Action/Réaction, the disc
by Daniel Scheidt |imed_9105-0002|
“It is one thing to aim for a particular timbre of sound and then to
search for the means of making such sound and timbre audible. It is another
thing to provide for a series of events to happen and then to discover the
timbre of the sounds so generated. In the first case one prefers those
events to happen that one wishes to hear; in the second case one prefers to
hear those events one wishes to happen. These are not only two different
approaches to the composition of music but also two different political
attitudes.”
— Herbert Brün, “Infraudibles”,
Music by Computers, von
Förster, Beauchamp, editors. John Wiley
& Sons, New York, 1969.
A number of factors combine to inuence the nature of the work represented
by this disc. An interest in process, a respect for improvisation, and a
fascination with systems realized in software have led me to the development
of computer programs designed to interact with performers in real time.
Each piece presented here involves an instrumental soloist performing with
an interactive computer system. The software that defines each composition is
designed to accept acoustic input from the performer and produce electronic
responses. The compositions included in this collection evolved during
extensive rehearsals with the individual musicians and would not exist
without their contributions. Each recording represents the documentation of a
studio ‘performance’ — there has been very little studio editing.
The improvisational nature of the performer’s role is an important aspect
of this music. In making the decision to allow the performer to improvise, I
have relinquished aspects of compositional control in exchange for a more
personal contribution by each musician. An improvising performer works within
his or her own set of skills and abilities (rather than those defined by a
score), and is able to offer the best of his or her musicianship. Once having
become familiar with a system’s behavior, the performer is free to
investigate its musical capabilities from a uniquely personal
perspective.
Another feature of this work is the performer’s relationship to the
musical feedback loop created in conjunction with the computer. The performer
provides source material used by the computer system, while at the same time
responding to the system’s ongoing audio output. Any gesture made by the
performer in response to the computer immediately becomes new source material
for the computer to use and can inuence subsequent output. One performer has
referred to this model as an “idea expander.”
Part of my attraction to this work is an interest in software as a
compositional medium. Working with software offers extreme exibility while at
the same time requiring the articulation of creative intent in precise and
unambiguous terms. The ability to develop, test, revise, and extend a
computer program makes software a remarkably malleable medium for
experimental artistic creation.
I find the design of compositional structures intended for interactive
exploration during performance to be an extremely intriguing approach to
music making — one in which I am able (perhaps forced) to investigate new
relationships between composition and performance.
Daniel Scheidt [i-91]
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