TUNING digest 910

> eric lyon writes:
> In recent post, Brian discussed "computer generated music", and
> chose to define it as the situation where a composer sets up a random
> system and accepts the output from the program, direct to DAT. This
> is a perfectly useless definition. I know many computer music
> composers and not a single one works this way.

i've done a lot of "experimenting" with algorithmic composition (i like using
symbolic composer, as much as i wish it were interactive rather than a
compiler) and i find myself editing the resulting material "by hand" (or by
ear, rather). that is, the output of the algorithm is not at all completely
satisfactory to me, so i interactively modify the results in my sequencer
according to my musical taste, rather than try to modify the algorithm to
produce the desired changes. the exact deviation from the algorithm is hard to
characterize in terms of symbols, or the algorithm itself, but my ear
determines it quite nicely. i get my surprises from the algorithm (i claim
that i couldn't have created these complex sequences on my own), yet i get to
put my individual stamp on the results. i like working this way!

this is in line with how i work professionally, as a computer graphics dude. i
write algorithms/shaders that achieve 99% of my goal, and hand-paint that last
1%. i find that visually, people expect imperfections in the artwork, at all
scales--from the actual grain of the drawn line, to the animation itself. the
exact amount of imperfection is hard to characterize in terms of symbols, but
my eye recognizes it quite nicely as i interactively modify the artwork.

marcus

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Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 15:25:37 -0800
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