Project: Programming and development of a responsive performance system for live electroacoustic improvisation utilizing software and consumer gaming interfaces. The metaphor of the composer-as-explorer, navigating through compositional space, is a familiar analogy used amongst music-makers to describe their creative processes. As computer musicians, we find ourselves in a position to not only recognize this metaphor, but model the metaphor as well. Compositional space is a broad concept encompassing many aspects of the music-making process. Primarily, compositional space may be envisioned as a sonic environment, defined by a multi-dimensional set of parameters; here I define two possible types.

Parameters could include specific events such as the presence of certain materials–a string quartet, the human voice, radio static: this is the event space. By moving through these event spaces, much like one might move through the rooms of a large house, the performer determines the progression of events. Additionally, compositional arrays may contain parameters which act upon the event space to bring about a transformation of that event–a modulation of frequencies, temporal alteration: this is a transformative space. A transformative element, like an aural pair of sunglasses, colors what is heard by the explorer as she progresses from room to room. By populating a compositional array with event spaces and subsequently overlaying/masking these events with an array of transformative spaces, an aurally rich compositional environment may be constructed. As a performer travels through compositional space, she is making musical decisions based upon where she has been and where she presently finds herself.

The resulting performance system was comprised of purpose-built software running on a laptop computer which allowed for the playback and control of predetermined samples (pre-recorded ‘snippets’ of sound) arranged spatially on the screen as a two-dimensional matrix. By moving a cursor across/over this matrix, the samples may be performed In lieu of a computer mouse, however, this software was actuated (i.e., performed) by an external USB device–in this case, a consumer-model video game interface. The model of gamepad used for this project incorporated an accelerometer (or inclinometer) such that the cursor could be moved across the ‘matrix of samples’ by the performer moving the gamepad through the air, roughly navigating through the two-dimensional matrix represented on the screen. The nature of the project was twofold: technical as well as aesthetic. It was important to not only develop a system that would be responsive to my movements but to develop a performance practice as well: to not only build the instrument, but learn to play it. The system was first demonstrated on 22 November 2006 at the Camargo Foundation during the New Music from Camargo concert.