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[microsound] Re: livecoding

Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 08:34:13 -0700 (PDT)
To: microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [microsound] livecoding
Message-ID: <1903.200.125.57.222.1152113653.squirrel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Visual live enactment of electronic music is a must nowadays. We all agree
on that. Available technology is more than enough for this purpose, and
its not so expensive either, so there are no excuses.

Here's that pesky problem with language that doesn't properly
bracket statements of value with statements of opinion - it's an
entirely arguable proposition. At the very least. The original poster
doesn't speak for me. As is the case in any situation where one
makes artistic decisions, there is plenty of room fo other possibilities,
and polemic here is, I think unhelpful [given the current political
situation in the U.S. where all kinds of folks appear interested in
moralizing and marginalizing others by couching statements of
belief or opinion as inarguable propositions, perhaps I may be
a bit oversensitive....].

I ve seen the live coding videos, and it seems to me that there's still a
gap between the code on the screen and the sounds emerging from the
speakers. There's no way ordinary public can relate each code event to
each sound. The live coders claim that there's no need to know how to play
a guitar to enjoy a guitar performance. But they forget that when we watch
"real world instruments" performances, there are constant synchresis
points (Michel Chion). You may not be a guitarist but you clearly
understand a string striking movement as the source of a sudden sound with
a short attack time.
The same goes for the drums, and almost any other traditional instruments.
Even piano, where the keyboard may not be in the audience's sight range,
admits clear synchresis interpretation, watching the arm movements. And,
like piano, all this instruments and their mechanisms are intuitively
understood by virtually any human being. 

Oh. Michel Chion. I personally much prefer Rick Altman's
Sound Theory/Sound Practice, but perhaps I'm not sufficiently
worshipful of phenomenology in general. And, while I like
graeco-latin high-register terminology as much as the next
person (as any student of Greek and Latin in secondary school
would probably be), I find his terminology cumbersone,
personally. I prefer sticking closer to Cognitive Science, and
would therefore find Joseph Anderson's writing more salutary.

In any case, I'm generally uneasy with having theorists tell me
what I should do. Praxis rules.


That's why we as electronic musicians, should generate visuals (if not
with our bodies) that permit a natural synchresis between sounds and
visual forms. "Hey that sphere over there has just trembled in reaction to
that rough sound!" This is what I mean. Understandable audiovisual forms,
and complex (or not)compositions/improvisations. 

There's that *should* again. We've done all that hard work to free
ourselves of such associations and now we go banging new ones
together? Sorry, I prefer to have that remain a choice.


Besides, I agree with some people who posted on that Wired article, when
they recognise a very elitist attitude in this group of live coders. The
same elitism I experience every time I'm stuck in a blatant conversation
between two programmers about C++ or else. 

One great way to avoid elitism is to argue one's case rather
than asserting it, and to eschew the use of normative language
if one has another alternative. It's inefficient, and occasionally
troublesome to discover that there are people who don't see
what is blatantly obvious to me, but hey.


And last but not least, we should develop music tools fun to play with, to
integrate people to our musical world, even if they need training to make
"proper" music with them. A child can get sounds from a guitar, but I
seriously doubt he can make any music with Perl. 

Logo and LISP can do quite a lot rather early on, actually. Perhaps
you could be liberated from your doubts.


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