Electro Contra: Innovation for Tradition Work They Had Created During the Music Ensemble, When They Jointly Produced Music Via the Devices

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On the other hand, in terms of the collaborative music performance, it was very pleasant to observe numerous sit- uations where participants discussed many ideas about a Electro Contra: Innovation for Tradition work they had created during the music ensemble, when they jointly produced music via the devices. We noticed Benjamin D. Smith that they often talked to each other about the character- Department of Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and Technology, istics of the music they had created together. We assume Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis that collaborating directed the participants attention toward various perspectives. [email protected]

5.2 Future Works Figure 3. Photograph of the participatory concert. The saxophone player For the next step of this project, we expect that students ABSTRACT developed, and evaluated. The specific goals and prob- is controlling objects created by participants. will accumulate knowledge about generative art by partic- lems, primarily centering on phrasing and maintaining ipating in workshops. For this purpose, it is necessary to Technological interventions in American traditional fid- phrase alignment, lead to the implementation of three conduct our activities in various places and to open more dle and dance music are presented and specific design tools for performance use. These provide a relative beat accompaniment with instruments such as the accordion, workshops. Our platform is designed so that the workshop and development problems are considered. As folk dance jump, an absolute beat jump, and an automatic clip syn- the tenor sax, and the piano. Their sounds were partly ap- system can function simultaneously in multiple locations. communities and events explore the notion of incorporat- chronization tool. Use in a series of performances and plied in real-time to arrange objects on the screen, for the We are currently planning to deploy the workshop system ing modern electronic dance music into the experience dance events show that these are effective in practice, but purpose of creating interactions between the participants as a package, so that any educational institution can eas- certain inherent problems are exposed. Maintaining strict present challenges of their own and a need for further and the musicians (figure 3). ily hold workshops independently. Furthermore, we wish musical forms that are required for the traditional chore- design and development. to allow participants to share their work online at any time. ography, maintaining the fluidity and control of live 4.3 Interactive Exhibitions Social media can also be utilized to develop an online post- bands, and interacting with the other performers require 2. CONTRA DANCE ing forum to show the students works using MUCCA. new software tools. Initial solutions developed in Ableton Visitors could take part in the interactive exhibitions at any Live are described and show a successful method of solv- American contra dance is a vibrant living tradition of time. Submitted materials continuously appeared one by ing these challenges. dancing and music performance that has been steadily one on the screen at the venue. Participants were able to 6. CONCLUSIONS growing in popularity since the 1970s. Involving instru- submit materials from both within and outside the venue, In this paper, we described the implementation and prac- ments, music, and choreography derived from eighteenth where they were allowed to use their own smartphones to 1. INTRODUCTION tice of our integrated educational platform, MUCCA. century practices in the British Isles, contra dance now control objects on the screen in order to create a musical MUCCA is based on generative audio/visual art, and fo- Traditional aural music practices around the world evolve has active communities across North America, Europe, performance. cuses on both the technical development and management and maintain currency with the incorporation of new mu- and Australia. The current form of contra dance was first of a workshop. The development of this platform was suc- sical instruments and technologies. In the twentieth cen- seen in the U.S. in the 1780s [3], and after disappearing 4.4 Reaction from Participants cessful in terms of involving participants and their pieces; tury steel strings for guitars and violins, the advent of from practice in the following century was reborn during amplification and electric instruments, and increased Participants were fairly satisfied with the event. After ev- however, we need to further examine students learning ex- the folk revival in the United States in the 1970s [8]. manufacture and access to instruments had transformative ery workshop session and concert, we received many com- periences. We believe that MUCCA will become a suffi- While the closely related forms of English, Scottish, and impacts on music around the world. New genres grew out ments from participants. There were three cases when they cient platform for accumulating knowledge based on edu- Irish dance followed the same trajectory they have be- of the new technologies, such as Jazz and Rock and Roll, reported feeling pleasure: (1) Learning about the ideas and cational experiments that help people use generative art to come historically oriented practices, privileging tradition- exploding in dance halls and on concert stages alike. use of the application, as well as how it worked intuitively, express themselves creatively. al choreography and costumes. Uniquely, contra dance Amplification is now a ubiquitous aspect of dance music (2) Interacting with other participants through the work- actively supports regional and individual variation, new performance in nearly every genre, from social and cou- shop system, and (3) Showing off their own work to friends Acknowledgments choreography, and experimentation with the forms and ples folk dancing to swing to electronic dance music or family and discussing it. It was very impressive that The author would like to thank Masao Tsutsumi (a staff music [4]. participants actively had debates in order to interpret each (EDM). Today, computers present an immense domain of The structure of contra dance employs two lines of member of the Gifu city government), Yukiko Nishii (the musical possibilities and their incorporation as a perfor- others pieces and viewpoints. accordion player), Jo Miura (the saxophone player), Sayumi dancers (the designation “contra” refers to this opposition mance tool in traditional folk music, alongside fiddles of lines), who progressively move along the lines to Higo (the visual designer), and all other members who and banjos, is already underway. were involved in the workshop. dance with other individuals. The choreography typically 5. DISCUSSIONS Performing ‘traditional music’ electronically, on a tech- involves each sub-set of four dancers (two couples) exe- nical level, presents many challenges to the electronic 5.1 Improvement of Learning Experience cuting a series of steps in unison that take up the 64 beats 7. REFERENCES musician using currently available software tools. Most of the written dance [1]. All the dancers execute each folk dance choreography fits strict musical forms and any Our educational platform worked successfully in terms of [1] J. McCormack, O. Bown, A. Dorin, J. McCabe, figure in the dance concurrently and a series of 4-8 fig- musical deviations will disrupt the dancers and stop the the technical side throughout the workshop, but there are G. Monro, and M. Whitelaw, “Ten Questions Con- ures typically comprises a “dance,” which is then repeat- dance. The music has to start and line up with the figures some points to be considered in relation to the participants’ cerning Generative Computer Art,” Leonardo, vol. 47, ed 12-20 times along with live musical accompaniment. experience. Although the students seemed to learn how to no. 2, pp. 135–141, Mar. 2014. of the specific dance, requiring the musician to synchro- The vast majority of the choreography is set to a binary operate the application very quickly so that they actively nize the phrasing with choreography. Further, the music musical form of AABB, wherein each section is 16 beats designed their work by themselves, we wonder if the work- [2] M. Pearson, Generative Art: A Practical Guide is expected to dynamically respond to the dancers long. The music is performed live and is historically root- shop covered all types of learning. During the phase of in- Using Processing, pap/psc ed. Manning Pubns Co, through texture changes and growth of a song, facilitating ed in the traditional music of the British Isles (Irish and dividual creation, many of them were able to comprehend 7 2011. [Online]. Available: http://amazon.co.jp/o/ energetic and emotional experiences. Scottish ‘fiddle’ tunes). The meter is most commonly 2/2 the relationship between visual factors and music. How- ASIN/1935182625/ Based on these challenges several new software tools or 6/8, and is strongly phrased to indicate the 8 bar sec- ever, apparently only a few participants were able to as- (plug-ins for Ableton’s Live Suite) have been designed, tions, which dancers rely on for structural cues and to [3] V. Grassmuck and H. Staff, Zkm Digital Art Edition semble musical ideas by using an aesthetic judgement of “keep them on track” [3]. Dance tempo does not vary 3: Kiyoshi Furukawa, Masaki Fujihata and Wolfgang Copyright: © 2016 Benjamin D. Smith et al. This is an open-access arti- music. Facilitators also played an important role in terms widely, and is conventionally in the 115-125 beats-per- Munch¨ . Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2005. cle dis- tributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution of guiding the participants toward their interests in art ex- License 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and minute range [4]. pression. We also need to improve the balance of time al- reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are The notion of “tradition” is integral to contemporary location for a better learning experience. credited. contra dancing, and the ideals of a non-commercial ‘folk’

66 Proceedings Proceedingsof the International of the International Computer Computer Music ConferenceMusic Conference2016 2016 pg. 66 Proceedings Proceedingsof the International of the International Computer Computer Music Conference Music Conference2016 2016 pg. 67 67 community and ‘traditional’ Americanness are primary acts, notably Buddy System, DJ D.R. Shadow, DJ ence to the dance structure. If the user accidently triggers affording the alignment of different clips and loops. This components in drawing many to the group [8]. As such Squeeze, and Phase X. These artists use a combination of clips or sections at the wrong time there is no way to re- uses the Live API “playing_position” property of a spe- these values are felt strongly amongst the community and DJ software, controllers, electronic and amplified acous- cover without impact to the musical form. cific clip. guide many aspects of direction and organization locally tic instruments and effects. The work described herein is and nationally. Musically, these ideals privilege ‘tradi- based on the experiences and findings of members of tional folk’ acoustic instruments (such as the fiddle, pi- these groups. ano, banjo, and acoustic guitar), and tunes in strict musical forms (e.g. 2/2 metered Reels and Hoedowns; 6/8 3. MUSICAL STRUCTURE metered Jigs and Marches). However the authenticity of the ‘tradition,’ in terms of The primary problems faced by live electronic music in

longevity of customs and practices, is largely a chimera the contra dance context stem from the strict require- [8]. While some smaller communities in the North East- ments of the phrase structure and the need to aurally cue Figure 2. User interface for Song Jump device. ern U.S. maintain a closer aural, generational link to the and indicate the repetitions in the form. The binary pat- The clip synchronization device forces any track to stay ancestral dance forms [9], for modern urban contra dance tern of AABB, as well as the continual recycling of the aligned with either another track or the master clock. In the authenticity of the musical tradition, in terms of reper- whole form (over each 8-10 minute dance), are expected Live the user can configure a quantization rate for clip and relied on by the dancers [3]. This stands in contrast to toire and performance practices passed down aurally launching, which causes clips to delay commencement to from generation to generation, is non-existent. The com- the typical pop music song form of AABA and EDM match a certain phrase length. That is, if the quantization Figure 1. Ableton Live Set used for contra dances (im- munity of dancers is intentional and associational, rather forms which focus on continuity and minimalist trance- rate is set at 2 bars clips will start playing when the mas- than based on ethnic, religious, or locational alignment like repetition. Further, pop songs commonly deviate age courtesy Julie Valimont) showing density of musical tracks and clips. ter song clock is at even bar numbers regardless of when [3]. from 32 bar forms to include a bridge section or other the user presses the clip launch button (see Fig. 3, show- variations, which precludes their use in this context. The upholding of tradition creates friction with the living misalignment resulting from the user triggering clips The electronic performer can create the form by dis- 4. NEW DEVELOPMENTS ing practice aspect of contra dance, leading many con- around the phrase point). While this effectively enforces carding loops and playing everything live using control- temporary musical groups to both retain traditional in- Based on discussions with performing musicians three clip alignment dynamically, longer phrase lengths (such lers and MIDI interfaces (i.e. treating their setup like an strumentation while experimenting with a diversity of Live “devices” (plug-ins or utilities in Live’s parlance) as the 8 or 32 bar phrases in contra dances) present chal- acoustic instrument and ‘playing all the notes’). However genres and sounds. One of the most popular notional con- were proposed, developed, and tested. The overall goal is lenges and this quantization limits performer spontaneity. this denies the hallmark sounds, sampled loops, and oper- tra dance bands today, The Great Bear Trio [5], is lead by to ensure enforcement of the phrase structure, freeing the If the user triggers a clip one beat after the 8 bar quantiza- ating principles EDM is based on. The opposite approach an electric guitar and regularly features arrangements of musician to focus on musical choices, texture and dynam- tion point the clip will wait 7 bars before playing (see seen above, of acoustic musicians playing contemporary Top 40 radio songs. Another extremely popular band, ic direction. The developed assistive utilities are: Fig. 4). This limits the performer’s ability to improvisa- pop songs for dances, merely appropriates the content of Perpetual eMotion, used looping technology and exten- 1) Song jump device that instantly skips the entire tionally mix the music and dynamically trigger new clips. one genre and transposes it to another, rather than ex- sive electronic effects applied to the fiddle and guitar to session (all playing clips and events) to a speci- The new clip sync device allows the user to turn off the ploiting the potential of fully blending the genres. create live EDM-styled dance music [6]. fied bar and beat, or by a relative number of global quantization, allowing any clip to launch at any Groups providing live music for contra dance must ad- The first noted examples of contra dancing to non- beats. time, and the device ensures phrase alignment (see Fig. 5 ditionally be able to recover from errors enacted by the traditional pre-recorded music at mainstream contra 2) Track jump device that skips a single track to a where clips start playing in the middle of their loop). As caller or dancers. While not common, either the caller dance events is thought to have occurred in the early specified bar and beat, or by a relative number each clip is launched the device skips it to play from the may mistakenly call a figure or the dancers may forget 2000s in the Boston area [6]. This lead to alternative of beats. point that aligns it with the configured phrase length. and cause the dance to get out of sync with the music or dances colloquially termed “techno contras” [2], being 3) Clip synchronization device that maintains come to a stop. It is imperative that the musicians are able staged across the U.S. today. Many self-styled DJs use phrase alignment between a slave track and a to either resynchronize with the dance (by adding a few mixes of EDM, pop, world beat, and fusion music to master track (or the master clock). beats or skipping ahead in the song), or quickly reset and stage these events at festivals annually. Almost all of the- All of these devices were built using Max For Live recover by starting over. se performers premix compilations of songs by other art- (M4L), working extensively through the Live API (in An additional problem arises solely at the commence- Figure 3. Loops with quantization at 2 bars, long loops ists and play these tracks in a fixed fashion to accompany Max 7.2.2). This allowed easy modification during the enter out of phase with 8 bar phrases. ment of each dance where the musician must either cue the dance. These DJs have further explored changing the prototyping stage as well as cross-platform distribution. the start of the choreography or align with the call- nature of the event from the conventional series of ap- The devices were used in performances during develop- er/leader. Conventional acoustic contra dance bands start proximately 10 minute dances interleaved with short ment, generating bug lists and feature requests stemming each dance in one of two ways: either by playing a short breaks to more continuous sequences of dances (some from real-world application. four beat introduction to indicate the start of the dance to reportedly stringing dances together for as long as 90 The song jumping device (see Fig. 2) gives the player Figure 4. Loops with quantization at 8 bars, aligned the dancers, or by playing a repetitious musical pattern in minutes without pause). the ability to skip the song forward and backwards by correctly with phrases, but limited flexibility. the tempo of the dance and allowing the caller to time the The desire to incorporate electronic dance music in con- single beats, assisting alignment with the dance if the figures to the music. In this later case once the dancers tra dance events appears to be based on fostering intense music is out of sync, as well as jumping by whole sec- are all in motion the musicians will seamlessly transition emotional experiences [7] and perceived “altered states”. tions to extend or shorten a song. This is analogous to a to their full tune/song/arrangement. Contra dance already creates these experiences for many DJ moving the needle on a record, skipping the song to a Ableton Live is a preferred software solution for many through the highly repetitious dance forms and musical new point in time. Ableton Live employs a model where Figure 5. Loops with no quantization and Clip Sync live electronic musicians playing on the contra dance tunes, akin to a group recitation of a mantra [3]. Like- each loop or clip is essentially an individual record with device. Loops can start in the middle with guaranteed stage due to its flexibility and interactivity (see Fig. 1). wise, EDM is known for supporting similar experiences its own needle, and jumping the song causes all the clips phrase alignment. The ability to play loops, clips, and songs dynamically through looping, and iconic production techniques such to jump synchronously. The Live API exposes access to and apply further manipulations is the basis for these per- In this device the phrase length can be set independent- as the “build-up” and “drop” [7]. The receptiveness of the the master clock time (“current_song_time”) which is set formers. However the challenges of phrase alignment in ly for each clip by the player (commonly 8 or 32 bars). otherwise traditionally oriented contra dance community in the M4L device (through the “jump_by” function) this environment are seen as cumbersome and constrain- For each given time point (t) the audio sample to play (X) to EDM type music may be based on this affinity for al- when the user enters a new absolute or relative jump ing to expressive performance. For example, if the user is calculated from the time point of the master track (tmas- tered state experiences, allowing for this seemingly radi- time. wants to change material in the middle of the 32-bar form ter) folded by the length of the phrase in samples (based cal influx of distinctly non-traditional music. The track jumping device performs similarly but only there is no easy way to quickly trigger new loops and on the user set length in beats P, the tempo T, and the Performing live, interactive electronic music for contra acts on a single track at a time, serving artistic effects and dances is currently being attempted by a few national cross-fade or cut the old ones while still ensuring adher-

69 Proceedings Proceedingsof the International of the International Computer Computer Music Conference Music Conference2016 2016 pg. 68 Proceedings Proceedingsof the International of the International Computer Computer Music Conference Music Conference2016 2016 pg. 69 70 community and ‘traditional’ Americanness are primary acts, notably Buddy System, DJ D.R. Shadow, DJ ence to the dance structure. If the user accidently triggers affording the alignment of different clips and loops. This components in drawing many to the group [8]. As such Squeeze, and Phase X. These artists use a combination of clips or sections at the wrong time there is no way to re- uses the Live API “playing_position” property of a spe- these values are felt strongly amongst the community and DJ software, controllers, electronic and amplified acous- cover without impact to the musical form. cific clip. guide many aspects of direction and organization locally tic instruments and effects. The work described herein is and nationally. Musically, these ideals privilege ‘tradi- based on the experiences and findings of members of tional folk’ acoustic instruments (such as the fiddle, pi- these groups. ano, banjo, and acoustic guitar), and tunes in strict musical forms (e.g. 2/2 metered Reels and Hoedowns; 6/8 3. MUSICAL STRUCTURE metered Jigs and Marches). However the authenticity of the ‘tradition,’ in terms of The primary problems faced by live electronic music in

68 Proceedings Proceedingsof the International of the International Computer Computer Music Conference Music Conference2016 2016 pg. 68 Proceedings Proceedingsof the International of the International Computer Computer Music Conference Music Conference2016 2016 pg. 69 69 sample rate of the audio engine sr) and the length of the new percussion line in the middle of the quantization slave track’s audio loop (L, in samples): length, or start in the middle of the percussion loop, it is LR.step, an Algorithmic Drum Sequencer now possible. (1) Morgan Jenks ! !"#$%& 6. CONCLUSIONS 𝑋𝑋𝑋𝑋 =5. 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡REFLECTIONS mod 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 mod 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 Texas A&M University While these new devices successfully assist the live elec- [email protected] All of these devices have been used in over a dozen per- tronic musician in performing for contra dance events formances, each lasting 1 to 3 hours, and have proven to additional tools will be needed to support artistic creativi- be stable in practical use. The song jumping device was ty in performance. Several specific problems were teased intended to solve the problem of transparent alignment out and addressed with new software tools that have been with the start of the dance. In theory the musician would field-tested and are in current use by performing artists. ABSTRACT build a looped groove for the caller to teach the dance, Further, these devices may be useful to Ableton Live us- and at the point the dancers have begun the choreography ers generally, beyond the domain of folk dance music. This paper presents a new algorithmic drum sequencer, the musician would align and cross fade to their song The interviewed musicians, all of whom have extensive LR.step. This sequencer is based on Clarence Barlow’s tracks. To enact this alignment the musician would experience as acoustic performers, continue to seek flexi- Indispensability algorithm, and builds upon previous launch their song tracks at any point and at the moment ble ways of dynamically creating their music and inter- work with this algorithm, introducing several novel fea- the dance reaches the start of the choreography (the be- acting on the dance stage. This confluence of ‘traditional’ tures. LR.step differs from previous implementations of ginning of the first A section) the musician pushes the folk dance and electronic dance music is attracting musi- the indispensability algorithm in that it features a method “jump to start” button, causing the entire song to jump to cians and dancers alike to events around North America for calculating arbitrary subdivisions of the beat, such as th beat 0 and be aligned with the dance. and promises to continue serving as a locus for experi- 14 note triplets, as well as two new processes for gener- Figure 1. The indispensability set for one measure of 4/4 in 8th notes However, this operation in Live causes any clips that mentation and growth. As new artists bring new ap- ating syncopation. Details of the software and possibili- were launched after beat 0 to be turned off. Practically proaches and new technology to the dance stage, new ties for future work are given. The indispensability algorithm is a state machine much this results in everything stopping at the critical moment practices, instruments, and tools will be discovered and like cellular automata or euclidean rhythms. However when the musician is aligning their song with the start of incorporated into these evolving traditions. 1. INTRODUCTION whereas the latter two output sequences of Boolean val- the dance. Thus this functionality does not work as in- ues, indispensability sets provide a rich hierarchy for all Music software design has become widely accessible tended. However the device enables smaller relative 7. REFERENCES possible pulses in a sequence and create conventional jumps by a beat or a bar, moving the playback for all with the advent of the Internet and online communities of metrical emphasis, even in complex time signatures. The playing clips simultaneously, and has proven useful as an [1] Dart, Mary McNab. 1992. Contra Dance Choreog- practice. Vast collective knowledge enables creatives to indispensability algorithm reveals connections between error correcting measure if the dancers get out of sync raphy: A Reflection of Social Change (Doctoral Dis- design instruments that suit their own needs and ideals. rhythm and harmony, and outputs patterns strikingly sim- with the music. sertation: Indiana University). LR.step exists as a result of a personal performance prac- ilar to traditional musics, for example, Franconian dance The track jump device does not suffer from this prob- [2] Foster, Brad. 2010. “Tradition and Change.” CDSS tice at the intersection of consumer electronics, pieces [5]. Composer Georg Hajdu has ported the algo- longstanding research into music theory, the Max/MSP lem, since jumping a track to beat 0 still allows the track Blog. Accessed February 23, 2016. rithm to Max/MSP and used it to assist in organizing a community, and my own stylistic interests, informed by to keep playing. Thus this device solves the previous http://blog.cdss.org/2010/12/tradition-and-change/. 19-tone equal temperament recorder piece among other ready access to various experimental beat makers such as problem, of restarting the track when the dancers reach [3] Hast, Dorothea E. 1993. “Performance, Transfor- things [5]. Autechre[1]. the start of the dance. It does not, however, allow many mation, and Community: Contra Dance in New Eng- Barlow’s original implementation of the formula took tracks to be moved simultaneously, but appears to be ad- land.” Dance Research Journal 25 (01): 21–32. the form of his all-in-one procedural composition system, equate for initial use (typically users start their arrange- [4] Kaufman, Jeff. 2008. “Dialectical Variation in Con- 1.1 The Algorithm Autobusk [4]. Another implementation of the indispensa- ment for a dance with a single track, which this device tra Dance.” Master, Swarthmore College. Many algorithmic sequencer techniques have been devel- bility algorithm by Sioros, Guedes and the Kinetic Con- enables, and then build from there). In combination with [5] ———. 2016. “Festival Stats 2015.” Accessed Feb- oped, including euclidean approaches, stochastic ap- troller Driven Adaptive Music Systems Project at the the third device the track jump solution has proven effec- ruary 23. http://www.jefftk.com/p/festival-stats- proaches, cellular automata, and genetic approaches [2, University of Texas, Austin, uses the indispensability set tive in quickly aligning the entire set. 2015. 3]. Among all of these, the indispensability algorithm, as a probability table and features real time control of As an error recovery tool, especially to realign after the [6] Krogh-Grabbe, Alex. 2011. “Crossover Contra developed by Clarence Barlow in 1978, stands out as an meter, subdivisions, and probability weight [6]. As El- caller or dancers make a mistake, the track jump device Dancing: A Recent History.” CDSS Blog. Accessed interesting balance of musicality and flexibility [4]. dridge advocates regarding musical generativity, the in- has proven highly successful. As long as the musician February 23, 2016. The indispensability algorithm, to summarize, sorts all dispensability algorithm is not lifted from another scien- knows where the start of the first A section is in the dance http://blog.cdss.org/2011/06/crossover-contra- steps in a sequence, given a number of measures in a par- tific context such as flocking simulation, but was devised they can use the track jump device to immediately jump dancing-a-recent-history/. ticular time signature and a subdivision of the meter as specifically from harmonic and metrical principles [7]. to that point in the music to coincide with the dancers. [7] Ragnhi, Torvanger Solberg. 2014. “‘Waiting for the the step size, ranking the steps by their importance or This is a critical ability for the live music. Bass to Drop’: Correlations Between Intense Emo- ‘indispensability’ to the stable perceptibility of the meter. 2. SEQUENCER DETAILS The clip alignment device appears to be the most trans- tional Experiences and Production Techniques in For example, a single 4/4 measure of 8th notes will have formative of the three utilities. This functionality allows a Build-up and Drop Sections of Electronic Dance downbeats 1 and then 3 as the most important pulses, LR.step, in its current form, is a Max/MSP patch that musician to start a musical loop or sample at any time Music.” Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance followed by 4, 2 and then the upbeats (emphasizing the syncs with Ableton Live via the ReWire protocol. In con- point and ensure that it remains sample locked to a master Music Culture 6 (1): 61–82. antecedent to beat 1). trast to the Autobusk and Kinetic rhythm generators, track (or master clock). In practice this gives the musician [8] Turino, Thomas. 2008. Music as Social Life: The LR.step is not stochastic. It is fully determinate and will a lot of freedom to start musical material without worry- Politics of Participation. University of Chicago output a consistent and static pattern for a given combina- ing about where in the form structure they are. Previously Press. tion of parameters. If indeterminate variations are de- Copyright: © 2016 First author et al. This is an open-access article dis- the musician had to remember the length of each sample [9] Young, Kathryn E. 2011. “Living Culture Embod- sired, it may be mapped to any sort of modulator. Among tributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 clip they had loaded into their set and then trigger it pre- ied: Constructing Meaning in the Contra Dance the parameters, three stand out as novel developments: Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction cisely to align with the dance form. While Ableton pro- Community.” (Master Thesis, Denver, CO: Univer- freely definable step sizes, and two syncopation parame- in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. vides a quantization method to ensure clips only start at sity of Denver). ters which I have named Irrationality and Eccentricity. certain points this prevents dynamic interleaving of new clips at a finer granularity. If the musician wants to start a

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