The constant evolution of philosophical views on arts is interwoven with the trajectories of accelerating technological amelioration. In the current prominent emergence of generative algorithms there is an immediate need for making sense of modern technologies that more and more seem to step in the realm that has been reserved for humans – creativity. This paper aims at demystifying implications of black-box generative algorithms by: 1) depicting the current state of practice and research in this interdisciplinary field, 2) dissecting and examining the constitutional characteristics of artificial agents: artificialness and intelligence, and 3) applying the resulting implicit theory to a practical case of generating a live coding musical performance.
This article presents the currently ongoing development of an audio-visual performance work with the title Strings. This work provides an improvisation setting for a violinist, two laptop performers, and two generative systems. At the core of Strings lies an approach that establishes a strong correlation among all participants by means of a shared physical principle. The physical principle is that of a vibrating string. The article discusses how this principle is used in both natural and simulated forms as main interaction layer between all performers and as natural or generative principle for creating audio and video.
Augmented Drums: Digital Enhancement of Rhythmic Improvisation
Matteo Amadio, Alberto Novello
This paper presents a set of real-time modules that digitally enhance the performance of a drummer. The modules extract rhythmic information from the multichannel audio acquired using simple microphones onto the different drum parts. Based on the predicted tempo, the modules generate complex patterns that can be manually controlled through high-level parameters or can be left automatic adapting to the drummer’s specific style. Such an interactive system is intended mainly for an improvised solo performance confronting a human drummer with a computer; however, it could be effectively employed in improvisations with larger ensembles or installations.
