Category: LookingOutwards-04

The project is called Experiments in Musical Intelligence (EMMY) designed by David Cope. David Cope works in the area of sound and computation and this project is about composing complete works in the styles of multiple classical composers. For example, in the work Mozart-style Sonata 2-1, the algorithms composed the piece in the style of Mozart from the analysis of the pieces traditionally composed by Mozart. The thing that I admire the most about the project is its potential of extending the lives of great musicians. By using algorithms, we can still hear new music pieces from those dead musicians. This is extremely exciting because it is a way for human beings to achieve eternity.

Reference
David Cope, Mozart-style Sonata 2-1, 2013.

Rather than one specific project, I’d like to talk about a genre that’s very dependent on digital production to experiment and push the boundaries of music. Hyperpop is a fairly new genre in mainstream culture and is defined by its exaggerated and dramatic nature compared to contemporary pop music. Many of my personal favorite songs include larger than life basslines, quirky sound effects, and almost nonsensical lyrics, if any. Much of this experimentation is possible due to digital workstations and tools, making and mixing sounds that would not naturally happen in traditional music. Certain artists, like SOPHIE, also viewed music making as an entirely different process than people of the past would have. She described her process as something similar to building a sculpture – where each sound mimicked a certain material and sensation. While there isn’t one specific way these artists generate music, I think this subculture encapsulates how the advent of technology in the musical space has broadened their possibilities.

The project ‘FORMS – String Quartet’ by Playmodes is a live performance of a string quartet and EDM music that projects to the visual sonification of the music. It uses real-time music to transcribe into a series of visual graphic notations in the form of lines, circles, curves, and other shapes. I think visualizing music is intriguing and the patterns of music can generate different forms of lines and representation that is also beautiful. This can really help those who are hard of hearing or may prefer visual experiences more where people may also be able to hear what they see. The visual graphics the music produces also seem to tell a story about what the music is like and it is able to isolate each instrument used in the song. This reminds me of the way EDM concerts have light shows that follow the patterns and beats in the music to create a more immersive experience. The visuals can also be transformed into music. The software that makes the graphics was coded in Processing and the image sonification was done in Max/MSP. The algorithm that makes it is able to isolate each instrument or rhythm and transform it into visuals and the other way around, whatever is on the screen can be translated into music.

Website Link

I wanted to talk about the app Trope by Brian Eno (yes I know he’s like the generative sound guy, but I like his work!) and Peter Chilvers, the interactive generative sound-art experience. As one traces abstract forms onto the screen, the program will vary the tone. There are also additional instruments so that one can vary sounds and create a whole symphony of interesting sounds whose generated existence emerges from the human interaction with the program. I personally admire the interactive nature of it. I love randomness, but when you give people a way to experience that, to watch it unfold under their fingertips, that I find really satisfying. As the tone shifts randomly (in accordance with the laws of generative music, randomness being a key to making it “last forever”) you create songs that are entirely unique to your own experience at that moment, and can’t be perfectly recreated by someone else with ease. Likely tone and pitch are related to things like x and y on the screen, and potentially pressure and tilt, as the program is for smartphones and tablets and the like. This is another of Brian Eno’s apps, of which I think he’s made a few, and seems to be a spiritual successor to his previous work, Bloom.