Since the 1950's, Experimental Music has led the way for generative arts practice. The clearly temporal aspect of making (and appreciating) music may have paved the way for experimentation with the process of composing it. Whilst sculpture had to wait for kinetic art to help it rediscover its links to process, music, by its very nature, has never been blinkered in this way. To consider a musical work, even a single sound, is to be engaged in a process as it unfolds. Unlike a photographic snapshot capturing a moment of light, or a marble figure frozen in time, an instant of sound is no sound at all! Perhaps this explains the active role generative composers have played in the first two Iteration conferences - at the Iteration events thus far, generative music has been very well represented.
A diverse range of material was submitted from around the globe for potential inclusion on the audio CD. The works selected are a typically eclectic collection exploring generative music in its different forms. Some of the pieces included on the CD were submitted along with scholarly papers and artist talks presented at the conference. The notes and papers from these presentations are accessible below. Textual material was also provided by each contributor to the audio CD documenting their contribution. Where possible this is also included here.
Works selected range from short and quirky MIDI patterns, to gritty, harsh electronic tones. There are also more lengthy, laid-back ambient sounds, some synthetic, others acoustic, some composed algorithmically, others composed by performing in a "live" interactive space. Other techniques for generating the submitted works include evolving MIDI scores, more theoretical approaches to composition, and also informal approaches utilizing analogue and digital feedback or other physical processes. Happy listening!
