March 9

Feedback and Other Self-Generating Systems

(James will lead the class today)

As much attention in electronic music has been focused on methods of synthesis and more recently, interactivity, old ideas such as feedback are often left under-explored. By short circuiting and thus subverting equipment designed to perform simple tasks of sound modulation and amplifications (try plugging the output of your mixer to its own input), we can obtain complex and unpredictable sounds that may make us wonder why we spend so much money on computers and commercial synthesizers. This class will look at both acoustic feedback (using microphones, speakers, and room acoustics) as well as the pioneering electronic feedback work done by David Tudor. Time permitting, we will also investigate other forms of efficient yet complex systems such as vibrating strings.

Listening examples:
David Tudor: Untitled. Pulsars. Microphone.
David Behrman: Wavetrain
Alvin Lucier: Bird and Person Dying
Robert Ashley: Wolfman
Toshimaru Nakamura: Vehicle. Duo with Sachiko M.