Music ..... People


A New Compositional Paradigm:  Agent-Based Music  

The interaction of agents leads to autonomous structures that have a life of their own, independent of the material world.

Netlogo is an ideal tool for this new paradigm.  As of 6/07, Netlogo may be linked to other digital tools (e.g., Csound).  This marriage represents a bifurcation in composition.  Now on to generate interesting pieces... 

On emergence: fireflies markets and the mind
See structure emerge in the interaction of ants.  


Selected Compositions (Prior to the Above Shift).  (C) 1997- 2003

Title of Piece (and link to file or page)

Date Written. Tool(s) & Instrument(s) used, Description, Performance Venue & Performance Date


Carousel

2003. Csound. Short microtonal tuning experiment.

Fractal Clarinet

2003. Self-similarity explored with clarinet samples (originally played by David Kaun).

Bludgeoned into Silence (Construction of a Canon)

2002. Mystic (uncut) video scenes of Santa Cruz with abstract fiddle (played by Bill Grimes).

Seneca's Last Breath

2001. Solo Clarinet Performed live (by David Kaun) at UCSC Graduate Student Recital (12/01).

Kepler's Music of the Spheres

2001 Csound, 4-channel surround sound, aural planetarium. Produced in collaboration with Ralph Abraham. Performed at SF Art Institute (04/03).

Five Stones

2001. Lisp, Disclavier Keys of piano treated as surface of pond. Initial note is metaphor for single stone being cast into water. Waves form, refract, and interfere.

Music for Thermochron

2001. Lisp and thermochron. An ambient, minimalist piece. A person wears a sensor that collects heat data in discrete time intervals. Resulting piece based on sonified time-based data.

Quilt

2000. Kyma. Signal processing to create shrill, challenging textures. UCSC EMS concert (11/00).

Converging toward an Attractor

1999. Max. Same as "Came the Dawn" (below) except that the attractor is static, rather than chaotic, and is represented by pitch (rather than percussive sounds).

(Out of Chaos) Came the Dawn

1999. Max, Soundtrack based on chaotic attractor. Depicts evolution from primordial "soup" to outward exploration of universe. Video shown at UCSC EMS concert (11/99).

The Shame of Solis (5 P.M. in Kosovo)

1998. Score intended for human players. Played at UCSC EMS concert (5/98).

The Concretions

1998. Lisp. Soundtrack for video shown at UCSC EMS concert (5/99).

Deceiving Neptune

1998. Max. Midi Guitar Performed live at UCSC EMS concert (5/98).

The Transcendence

1998. Lisp. Soundtrack for short video installation piece. Shown at UCSC EMS concert (5/99).

(A Drink to) Sundown

1998. Lisp. UCSC EMS concert (5/00).


Surfaces (Experiments with Analog FM Synthesis)

A. Beneath the Ice of Europa

1997. FM Synthesis (Moog)

B. The Battered Face of Mercury

1997. FM Synthesis (Moog)

C. Lo Efemero

1997. FM Synthesis (Moog)

D. Leonid Shower

1997. FM Synthesis (Moog)