Tucson research response
At this point "the sound garden" I discussed in my update is just a metaphor for music making/music generation that allows both the composer and listener to have an active role in defining and shaping the musical experience. There is inevitably more to this approach that I hope to discover. It's time to start working within the metaphor to see how far it enables me to go. Further research into the cultural context of gardens will help focus my inquiry.
I pursue the garden metaphor because I see in nature an inherent beauty of becoming. I am fascinated with its resourcefulness to sustain life through processes of adaptation and evolution. These are in fact the two words that are most important to my practice and research right now—'sustain' and 'evolve.' It's not that I hope to expose an existing relationship between music and nature, nor that I find any agency in nature. I understand nature as a system, and as such, I am interested to explore how certain biological processes can be synthesized in the computer, and how the emergent dynamics of these processes can be used in the composition and production of music. Music that sustains over time, and evolves its character and texture following the emergence of a synthetic biological system, is central to my research question.
Ultimately, the systems I employ are driven entirely by rules. This approach shouldn't be confused with the strict rules observed by Stockhausen, Boulez, and other western composers coming out of the classical tradition. Their work is also rule-driven but with a purpose to define a very precise structure from which there can be no deviation. In a way, they create a musical jigsaw puzzle that can only be fitted together in a specific configuration to produce the work. If we continue in the metaphor of puzzle making, the composers of Experimental music—Cage, Reich, Riley, and so on—create puzzles that allow for any solution to produce the final image. This is a way of composing that is very close to what I do with artificial life systems. As such, the Experimental music of these composers is an important touchstone for my own work and research.
I am becoming increasingly interested in blurring the lines between composition and instrument. I am fascinated with the idea that something "composed" can be an agent for further musical expression and exploration. The research that will allow me to explore this idea in greater detail is becoming clear. At this point I can see it will involve an investigation into works by Toshio Iwai, John Cage, and contemporary music practice based on file sharing, electronic instrument construction and modification, and computer game design.
I pursue the garden metaphor because I see in nature an inherent beauty of becoming. I am fascinated with its resourcefulness to sustain life through processes of adaptation and evolution. These are in fact the two words that are most important to my practice and research right now—'sustain' and 'evolve.' It's not that I hope to expose an existing relationship between music and nature, nor that I find any agency in nature. I understand nature as a system, and as such, I am interested to explore how certain biological processes can be synthesized in the computer, and how the emergent dynamics of these processes can be used in the composition and production of music. Music that sustains over time, and evolves its character and texture following the emergence of a synthetic biological system, is central to my research question.
Ultimately, the systems I employ are driven entirely by rules. This approach shouldn't be confused with the strict rules observed by Stockhausen, Boulez, and other western composers coming out of the classical tradition. Their work is also rule-driven but with a purpose to define a very precise structure from which there can be no deviation. In a way, they create a musical jigsaw puzzle that can only be fitted together in a specific configuration to produce the work. If we continue in the metaphor of puzzle making, the composers of Experimental music—Cage, Reich, Riley, and so on—create puzzles that allow for any solution to produce the final image. This is a way of composing that is very close to what I do with artificial life systems. As such, the Experimental music of these composers is an important touchstone for my own work and research.
I am becoming increasingly interested in blurring the lines between composition and instrument. I am fascinated with the idea that something "composed" can be an agent for further musical expression and exploration. The research that will allow me to explore this idea in greater detail is becoming clear. At this point I can see it will involve an investigation into works by Toshio Iwai, John Cage, and contemporary music practice based on file sharing, electronic instrument construction and modification, and computer game design.
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