I think Dale brought up a very important point. 
I think music is very much a language. It is 
in fact, the encoding of emotive thought. I think 
a lot contemporary composers in their quest to find new 
intellectual musical forms tend to ignore this 
language. And although in doing so, they have 
discovered and created many interesting pieces 
of music, they often times lack emotive quality.
So what is it that makes music that relies more on 
the melodic language more musical? Can this meaning 
not be conveyed by form and tambre alone? Is it the 
grammar of the language that gives us ability to convey
emotion? 



Anthony




----- Original Message -----
From: mrhoades@perceptionfactory.com
Date: Monday, February 13, 2006 10:03 am
Subject: Re: [Csnd] Algorithmic composition - the simplest model

> I too am enjoying everyone's thoughts on this. 
> 
> For me algorithmic composition begins with having a clear 
> understanding of
> what makes music "music" for me. That in itself is the main tool 
> we have as
> composers and it is a lifetime in development. Knowledge of our 
> own voice
> and how to work with it is key.
> 
> When composing I begin with constraints using whatever criteria I have
> chosen to work with for a given composition. As the computer 
> begins giving
> me feedback I listen for a gem, a pearl in the onion so to speak, 
> for the
> little spark of life within the sound files I am rendering. When I 
> find such
> a section I analyze the code and find what is causing the 
> desirable output
> and then begin refining my constrains to bring it out and develop 
> it. That
> is how I make (or better allow) the music "come alive". 
> 
> I find this process to be very similar to sculpting where you have 
> a big
> block of marble and look for the being that is living inside. Then you
> simply carve away what is keeping it from being seen.
> 
> BTW, I have posted an mp3 of a new algorithmic composition on my 
> web site on
> the mp3 page. It is the one at the top of the page titled "Release!".
> Comments are always welcomed.
> 
> Michael
> www.perceptionfactory.com
> 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Oeyvind Brandtsegg [mailto:obrandts@online.no]
> > Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 9:03 AM
> > To: csound@lists.bath.ac.uk
> > Subject: Re: [Csnd] Algorithmic composition - the simplest model
> > 
> > This is an interesting discussion.
> > 
> > I think that a model for music itself, and an algorithm for 
> telling a
> > computer how to make music is somehow two sides of the same coin.
> > 
> > As for "making it come alive", I think there's a lot to be 
> gained from
> > looking at music performance research. We humans do make it come 
> alive> when we play it, and examinimg what it is we do might give 
> us more of a
> > direction towards telling computers how to do it. Of course, a human
> > performance on an acoustic instrument is complex beyond modeling 
> in most
> > cases. Still, some algorithmic process or "rule set" for 
> phrasing and
> > performance might give computer music modeling a touch of "being 
> alive".> 
> > I do look for algorithms that imitate some of the behaviour a human
> > composer or performer might do. But not limited to what a human 
> might (be
> > able to) do. For me, the "human approach" lends som kind of 
> familiar logic
> > to the music, so that when something does not sound right, I sit 
> down and
> > think about how I would have played this if I was to play it.
> > I use purely mathematical algorithms for inspiration when I look for
> > something different/new, but I seldom use them for large parts 
> of a piece.
> > But, sometimes one might stumble across an algorithm and think" 
> hey, this
> > works exactly the way I think about rhythm", and then it's 
> easier to put
> > it into a musical context.
> > 
> > 
> > Oeyvind
> > 
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