live electronics and their controlled interaction with acoustic performers 97-03
TRANSCRIPT
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Interactivity, indeterminacy, and consistency in live electronic music: An analysis of two works
in relation to my own compositional concerns.
In this paper I propose to look at two contrasting landmarks in live electronic music: 1) a composition,
and 2) a piece of algorithmic composition software. Through a brief survey of some pieces of
electronic music and a focus on the two landmarks, I hope to arrive at a picture of my own
compositional concerns being a partial synthesis of the aforementioned works with some crucial
differences. I may state my compositional intentions as follows: To eplore the field of interactive
computer music through the usage of acoustic performers and visual programming languages such as
!ure "ata #!d). $ corollary of this eploration are three important notions. %ne, of algorithmic
consistency, that is, an overarching idea that informs both the composition and its materials as well as
how the computer interacts with the composition in real&time. Two, levels of indeterminacy:a relative
measure of how indeterminate any facets of the composition and'or performance are. Thirdly,
interactivity, i. e. a situation wherein both the computer is capable of genuinely influencing the
performer and vice versa.
The two pieces of work for discussion are Mikrophonie by (arlhein *tockhausen, and (arlhein
+ssls software library named the -eal Time omposition /ibrary #-T). I intend to give an
analytical eplanation of the first work in order to best place the reader for future comparisons within
the essay and to show how it matches up with the criteria I have set forth. 0ith +ssls software, I shall
give a working overview of it in order to eplain both its modus operandiand its advantages for the
contemporary composer. I then move onto my own ideas with regard to future compositions as a
result of having studied these works.
I should also say something about why I feel algorithmic consistency is something worth striving for.
irstly, I feel the virtue of consistency adds to the integration of all elements of that work and allows
for stylistic cohesion. *econdly, the usage of one single algorithmic idea can produce dramatically
different results on either the acoustic performer side or the electronic side, depending on the
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compositional situation. Thirdly, I would say it affords a conceptual discipline during the
compositional stages which eclecticism cannot supply by its very nature.
irstly, it will be appropriate to define live electronic music with an interactive element, as the field of
electronic music in spite of its relative infancy is one with several branches, with branches still
developing out of previous research. It is still very much an unfinished history3 as %tto /uening titled
a paper of his as far back as 1456.1
/ive electronic music does not presuppose interactivity. $ll that is re7uired is an electronic element
which is featured as a crucial part of the composition. %ne of the first incorporations of electronics
into live performance was +dgard 8ar9se3s Deserts for orchestra and tape. The part for tape was
devised painstakingly by 8arese, begun in 14; and reached near completion by 14ew ?ork. !ierre *chaeffer, becoming
more aware of 8ar9se3s growing fascination with electronics in music, invited him to finish the tape
parts at his studio in !aris, and by 14@ they were completed. $s =riffiths puts it, Dserts is not
intended to have an interactive element, but brings the electronic and orchestral music, face to face3
in a confrontation, drama&laden piece which is divided into si episodes, alternating between the
orchestral playing and the electronic organied sound3 with the orchestra and tape having three
episodes each. 2Its premiere at the Th9Atre des hamps&Blys9es in 14@ was a riot along the lines of
*travinsky3s Rite of Spring some @1 years previously #it was not helped by being programmed
alongside works by two classical stalwarts Tchaikovsky and Coart) though it served to announce
electronic music as a viable medium for composition. The work did go on to have subse7uent
performances in *tockholm and >ew ?ork which were received more warmly than the premi9re. %ne
review of the performance by /ouis aplan is worth noting: %ne wonders, though, whether the two
media here & instruments and tape & might work together more, might not develop more continuity
instead of merely taking turns at the audience3.
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eplore blending the magnetic tape he had composed with the sounds of the orchestra so as to achieve
a more consistent palette of sounds, the composer never had the intention of a synthesis between the
two mediums as 8ar9se was influenced by *travinsky3s compositional practice of disDunct blocks, that
is, Dutaposing contrasting blocks of compositional material to emphasise their differences. The usage
of industrial sounds as sound sources for electronic manipulation underscores this furthermore.
>evertheless, subse7uent composers seemed to take their eplorations down the route of greater
synthesis rather than difference in their works for electronics and instrument.
%ne such composer worthy of mention in this regard is Cario "avidovsky, who served as +dgard
8ar9se3s technician in the 145;3s. Eis Synchronisms series of compositions are landmarks in the
usage of tape and live performer. The tape, which is scored to play along with the acoustic instrument
aims to present contrasts as well as integration with the acoustic subDect3 of the piece, and the
character of the piece depends upon the timbre of the instrument used. "avidovsky focused on solo or
small groups of performers, such as his th*ynchronism for percussion and tape #1454), or his 5th
*ynchronism for piano and tape #14F;).
"avidovskys work is algorithmically consistent in that both tape part and the part for performer are
based on serial principles. The character of the works throughout the series #there are 1; at present) is
one of a pointillist, klangfarbenmelodiecharacter, with a liberal usage of dynamics from ppp tofff,
shifts in timbre, register and of course, non&repeating rows. >evertheless, tTheinteractivity in these
pieces is 7uite limited being mainly pre&compositional and hence predetermined. or starters, as
shown, the piece is entirely scored so that each performance of the piece is the same in that the tape
part remains unvaried and unaffected by whoever decides to perform the instrumental part or operate
the tape part. There is no indeterminacy or improvisatory aspects. Instead, the interactivity in live
performance is mainly down to communication between the tape operator and performer in order to
achieve a synchronied performance. The mediums, both acoustic and electronic are fied and are not
capable of acting upon each other. This is not intended as criticism, but as a negative eample in my
intention to demonstrate what I mean by interactivity.
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3t is 0ith 4$rlhein 6toc7h$usens Mikrophonie I #145@) that we begin to see the genesis of an
interactive aesthetic with regard to acoustic performers and live electronics. *tockhausen3s earlier
works such asKontaktefeatured pieces that unified electronic music with instrumentsG piano and
percussion in the case of Kontakte. The material scored for the instruments in this piece are 7uite
imitative of the electronic sounds, demonstrating a strong degree of integration, but again, no
possibility is allowed for interaction as both the tape part and performance part are meticulously
scored in *tockhausen3s typically detailed fashion. *tockhausen3s Kontaktefeatures a degree of serial
control in its design, much like "avidovskys. The realiation score describes the initial idea for the
piece as being a serially&derived microstructure in which ten impulses, and not the customary twelve,
are varied with respect to amplitude and their temporal distance. The plan for Kontaktetook several
twists and turns, with the amplitude of the impulses becoming constant, then morphing into a plan
based on the arpeggiation of sine tones. The final plan settled on five layers of pitch which oscillate
out of phase, which each dot in the se7uence representing cm in tape. This pattern shown below is
then superimposed into one single layer on the tape, shown in ig 1.@
/o8in M$conie, Other Planets: the Music of Karlheinz Stochausen (6c$recro0 #ress& O'ford, 2))5", *+ 2)
3% 1& 4O:;A4;E /EAL3
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*tockhausen3s concerns moved onto electronic music live in concert by the 145;3s. "ue to the
unwieldy nature of the e7uipment used at ologne -adio and the immense amount of time to be
invested in editing, miing and reassembling the tape according to compositional constraints
*tockhausen sought more fleible means of realiing his finely&honed ideas in the electronic works he
had produced up to now, with the added frisson of using human performers.
Mikrophonieis scored for tam&tam, two microphones, two filters and potentiometers, for si players
in total. The acoustic element of the piece consists in various probings of the tam&tams using an array
of implements that aim to etract a huge range of differing types of sounds from the instrument.
In structuring the piece, *tockhausen relied upon his discontinuous moment&form3, that is where the
music consists in a series of self&contained sections that do not necessarily relate to each other in
terms of harmonic, motivic, or even rhythmic 7uality.5 *tockhausen articulated this theory in
somewhat paradoical fashion:
+very present moment counts, as well as no moment at allG a given moment is not merely regarded as
the conse7uence of the previous one and the prelude to the coming one, but as something individual,independent and centered in itself, capable of eisting on its own.F
It is not too difficult to see the parallels between the structural idea of moment&form with its emphasis
on the temporal >ow3, and integral serialism3s emphasis on the absoluteness of each note, which
through the serial row assigns each note its own dynamic, attack, pitch, articulation, and timbre.
Hecause of this, each note in the series has its own identity in the series and does not depend
functionally on the previous one. Coment form could be seen as an application of this idea to forms
of a pieceG a relative move from micro to macro in compositional terms.
nlike the precise and fied order of the musical material in total serialist pieces, moment form does
not imply a beginning&to&end3 structure which is delineated by points of arrival, cadences, climaes
5M$conie, **+ 255=>
?on$th$n + 4r$@er, Mo@ent or@ in ;0entieth -entury Music, !he Musical "uarterl#, (19>!", **+ 1>!=1!)>4r$@er, *+ 1!)
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or the like, but a structure through which one travels3. That is, there may be one moment may be one
a repeated note atff, followed by a moment with dense chordal material, varying in dynamics from
mp to pp. >o continuity is intended, rather, a focus on the >ow as it is passes in time. $ good
eample of *tockhausen3s early utiliation of moment form is yklus#144) for percussion, wherein
the player has siteen pages of music surrounding him, he is free to pick any page as a starting point
and play around the circle, and thus there is no composed beginning or end, though there is certainly a
stoppage.
0ithMikrophonie, things are little more complicated. The plan of the piece is simple enoughG
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around the surface of the gong in prescribed varying degrees of position and distance, which picks up
the sound caused by the eciter. The sound of this is transmitted to the operator who sits at a sound
console off stage. The sound console consists of an electronic filter that alters and controls the
fre7uency bandwidth of the sound, as well as two sliding potentiometers that act as the volume
control. The combination of these electro&acoustic events are proDected through loudspeakers, which
are placed around the performance hall. The two teams stand on both sides of the tam&tam, with
=roup 1 on the left, and =roup 2 on the right. The outputs of =roup 1 to two loudspeakers situated on
the left, and likewise with =roup 23s outputs to loudspeakers on the right.
Thus, moment&form here has been given a tweak by *tockhausen to make the moments relate to each
other more than they might have done in previous works. In selecting the moments, one has to look at
the aforementioned connection scheme in selecting the succeeding moment. $s *tockhausen notes:
irst a moment is freely chosen for the end, i. e. for !osition I -G net a moment is selected for the
beginning, i. e. for position I $, which should be #JcorrespondingK, i. e. JsimilarK, JsupportingK,
JconstantK) in relation to I -.6
This differs from the earlier eplication of moment&form and in this piece *tockhausen clearly
thought of giving back to the listener #or the performer at any rate) a se7uence of musical events that
are goal&directed and have tangible relationships between each other, however abstract these may
seem. The teleology is somewhat fragmented in that the connection scheme only relates two moments
to each other, and does not serve as an overall superstructure for the piece. $n eample from the
Hrussels performance of 145 demonstrates the logic of the moment selection process.
!4$rlhein 6toc7h$usen,Miro$honie(Uniers$l Edition, 195", *+ 12
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ig and y have moments 2; and 21 from the performance. or Coment 2; #=roup 1 () the
performers selected a moment named -aschelnd #-attlend) Curmelnd, which means crackling
#rattling), signalled by a change to a Curmuring noise at 26 seconds. or Coment 21 #=roup 2 ()
the moment named *charrend was chosen which translates as scraping. Coment 2 ( is selected in
relation to Coment 1 ( by the connection scheme, and Coment 2 (s relation to 1 ( should be
opposite, destroying, and decreasing. Coment 1 (s overall dynamic is mf0here$s Mo@ent 2 4.s
is pde@onstr$ting the decre$sing ch$r$cteristic+ ;he $ctions of the e'citer could not 8e @ore different
either in ./$schelnd., the e'citer r$ttles the gong in *eriod f$shion 0ith .const$nt intensity., in $ddition
to intoning reson$nt %er@$n *refi'es $nd suffi'es into the gong, such $s .=@urr.+ 3n Mo@ent 2 4, the
e'citers $ctions $re $re @ore $ried, consisting in $d li8 short, gentle *roddings of the gong 0ith the
direction of .@uch colour ch$nge.+ ;here is no s*eech in Mo@ent 2 4 either, de@onstr$ting the
.decre$sing. sche@e, $s 0ell $s the o**osite connection in gener$l+
;he $ctions of the @icro*honist $lso $ry fro@ Mo@ent 1 4 to Mo@ent 2 4+ 3n 1 4 he no longer h$s
the role of *ic7ing u* the sounds of the gong 8ut is instructed to s*e$7 $8ru*t *$rts of s*eech into the
3% & O/M 6-HEME O M34/O#HO:3E& MOME:;6 ? = /
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@icro*hone directly Bust li7e the e'citer does+ ;he @icro*hone *osition re@$ins st$tic, $s does the
reson$tors *osition+ As 0e 0ould e'*ect, Mo@ent 2 4 differs de@onstr$8ly+ ;he const$nt *osition of
the @icro*hone s0itches to frenetic, Bolting @oe@ents fro@ indirect to close u* $s *ossi8le $nd then
8$c7 to dist$nt *ositions, 0ith no *osition l$sting $ny longer th$n h$lf $ second+ or s$7e of
co@*leteness, $nd *erh$*s isu$lly the e$siest to co@*$re, the third *l$yer in e$ch grou* @ust 8e
co@*$red+ 3n the ./$schelnd. @oe@ent, the olu@e fluctu$tes so@e0h$t, re@$ining $t f$irly loud
leels for the @ost *$rt u* until the 2! second @$r7, the first three dyn$@ic shifts 8et0een loud $nd
Cuiet 8eing f$irly $8ru*t in ch$r$cter, the su8seCuent ones @ore tr$nsition$l $nd gr$du$l+ 3t is the
o*er$tion of the filter th$t 0ill h$e the rd*l$yers @ost $ttention in this @o@ent ho0eer, $s it flits in
s@$ll chun7s 0ithin the tri*$rtite freCuency diision in to high, @iddle $nd lo0 (e$ch freCuency 8$nd
is su8diided into three $lso, le$ing 9 8$nds" ;o 8egin 0ith the filter shifts $round 0ithin the high
register fro@ 1))) H to ))) H to the highest *ossi8le freCuency (1)))) H" $nd 8$c7 $g$in, only
to Bu@* to the lo0est freCuency 8$nd 0here the r$nge is fro@ 1)) H to 5) H+ ;here is ery little
utili$tion of the @iddle 8$nd register, $*$rt fro@ $ section Bust $fter the 2! second @$r7 0hich
includes $ll freCuencies for little oer $ second+ -onersely, 0ith the .6chn$rrend. @oe@ent, the
freCuency filter is 7e*t $t $ f$irly const$nt leel $round 5) H, 0hich is *unctu$ted 8y ultr$=Cuic7
sh$r* st$8s into the u**er register $nd res*onding do0n0$rd dr$gs into the lo0er register+ Dith the
difficulty of e'ecuting these filter gliss$ndi *recisely 6toc7h$usen chooses to let the olu@e re@$in $t
$ const$nt leel, 0ith $ gentle decrescendo $t the end, in contr$distinction to the dyn$@ic $ri$nce in
the *reious sche@e+
Eere then, we have some of the components for the earlier eplication I set out at the beginning of the
essay. 0ith regard to algorithmic consistency, *tockhausen has not utilied systems such as serialism
in the content of the writing for the tam&tamG as such measures would be inappropriate for a strictly
non&pitched instrument. Ee has utilised levels of chance in the selection of the movements, which are
themselves constrained by a connection scheme, but this is the only algorithmic system he has used in
the piece. The moments themselves are not subDect to any element of chance once selected as they are
precisely notated for both those involved with the gong and the electronics. Eowever scripted or
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notated the sound processing is, we have a semblance of interactivity between an acoustic performer
and an electronic operator, whereby the electronic operator acts upon the acoustic sounds to transmute
them into an entirely different sonic profile. In comparison with *tockhausens !esang der "#nglinge,
which featured a tape of a youth singing alongside electronically modified versions of the syllables,
as well as *tockhausens beloved sine&tones, there is no variation of the tones once heard. In
Mikrophonie, the transformation of the gong sounds takes place during the performance. 0e have live
electro&acoustic music, in short.
LLLLLL
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E 1& M34/O#HO:3E, ./A6-HEL:. MOME:;
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E 2& M34/O#HO:3E& .6-H:A//E:. MOME:;
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LLLLLL
The first link to be drawn between (arlhein *tockhausen and (arlhein +ssl3s -eal Time
omposition /ibrary #apart from the similarity of forename) is that many of +ssl3s tools are based
upon ideas derived from serialist practice:
F$sed on *$r$dig@s 0hich h$e 8een e'tr$cted fro@ seri$l thin7ing (cf+ %ottfried Mich$el 4oenig $nd
4$rlhein 6toc7h$usen" $nd its further deelo*@ent until no0$d$ys it does not force to0$rds $ cert$in
$esthetic, 8ut *roides $ *rogr$@@ing eniron@ent for testing $nd deelo*ing co@*osition$l
str$tegies+9
+ssl3s software library is oriented towards providing composers with the ability to make real&time
algorithmically generated music, with the composer able to determine each parameter that is present
in the patch.1;The software includes 1) rhythm generators based on aleatoric principles or serial
principles, 2) harmony generators, based either on probabilistic or intervallic considerations and
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ROW INDEX ENTRY DELAY
; 1;; ms
1 1F
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This is what is meant by a geometrical se7uenceG the consecutive terms relate to each other by a
common ratio, with a term multiplied by the ratio to find the nth term.
The serial rhythm patch will produce row indees like the above, making sure that each number does
not repeat until all have been produced. or instance, one could have the inde O1, ;, 2, @, ". (1999" htt*&000+essl+$t8i8liogrle'son=s8c@+ht@l (d$te $ccessed )1 M$y 2)11" My e'*l$n$tion is loosely 8$sed on Essl.s o0n of $ different *$tch+
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conductor is to send triggers to the players, as the algorithm determines autonomously to which
player#s) the notation is sent.1aturally, I intend my own compositions to aim at something slightly different than +ssls. I would
still like to preserve a level of determinacy at the level of content, that is, with a printed score or
notated passages at the least. The etreme of indeterminacy would be free improvisation. 0ith free
improvisation, a fre7uent argument is that musicians are liberated by not having to follow the
demands of a score and a potential taskmaster of a conductor. This point, as =riffiths notes with
classical musicians, may be reversed: !layers used to reading from scores and watching conductors
for their cue may view the removal of a score from which to play as a terrifying prospect in live
performance.1*imilarly, should one decide that a piece is to alternate between freely improvised
passages and scored passages, one faces the tricky prospect of having to recruit players with
significant technical ability in being able to improvise convincingly and perform accurately and
epressively. $nd yet, very little of a classical musicians training involves being able to improvise
even as specified in +ssls 2hamp, let alone free improvise. This is not to say however that I rule out
14$rlhein Essl, .-h$@* d.Action. (199!" htt*&000+essl+$t0or7sch$@*+ht@l (d$te $ccessed )1 M$y
2)11"1Essl, i%id+15%riffiths, *+ 2)5
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improvisation, nor that performing classical musicians should not be subDected to new, potentially
unnerving contets in which to perform music as they would be with +ssls piece. Eowever as a
composer, I believe there are many levels of indeterminacy one can eplore without necessarily using
free improvisation.
$s stated, I intend to preserve written scores or notated passages as the basis for which a composition
is performed. Eowever, the content itself could be subDect to operations that leave it relatively open in
its performance. %ne such eample may split up a piece into numbered sections, once the player#s)
have rehearsed them sufficiently. sing such software as !d, one could present the material in real&
time to the performer'performers who is unaware of the order in which the material will come out.
The ordering of this material could be structured along serial principles, or chance principles,
depending on how much repetition the composer wishes for.
This doesnt necessarily allow the performer to interact with the software which is a key part of what I
am aiming for, nor does it feature the live processing and manipulation of acoustic sound discussed in
Mikrophonie. There are two potential solutions, which may satisfy as meeting the three elements I
mentioned in my introductory paragraph in an electro&acoustic setting.
The first is composing a defined, closed&form piece for any given instrument#s). In order to satisfy
algorithmic consistency, I would have to choose which algorithms I wanted to use both in the
composition and use the same principles in the patch which will interact with the performer in some
way. The input from the performer in playing the score would be fed into the computer patch which
could generate sound material in response to a certain pitch, dynamic or some sort from the player.
The sound generated by the computer could of course be subDected to manipulations, such as filters,
reverberation, ast ourier transforms, which are constructable in !d. The level of determinacy could
fall on the side of the computer, for instance, a patch could be built which determines what inputs it
responds to and what it does not. This could be decided by the computer in terms of a randomier.
The computer thus interacts with the performer very clearly in this case, triggering certain sounds
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1!
based upon inputs and selecting according to algorithmic constraints, giving each performance a level
of interactivity.
Eowever, this is only one way interaction between human and computer. $s mentioned, the performer
plays through the score as normal triggering certain sounds in the computer, with both score and patch
based upon the same algorithm or formula. There is no way that the human is forced from his course
on the score. %ne must therefore find a method in which the computer gets its turn to pose interactive
situations to the performer, achieving a measure of e7uipollency.
This could be done in several ways: %ne is to make the score from which the performer plays open&
form and provide suggestions for how to select certain sections of the piece based upon what the
computer is producing in response the piece as it has transpired up to that point. To borrow an idea for
Mikrophonie the composer may suggest to the performer that they select parts of the score that are
similar, different, or opposite to what the computer is producing. $nother suggestion could be to have
a patch that suggests alternative parts of the score as a dilemma based upon an input from the acoustic
performer, posing a creative dilemma for the performer over which score to choose as the one to
perform their material one. ollowing +ssls 2hamp d34ction, the patch may by itself trigger certain
different musical materials from which one could play, which are somewhat different in character to
the printed score. or instance, if the score was one which featured mostly traditional notation, the
computer could throw up graphical instructions to the performer, although these of course would have
to be in some way influenced by the algorithmic considerations that went into the composition.
%ne such development I am looking at realiing is the creation of a piece based on serialistic
techni7ues #without using dodecaphony as the numerical principle which must be obeyed) which
interacts with a pitch tracker operating along similar grounds. The pitch tracker would look to detect
pitches based on a randomly&generated serial row and from here trigger sonic material when that pitch
is recognied. The serial principles themselves, as seen in the eample of the patch above, are subDect
to eperimentation themselves, adding a layer of indeterminacy. The computer could be operated by a
human to vary its parameters in real&time, and thus vary what it responds to.
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Taking things further, a recent development has been the practice of generating new notation a priori
for performers in the heat of the moment by algorithms. This practice responds to the audio input of
the musician and generates music notation at the moment of performance, Doining human musicians
with algorithms designed to work in real time. The musical score thus becomes an epression of the
algorithm and the process or the people that drive it.150ith this, performers not only create an input
that causes the algorithm to generate either digital sound or data for other computer devices, the
performers can also interpret the algorithms notational output. This system therefore combines the
output of the computer with the musicians on&the&spot interpretation of the output, creating a tightly&
integrated performance. If I were to utilie this, it would be difficult to maintain my own position of
algorithmic consistency here between notated performance and electronic response, however, one
solution might be to include notated passages as a Dump&off point for further structured improvisation
which is generated according to the same rules that influenced the composition of the notated
passages. This is similar to the concept of a head in Da which is usually a series of chords and
melody which serve as basis for improvisation and eploration between the players.
In sum, there are a great number of possibilities on offer when combining human performers, and the
still epanding horions of interaction between electronics and humans were clearly the impulse that
led *tockhausen to create his masterpiece and +ssl to create his toolkit. Though they differ entirely in
intention, I have attempted to show how by taking common elements from each, one has a wide array
of compositional strategies to pursue, in accordance with the three challenges which I set myself
earlier in the essay. Cany of the compositional ideas are still yet to be realied but this paper has
aimed to give a scholarly idea of where I intend to aim those ideas, set against a contet of works I
believe to be important in giving me the impetus to continue these researches.
1?$son ree@$n, .E'tre@e 6ight=/e$ding, Medi$ted E'*ression, $nd Audience #$rtici*$tion& /e$l=;i@e Music:ot$tion in Lie #erfor@$nce., Co&$uter Music Journal, 2 (2))!", 33, *+ 2>+
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