LO: Generative Art

Memo Akten’s Simple Harmonic Motion #12 for 16 Percussionists at RNCM (2015) is a really interesting musical composition and performance piece. The rhythmic patterns are dictated by a computer, and communicated to the musicians through earpieces. While human tendency is to stay in time with each other, the cues cause each drummer to pay attention only to their own beats. This allows them to go in and out of sync as the program runs. I admire that Akten was able to create a performance that is straddles the line between what is music and what is simply noise. The intuitive emotional aspect of playing an instrument is seemingly stripped away as these drummers are simply an extension of the computer’s directions. I would be curious to see what would happen if a more complex and sonically pleasing piece were translated into this system. Sheet music and its digital counterparts can be seen as similar instructions, but this piece is unique in the way that the instructions are delivered. Rather than having written music and a conductor, the musicians do not see the bigger picture and can only rely on what they’re being told in the moment.