- on a 'real' instrument, a lot of effort goes into intonation itself,
but on the other hand it is immediate and accessible; with code, you
have to design the sound, knowing what sin oscillator sounds like,
but then you don't have to maintain the intonation in the same way
that is necessary on a 'real' instrument. - eh, for lack of right terms, complex musical elements, like melodies
harmonies, rhythms, feel rather like natural movements (eg. running,
walking, juggling) with a 'real' instrument, but with the same
limitations: you can only run so fast, juggle so many balls. The
code, on the other hand, has the feeling of being unnatural in a way
that is disconcerting (why should I need to type (choose [1 3 7 12])
to express a certain musical idea?) and enabling (I guess you could
call it a musical iron man suit?) in the end, the contrast is similar to that of other domains where the
computer mimics something real that we use (eg. files and folders).
- on a 'real' instrument, a lot of effort goes into intonation itself, but on the other hand it is immediate and accessible; with code, you have to design the sound, knowing what sin oscillator sounds like, but then you don't have to maintain the intonation in the same way that is necessary on a 'real' instrument.
When you are doing this, do you have a sound in your mind that you are trying to create or do you often just stumble upon something that sounds good by accident? Do you get specific...say, "I'm going to create a sound that mimics a Fender Rhodes being played through a 1978 Super Reverb tube amp? -This is really cool imo and something I need to verse myself in.
- do you have a sound in your mind that you are trying to create or do you often just stumble upon something that sounds good by accident?
It's somewhere in between the two. If you've ever done any kind of improvisation (cooking, dance, not just musical) you'll understand that it's always a balance between chance and target. With algorithmic composition, for me, it's still mostly chance. There are others who know how to get exactly this or that sound, but I think the best will come when there are those who can improvise anew.
Care to share any of your work here?
thanks
Two sincere questions: 1. What made you decide to begin using Overtone? Will it give you something specific that weren't getting from "real" instrumentation? 2. The differences you mention make sense and seem completely valid. I wonder what (if any) are the similarities you found? Thanks.
Computer music uses all the same music theory, so that's not just similar but rather identical. I'd predict that when it (computer music) gets its own Mozarts and Beethovens, the musical theory could diverge. I aspired to be such a virtuoso but in end realized that the physical experience of playing an instrument was too important to lose.
I imagine that playing a real instrument would be much more entertaining than something like live coding, just because you have to constantly create each sound. P.S. I hope this isn't too hard to understand, and sorry for replying to your comment 20 days later.