February 19

Nick Didkovsky: Experimenting with music notation systems

Nick will present a variety of interactive computer music pieces and compositional systems, all of which make use of common music notation. Pieces include Zero Waste, for sight reading solo pianost, Stink Up!, a polyrhythmic study for solo drum set, A Bright Moon Makes a Little Daytime, for modified solo guitar and live electronics, Tube Mouth Bow String, for string quartet and talkboxes, and Sabbath Bride, a self-modifying music score. Music technologies include Java Music Specification Language and JSyn (Java Synthesizer).

http://www.doctornerve.org/

Assignment for February 24th:

Improvise! Think about the issues and concepts we've talked about in the last few classes, and come up with an improvisational strategy. Come to class on tuesday ready to make some sound (preferably electronic). We'll put you in small groups and you'll play together for 3-5 minutes at a time. Think about how you'll deal with various situations that might arise. Think about your relationship to other players. Feel free to write a program or develop an algorithm to direct or influence your playing. Improvisation is on that border between order and chaos; have a plan of some sort, but be prepared to listen to what's going on around you.