Music of Possibilities
Thoughts on Farmer & Belin
J. Doyne Farmer and Alletta d'A. Belin "Artificial Life: The Coming Evolution"
Herbert Spencer originally introduced the concept of evolution. He defined it as "a change from an incoherent homogeneity to a coherent heterogeneity." He saw evolution as a "force driving the spontaneous formation of structure in the universe"(F&B). This idea could apply to just about anything in our universe. All "organized" things: plants, rocks, creatures, the cosmos, even "social organizations" (F&B), develop through processes of formation caused by evolution.
I think this idea has a strong parallel to creation and performance of an interactive musical work. The "incoherent homogeneity" is a collection of sounds or sound-making devices; the "coherent heterogeneity" is the music that is created. What creates the music? The composition.
And what is composition? A slippery question, indeed. I tend to agree with John Cage's definition, "organized sound." If composition provides the necessary organization to create music, what then creates our universe? Returning to Spencer's ideas, how does organization, or in the case of evolution, self-organization, occur?
Farmer & Belin suggest that the second law of thermodynamics may not tell us the whole truth. As energy is moved about the earth the processes of self-organization occur. Geologic formations, weather, and life is created. Spencer considers evolution to be the antagonist of dissolution; it is a force that brings order to the world by increasing "differentiation and integration." Is it possible that differentiation is happening outside the bounds of the second law?
Can we compare entropy and interactive input? What if we equated interactive input (from an audience) to the input of energy? In the case of an interactive musical composition, input from the audience could be treated as in the same fashion as energy in a natural system. Assuming that Farmer & Belin are correct that there is something hidden in the second law, some of that energy is used for processes of organization. As composers we could capture that energy and direct it towards the evolution/organization/composition of music.
In keeping with the ideas of differentiation and integration, elements of the music would be self-organizing in ways that would allow unique musical statements to emerge. These statements would comprise the population of the musical world. As additional energy flowed into the world via audience input members of the population would be affected. They would grow, change, reproduce, and die, just like living organisms. In following the path of evolution, an interactive composition would become a music of possibilities rather than one of variable probabilities.
J. Doyne Farmer and Alletta d'A. Belin "Artificial Life: The Coming Evolution"
Herbert Spencer originally introduced the concept of evolution. He defined it as "a change from an incoherent homogeneity to a coherent heterogeneity." He saw evolution as a "force driving the spontaneous formation of structure in the universe"(F&B). This idea could apply to just about anything in our universe. All "organized" things: plants, rocks, creatures, the cosmos, even "social organizations" (F&B), develop through processes of formation caused by evolution.
I think this idea has a strong parallel to creation and performance of an interactive musical work. The "incoherent homogeneity" is a collection of sounds or sound-making devices; the "coherent heterogeneity" is the music that is created. What creates the music? The composition.
And what is composition? A slippery question, indeed. I tend to agree with John Cage's definition, "organized sound." If composition provides the necessary organization to create music, what then creates our universe? Returning to Spencer's ideas, how does organization, or in the case of evolution, self-organization, occur?
Farmer & Belin suggest that the second law of thermodynamics may not tell us the whole truth. As energy is moved about the earth the processes of self-organization occur. Geologic formations, weather, and life is created. Spencer considers evolution to be the antagonist of dissolution; it is a force that brings order to the world by increasing "differentiation and integration." Is it possible that differentiation is happening outside the bounds of the second law?
Can we compare entropy and interactive input? What if we equated interactive input (from an audience) to the input of energy? In the case of an interactive musical composition, input from the audience could be treated as in the same fashion as energy in a natural system. Assuming that Farmer & Belin are correct that there is something hidden in the second law, some of that energy is used for processes of organization. As composers we could capture that energy and direct it towards the evolution/organization/composition of music.
In keeping with the ideas of differentiation and integration, elements of the music would be self-organizing in ways that would allow unique musical statements to emerge. These statements would comprise the population of the musical world. As additional energy flowed into the world via audience input members of the population would be affected. They would grow, change, reproduce, and die, just like living organisms. In following the path of evolution, an interactive composition would become a music of possibilities rather than one of variable probabilities.
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