Output details

Adaptations. Composition for for solo electric violin and computer(s). Output of AHRC Practice-Led Research Award. Première: 6th January 2012, Mieko Kanno (violin) and Sam Hayden, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, SPEEC, University of Oxford. DVD and Scores. DVD contains score(s), recordings and additional supporting material (score of previously composed ‘schismatics II’, Max/MSP patches, two journal articles and Max/MSP external object 'll~'). URL and hard copy evidence date of dissemination.

This was the second output in the AHRC Practice-Led research award ‘Live Performance, the Interactive Computer and the Violectra’, building on ideas initiated in schismatics (2007) and the 2010 revision of its MaxMSP patches, renamed schismatics II, and discussed in the ICMC 2011 article. It is accompanied by five items (schismatics II, MaxMSP patches, two articles and software external) to form a portfolio illustrating the extended research process that led to its development.

The main aim was to create a Violectra-specific piece with live computer processing, where the computer makes no assumptions in advance about the nature of a performance, but adapts to each performance independently of human decision-making. Unlike schismatics II, Adaptations can be radically different from a macro-structural formal point of view, as well as the micro-structural level of detail, being an ‘open-form’ work, comprising 11 notated ‘modules’, freely ordered for each performance. Each ‘module’ comprises a duo of two lines, which can either be played live, triggered as pre-recorded samples, or both. Hayden undertook the MaxMSP programming, building the patch around Nick Collins’ Listening and Learning System (ll~), a MaxMSP external created specifically for this project (Collins added functionality to prototypes following Hayden’s feedback). The current ll~ ‘state’ (timbre categorizations derived from the k-means clustering of feature analysis data) routes the e-violin signal to multiple DSP configurations and synthesis parameters (e.g. granulation), transformations hence relate directly to the interpretation. Learning afresh with each performance, the computer adapts to the changing nature of the sonic materials: a coherent yet unique development results, achieving a high level of musical interactivity whilst avoiding the reactive action/response paradigm. Collaborators: Sam Hayden (composition, artistic-direction, coding), Mieko Kanno (e-violin), Nick Collins (additional coding).

The submitted materials evidence an extended research process containing an AHRC Practice-Led Research Award which lasted some five years. This process involved large periods of studio-based rehearsal and workshops with the performer, coupled with supporting collaborative work on software development, which culminated in varied outputs, including compositions, conference papers, peer-reviewed journal articles, and the accompanying software Max/MSP external object.