Array Margaret Schedel and Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz, editors Jen Wang, designer Contents The International Computer Music Association ICMC 2004 Keynote Address..................................................................................3 Jean-Claude Risset Officers President: Perry Cook (USA) Vice President (Membership): Bonnie Miksch (USA) ICMC 2004 Concert Reviews................................................................................10 Rosemary Mountain, Concert 5 Vice President for Conferences: Gary Scavone (Canada) Momilani Ramstrum, Concert 13 Vice President for Asia/Oceania: Ho Chee Kong (Singapore) Jeffrey Treviño, Concert 15 Vice President for the Americas: Gary Scavone (Canada) Vice President for Europe: Leigh Landy (UK) Treasurer/Secretary: Andrew May (USA) Interview Series .....................................................................................................21 Array Editors: M. Schedel and J. Bernard Merkowitz (USA) Jeffrey Treviño vs. Chris Chafe Music Coordinator: Michael Alcorn (UK) Research Coordinator: Georg Essl (Germany) Gender and Computer Music (An Invitation)........................................................32 Web Publications Coordinator: Hans Timmermans (Netherlands) Margaret Schedel and Gregory Taylor Music Publications Coordinator: Ian Whalley (New Zealand) Board of Directors 2006-2007 Composing to Subvert Content Retrieval Engines ................................................37 At-Large Directors Nick Collins Michael Alcorn (UK) Perry Cook (USA) Why Haven’t I Written About the Pieces Played at ICMC....................................43 Margaret Schedel (USA) Leigh Landy John P. Young (USA) Americas Regional Directors Andrew May (USA) Festival Reviews ....................................................................................................46 Steven D. Beck (USA) Brian Kane: Spark Asia/Oceania Regional Directors Douglas Geers: Electronic Music Midwest Ho Chee Kong (Singapore) Naotoshi Osaka (Japan) CD Reviews ...........................................................................................................55 Europe Regional Directors Robert Denham: Petri Kuljuntausta, Momentum Hugues Vinet (France) Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz: Rodrigo Sigal, Space Within Hans Timmermans (Netherlands) Book Review ........................................................................................................61 Non-Elected Positions Joseph W. Hupchick: Arun Chandra, ed. When Music Resists Meaning: ICMA Administrative Assistant: Sandra Neal (USA) The Major Writings of Herbert Brün. Accounting: DeVera Long (USA) ICMA Webmaster: Toine Henvelmans (Netherlands) array ICMC Keynote Address Jean-Claude Risset winter 2006 and transform musical sounds through itself to reproduction. Rather than computation, using processes similar arguing—we shall have several round ICMC 2004 Keynote Address to those used for texts, images and table discussions—I shall try to make my COMPUTING AND gestures. This has brought new creative point by presenting a number of brief COMPOSING potentialities, which have only barely been examples (in particular of my own work) to SOUNDS touched upon. illustrate new musical situations that only the computer made possible. Jean-Claude Risset Max Mathews, here playing his radio baton, first performed digital recording In my discussion of computing and and computer sound synthesis in Bell Fig. 2 Risset, Mathews, Pierce, Bell Labs 1965 composing sounds, I shall talk about (1) Editor’s note: Risset’s keynote was originally Laboratories in 1957. shaping or sculpting sounds, (2) associating accompanied by audio and visual aids that Thanks to the quest for creative innovation sounds and images, (3) controlling music cannot be reproduced here. Therefore, the led by engineers and avant-garde through gestures, and (4) composing text has been slightly modified; however, the composers, the computer has been able sounds for perception. descriptions of the sounds remain. to develop exciting novel possibilities. Resorting to the computer has brought First, let us consider shaping or sculpting I am pleased and honored to speak here new ways to extend the sonic vocabulary sounds. Clearly, sounds and music can be and now at ICMC, 40 years after David of music. generated according to various models, Wessel convened the first computer as exemplified long ago by the late Iannis music conference. Computer music has The digital domain has remained marginal Xenakis. Digital processes of various kinds expanded over the entire world, but in music for several decades. Today, digital can be used to generate sounds; this is the it was born and reared in the United processes are central in the dissemination basis of the process of “sonification,” also States. I come from France; France has Fig. 1 Max Matthews with his radio drum of existing music through CDs, and, discussed at this conference. One can set become very active in computer music, more recently, mpeg coding, which is used up situations that seem contrary to the as witnessed by IRCAM and GRM in Mathews was helped and protected by John extensively on the web. This is fine, but rules of physics. For instance, digital filters Paris, and other centres such as GMEB Pierce, who directed research at Bell Labs. digital technology should not be restricted can be non-causal. In the following sound in Bourges, GRAME in Lyin, ACROE Pierce pioneered traveling wave tubes, to the reproduction of the existing. As example, bird’s caws will excite resonant in Grenoble, and GMEM and LMA- PCM, satellite communication, and coined Varèse liked to say, new materials permit filters. The response follows the excitation, CNRS in Marseille. I am grateful to the the word transistor. He is in the center of and call for new architectures. With but the response can be made to precede United States, where I made most of my this photograph, along with Mathews, Jim plastics, one can do better than just fake the excitation as well. own research contributions. Tenney (the first composer in residence at wood; the quest of novelty is more exciting Bell Labs), and myself. I succeeded Tenney than the task of mimicking. The creative Computer music permits one to do both For almost half a century now, the in 1964 to explore the musical possibilities interest is in broadening musical horizons. concrete music (processing recorded computer has been used to generate of computer music synthesis. sounds of acoustic origin) and electronic I make a plea for computer music to music (synthesising sound material with continue to be innovative and not restrict controlled parameters without an acoustic 3 4 array ICMC Keynote Address Jean-Claude Risset winter 2006 source). My own computer music work to avoid sound and image tautologies. can be programmed so as to implement time control of scanned synthesis, a new used mostly synthesis until I realized Sud various models: the organ player model synthesis process invented recently by Max at GRM in 1984. This piece attempts Physical modeling provides natural ways (one gesture, one note), the CD player Mathews and Bill Verplank. to merge musique concrète and electronic to correlate sound and image, as shown model (one gesture, all notes), the "Music music (digital processing and digital in the pioneering work of Claude Cadoz minus one" model, and the orchestra- Real-time has enabled the computer to synthesis), and I shall give two examples and Annie Luciani. Solving the equations conductor model. Combining different perform live with instrumentalists and to from it. In the first, the energy flux of for a simple mechanical system gives models provides flexible ways to specify accompany them. Score following was sea waves shapes the mixing of synthetic the following sound result. It is quite performance nuances. It also helps to initiated by Barry Vercoe, who worked on tones. In the second, harmonic pitch grids characteristic. A vibratory system can study what performers do. We shall hear a his “synthetic performer” around 1981, composed like chords are imprinted upon be modeled in the computer. Solving performance of a brief section of Ravel's and by Roger Dannenberg. In order to any unpitched material. Synthesis and the equations provides time-animated quartet, realized in several successive implement score following more easily, processing are intertwined to generate images and evolving sounds, which bear sessions by two “performers.” Clearly, the Miller Puckette developed the MAX hybrid textures. a straightforward relation because of their system allows varied nuances and musical programming environment and used it in common origin in virtual physics. options to come through. works such as Philippe Manoury's Jupiter Now, I shall discuss associating sounds with and Pluto. In the following example from images. Similar controls can be applied Now, I will talk about controlling music In Laboratoire de Mécanique et my piece Echappées, Denise Mégevand plays to both musical sounds and images, through gestures. Performers are essential d'Acoustique of CNRS in Marseille, the celtic harp alone at the very beginning. as exemplified by the late composer to bring life to music. Performance is all- Daniel Arfib and his students study various Then, her playing is amplified thanks to Emmanuel Ghent in his work with Jim important in computer music too. ways to capture gestures and to map them the Max/MSP software. Seawright and the Mimi Garrard Dance into musical parameters. I shall present company. The great artist Lillian Schwartz