Looking Outwards – 10 – Computer Music

The Stanford Laptop Orchestra was founded in 2008 by Ge Wang. Using Chuck, the laptop orchestra was born. Chuck is a programming language for music, where the programmer can code frequencies to create different sequences and repitition of sequences, generating computer music.

The orchestra itself is an ensemble of laptops, humans, controllers, and special hemispherical speaker arrays. I really admire how the speakers were created from nonstandard ways of utilizing an everyday object. The speakers are actually bowls from Ikea turned upside down. Six holes are drilled in them. A base plate is made, and car speakers and amplifiers are put in them. The finished speakers are placed near the orchestra. They project the sound coming from the laptops, emulating real instruments where music comes from the artifact itself. The controllers were originally created for gaming purposes. Wang decided to use them for prototyping instruments because of its ability to track the position of players’ hands.

Wang’s artistic sensibilities manifested in the Laptop Orchestra because his passion for computer music transformed conventional Orchestras with technology. The computer’s precision allows for the creation of new sounds and automation to perform music.