processed through logic, and sharpened by the sensitivity of the soul."The musical composition Tornado in the Sea is presented as the manifestation of the values contained in the Barracuda Series painting.It is also a reflection of the importance of the community's involvement in conserving and taking care of the maritime ecology.It is hoped that this work will evoke in the appreciator an impression of the auditory nuances and mood presented.

Creativity process
The creative process carried out in creating this work of art is through research work as explained in the previous section.The analysis of data sources was done by dividing the data sources into emic data and etic data.The etic data were obtained from the text which was in the form of the Barracuda Series painting.The emic data were obtained from the results of interviews and a study of archival documents from Zaimie bin Sahibil.The etic and emic data were utilized by transforming them to provide the initial stimulus for the creation of a musical composition.The elements contained in the painting were interpreted using Monroe Beardsley's aesthetic approach.According to Beardsley, there are three elements in a work of art which make it attractive and beautiful, namely: (1) unity (2) complexity; and (3) intensity (Kurniawan et al., 2016: 26).
The element of unity was viewed in elements of visual form (lines, space, color, and lighting) which create a unit.In the main object, this is presented through the figure of a shoal of barracuda fish which form a spiral escalation, as viewed from the perspective of the deep ocean floor.The impression of this perspective is formed by the spiral dimension that becomes gradually smaller.In addition, the gradation of lighting in the ocean background, which is darker at the bottom and gradually becomes lighter towards the top, makes the perspective more concrete.The two objects are dominated by gradations of blue color to represent the beautiful, clear conditions of the ocean realm.
The element of complexity was viewed in terms of the intricacy and simplicity which have contextual meaning.The depiction of a calm sea with the impression of clear lighting expresses a marine life which is uncontaminated.The figure of a shoal of barracuda fish swimming from the ocean floor shows that the seawater is still a friendly environment for living creatures.This element creates an impression of harmony between living creatures and their ecosystem.The element of intensity was viewed in terms of the quality and intensity of treatment that create an impression.The Barracuda Series painting gives an impression of peace and calm, a utopia in the maritime ecosystem.The shape of a spiral escalation that is portrayed through a shoal of barracuda fish demonstrates the intensity of the artist's exploration with the formation of the dimensions of his own perspective.The shoal of barracuda fish and the ocean background are used as a representation of the Sabah coast as a part of the area known as the Coral Triangle.
The experimentation was carried out through the exploration of the three instruments, piano, violin, and kalimba.These instruments were chosen due to considerations of functional aspects as well as their variations of contrasting timbre.The composer chose the piano because of its ability to construct complex harmonies and create a variety of textures.The violin was chosen because of its ability to play long, static notes and its potential for varied and innovative exploration and execution.The kalimba instrument was chosen due to its unique timbre in both its melodic and percussive application.
Experimentations were carried out with these three instruments by applying and combining various conventional and non-conventional techniques to produce new timbres.On the piano, the composer explored various non-conventional techniques such as inside pizzicato, in which the piano strings are plucked with the fingers to produce a thick, sharp jangling sound.Another technique used was the inside slap, in which the piano strings are struck with the palm of the hand to produce a dark, resonating boom.The timbres produced with these techniques were used as nuances that created the impression of a tornado in the sea.
On the violin, the composer explored a technique known as random col legno, in which the strings are struck at random with the end of the bow to produce a percussive and melodic sound at the same time.The next technique used was harmonic arpeggios, in which the fingers touch the strings without pressing against the fingerboard, with a rising and falling melodic gesture.This technique produces a ringing sound with a frequency that rises and falls in steps.The implementation of these two techniques created the impression of a chaotic situation on the sea's surface and on the deep ocean floor.
The next experiment was carried out on the kalimba.The keys and body of the kalimba were scratched with the fingernails and struck with the thumbs and thumbnails.This technique produced a distorted, percussive sound variation.The resulting timbre created an impression of coral being struck and destroyed by the explosives and chemicals that are used for catching fish.The variations in timbre and sound intensity that resulted from the process of instrumental experimentation were reviewed in terms of their relevancy to the interaesthetic elements of the painting.The results of the experimentation and exploration of the instruments were also reviewed with regard to the interpretation and transformation.The external or surface structure focused on a transformation of sound that could represent the aspect of unity (line, space, color, and lighting).The review of the inner or deep structure focused on the sounds that could represent the aspects of complexity and intensity from the Barracuda Series panting.The contemplation process also included planning the continuation of the results of the experimentation in the subsequent stages of arrangement and formation of musical elements.
The structuring involved the organization of the smallest sections of the unified musical structure.The rhythmic patterns in the melodies and harmonies were arranged to become thematic figures and motifs.These figures and motifs were processed by implementing literal repetition, imitation of figures and motifs, and repetition with development.The literal repetition was done by restating the same melodic figures and motifs at a different moment.The repetition included various changes and developments.These changes included broadening and narrowing the range of notes, and broadening and narrowing the units of time and rhythm.The melodic figures and melodies were organized to produce the main melodic phrases, accompanying melodies, and harmonies.These three types of phrase were applied to each of the three instruments in turn and in an interrelated manner, thereby creating variations of sound texture.The sound intensity was structured based on musical intuition and on the interpretation of the material object.
The musical composition Tornado in the Sea is made up of three large cycles within a unified structure.The dramatic progression of sound intensity in the three cycles refers to the extra-aesthetic elements contained in the painting.The first cycle is the beginning or opening section which represents the beautiful, clear condition of the sea and its ecosystem.This cycle has soft dynamics and a low intensity of sound.The second cycle is the middle section, and the climax of the musical dramatics.This section represents the destruction of the ocean ecosystem, beginning slowly and building to a climax.In this cycle, the dynamics are varied and the sound intensity is high.In the third cycle, the dramatic elements return to those of the first cycle, with a low sound intensity and gradually decreasing dynamics.This section represents the hope of the community's participation in the conservation of the ocean ecosystem.
The execution was carried out by three instrumental musicians and a fourth person who gave cues, similar to a conductor.The stage of execution included three phases.The first phase was the process of explaining the thoughts and ideas and transferring the material through notes and a transcription of musical notation.The conductor and musicians each made their own interpretation of the notation for the execution of the music.The results of their interpretation was implemented in the playing techniques of their own instruments.The aim of the interpretation was to achieve a quality and relevance between the textual elements within their own context.The coherence between the musical aspects and extra-musical aspects was related to the weight and quality of the musical composition (Kariasa et al., 2021: 225).
The second phase was an evaluation through a process of direct discussion between the composer, the conductor, and the musicians.The intention of the evaluation was to achieve a significant outcome of the interpretation.If there were any playing techniques or patterns in the notation that could not be executed, adjustments were made without reducing the artistic aspects of the work.All the adjustments were made with the agreement of the composer and the executors.The third phase was the execution of the performance.The musical composition Tornado in the Sea was performed for the first time at the Borneo Ensemble Composer Series Concert 2022 in the Recital Hall at UMS, Sabah, Malaysia (Figure 2).The work was presented in an acoustic indoor performance on a proscenium stage with the aid of a sound amplification system.

Form of Work 1. Structure of Work
In this case, the structure of the work is the elements that shape the construction of the musical composition.The analysis of structure refers to Leon Stein's structure and style in The Study and Analysis of Musical Forms.The analysis of the structure of the composition https://doi.org/10.24114/gondang.v6i2.53754 Tornado in the Sea focuses on the analysis of figures and motifs.According to Stein, a figure is the smallest unit of construction in music, and consists of a single characteristic rhythmic pattern and a single characteristic interval.A figure may consist of a minimum of two notes and a maximum of twelve notes.The term motif in certain circumstances is used as a synonym of figure.On the contrary, a distinction is sometimes made between figure as a unit of pattern or as an accompaniment.A motif as a thematic portion may consist of two or three figures, and the term motif is predominantly used to identify a short subject in a type of composition (Indrawan, 2011: 2-3).The structure of Tornado in the Sea consists of the musical elements that were created through the transformation of the visual elements of the Barracuda Series painting.The analysis of the structure is divided according to the three cycles of the composition, namely the opening section, the climax, and the final section.

Opening Section
The structure of the opening section of this work is divided into two phrases, the first phrase and the last phrase.In the first phrase, the music begins with the piano, kalimba, and violin playing in a style of call and response.The structure of this opening section is made up of the repetition of figures and motifs (Figure 3).The first figure is played on the piano, then repeated with a change in register on the violin, then on the kalimba, once again with a change in register.Thus, the first figure is played on all three instruments in turn, each time with a change in register.The second figure is then played on the kalimba, and repeated with a change in register and a development in rhythmic structure on the piano and violin in turn.The same structure is applied to the second figure: repetition with a change in register and development in rhythmic pattern, played in turn on each of the three instruments.This is followed by the repetition of a motif played on the kalimba and piano together with different pitches.This motif is repeated on the piano with a development in rhythmic pattern and a change in register.This time, the repetition is only played on the piano.
The structure in the first phrase of the opening section is dominated by the repetition of figures with a change in register, and the repetition of motifs with a development in rhythmic pattern and a change in register.The changes in register with a low intensity of sound present harmonies that create a fresh, calm impression.The structure of the first phrase is a transformation of the color gradations of black, blue, and white on the painting.These gradations create an image of a clear ocean with calm waves.At the beginning of the last phrase, the piano, kalimba, and violin all play together with a division in the function of each instrument (Figure 4).The piano motif is repeated with a change in register.This pattern becomes the motif of the accompanying melody which is played as an ostinato pattern.The figure played on the kalimba is repeated with a development in rhythmic pattern and a change in register.The repetition is played again on the kalimba in call and response with the piano.Next, the figure played on the piano is repeated literally, then repeated again with a change in harmony.The same figure is also repeated with tighter rhythms and a change in harmony on the kalimba.The last phrase of the opening section is dominated by the literal repetition of figures, as well as repetition with changes in register, changes in harmony, and changes in rhythm.This last phrase is a transformation of the blue color of the seawater, as a background image, and the black color in the main object of the shoal of fish.These visual forms are transformed to become two divisions of musical structure, namely an accompanying melodic pattern and a main melody, which are played in a style of call and response.

Climax Section
The climax section in this work contains a musical structure with a tight intensity of sound.The structure in this section is played by all of the instruments, each with its own pattern of motif (Figure 5).The melodic motif of the violin is repeated with a change in register.Then, part of the first motif and part of the motif from the repetition are combined in another repetition with a combination of the previous rhythms and motifs.The motif played on the kalimba is presented as an explorative percussive motif.This motif is repeated literally.Likewise, the motif played on the piano is presented as an explorative percussive motif which is made up of notes from the lower register and the higher register, played in call and response, with accentuation, then repeated literally.The climax-section is dominated by literal repetition in the motif structure of each instrument.Thisstructure is the transformation of the fish in the painting, an object that is depicted multiple times to create a shoal of fish that form a dimension of spiral escalation.

Final Section
The final section of this work returns to a low intensity of sound with dynamics that gradually become softer.The rhythmic patterns become broader, with longer, sustained notes (Figure 6).The structure in this section has a tendency to resemble the structure in the opening section.The figure played on the violin is repeated with a change in register on the piano.The same figure is then repeated again on all three instruments with a change in register and a broadening and shift of rhythmic pattern to create interlocking patterns between one instrument and another.Next, a melodic motif with the same rhythmic pattern is played on all three instruments but with different notes.In the closing section, the motifs of each instrument are repeated literally, then undergo a change in rhythmic pattern to become long, sustained notes with a tempo that gradually becomes slower.The final section is dominated by the repetition of figures with a change in register and the literal repetition of motifs.This structure is a transformation of the gradation of color in the painting, from black and blue to white.

Texture of the Work
According to Stein, texture in music refers to the relationships between the melodies and the harmonies, the number of participating "voices", and the vertical and horizontal relationships between the two (Indrawan, 2011: 77).In this case, the textural analysis focuses on monophonic texture, homophonic texture, and polyphonic texture.As Miller explains, a monophonic texture is a melodic sequence with a single voice.A homophonic texture is a texture that is made up of two or more voices, with a structure that consists of a main melody and accompanying harmonies.The rhythmic patterns tend to have similarities.A polyphonic texture is also made up of two or more voices, with a structure that consists of a main melody and an accompanying melody.The rhythmic patterns of the main melody and accompanying melody tend to complement and relate to one another.The analysis of structure is divided into the three main cycles, namely the opening section, the climax, and the final section.https://doi.org/10.24114/gondang.v6i2.53754

Opening Section
The analysis of texture in the opening section is divided into two phrases, the first phrase and the last phrase.The first phrase of the opening section is dominated by a polyphonic texture (Figure 7).The three instruments play melodic patterns and rhythms that complement each other.These patterns create a sequence of interlocking rhythms.The structure of the figure is imitated in parallel fashion on each instrument, repeated by each instrument in turn in the style of a canon.The figure is played first on the piano, then imitated in parallel fashion on the kalimba and violin.The interlocking and canon techniques are repeated with accentuation and varied melodic movement on the three instruments to create a polyphonic texture.The polyphonic texture in the opening section has soft dynamics and a low intensity of sound, spaced out with a slow tempo.This texture is presented as a transformation and interpretation of the condition of the ocean ecosystem which is still clear and beautiful.The last phrase of the opening section also has a polyphonic texture (Figure 8).This texture is shaped by a pattern of call and response between the kalimba and piano accompanied by an ostinato melody played on the violin.The three instruments play with interlocking and complementary patterns between the main melody and the accompanying melody.The polyphonic texture of the last phrase in the opening section has tight rhythms in the accompanying melody.The sound intensity is higher than in the first phrase.This texture is a transformation and interpretation of the gradual destruction of the ocean ecosystem, beginning slowly and building up to a climax.https://doi.org/10.24114/gondang.v6i2.53754

Climax Section
The climax section has a polyphonic texture which is formed by the three instruments with repetitions of the main melodic pattern and an accompanying melody that tends to be static (Figure 9).The repetitions are played with the same accentuation on each motif.The climax section has a high intensity of sound with tighter rhythms.The interlocking melodic patterns played on all the three instruments present a dense, unified sound.The three instruments are played at a fast tempo and with loud dynamics.This texture is the result of a transformation and interpretation of a tornado in the sea.The resulting sound creates an impression of damage to the ocean ecosystem by the tornado.

Final Section
The texture of the final section consists of two textual variants, namely polyphonic and homophonic textures (Figure 10).The polyphonic texture in the final section tends to resemble the texture of the opening section.The three instruments are played with accentuation of the melodic patterns and repetitive parallel rhythms.The homophonic texture is created by rhythms that are played together on all three instruments with a long rhythmic structure.The two textures are presented in turn.The sound intensity gradually decreases and the dynamics become increasingly softer.The texture of the final section creates an impression of hope for support in the process of conservation of the ocean ecosystem before it is too late, so that there will be no cause for regret.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Repetition of Figures and Motifs in the First Phrase of the Opening Section

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Repetition of Figures and Motifs in the Last Phrase of the Opening Section

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Repetition of Motifs in the Climax Section

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.Repetition of Figures and Motifs in the Final Section

Figure 7 .
Figure 7. Texture of the First Phrase of the Opening Section

Figure 8 .
Figure 8. Texture of the Last Phrase of the Opening Section

Figure 9 .
Figure 9. Texture of the Climax Section

Figure 10 .
Figure 10.Texture of the Final Section