Metaphors of Space and of Time. A central aim in the composition of this piece was to develop the conditions that enable a deep and meaningful interaction between performer and computer, based on mutual listening
- Submitting institution
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Kingston University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 33-13_1787
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2015
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- A central aim in the composition of this piece was to develop conditions that enable deep, meaningful interactions between performer and computer, based on mutual listening. It was commissioned by Torbjörn Hultmark as part of his Soprano Trombone Project. The electronics are not fixed ‘effects,’ but dynamic processes that combine internal states, machine listening techniques, and decision-making algorithms. This results in programmed musical behaviours that are influenced by the player, but are, at the same time, able to throw unpredictable events and sounds into the shared musical space. This is an alternative view to the instrumental paradigm that John Croft identifies as the pre-eminent approach in his ‘Theses on Liveness’ (2007). The composition process involved a concurrent development of the musical material and the electronic process through an iterative design cycle. This enabled the discovery of fruitful relationships between partnership, dialogue, opposition and complementarity. The score, in conjunction with the electronics, guides the performer to explore these relationships and discover ‘the piece’. As the two performances illustrate, the flexibility in the score allows the performer to respond to the sounds created by the electronics, while maintaining the character of each movement. This enabled Hultmark to include this piece in many concerts, since it premiered at Goldsmiths in 2015. He has also been using the electronics designed by Ben-Tal for this piece in his performance and improvisation work. The video recording shows the way the physical interface (foot pedals) designed for this piece, with Hultmark’s input, enable the performer to integrate the control of the electronic counterpart into its performance. Ben-Tal’s paper, ‘Designing Interaction for Co-creation’ (2017), places this research within the context of music with live electronics and computational creativity. Ben-Tal presented the paper at the 2nd Conference on Computer Simulation of Musical Creativity, at The Open University in 2017.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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