“vs. Interpretation: An Anthology of Improvisation, vol. 1 is a compendium of essays edited by David Rothenberg. It includes a Usb compilation of improvised music by multiple different sound artists. It is essentially a tool for living in and interpreting the world around us”
After reading this I was exposed to multiple different ways in which improvisation occurs, seeping into all forms of our existence and the matter around us.
Broken into a series of interviews and compendium of essays by multiple different sound artists and scholars on improvisation, I aimed to find some direction in what themes to explore for my Aural Paper
Starting with Pauline Oliveros’ chapter in the book, titled ‘Play As You Go, I was exposed to the implications, but also the benefits of using technology as a means to advance our means of improvising. Finding parallels in the first bird-bone flute dating back 40,000 years, an ancient version of music technology, to the data laden and algorithmic software we now use today to increase our means of improvisation, such as the program SARA (Simple Analytic Recombinant Algorithm) that produces new compositions in the style of the music in its database, Oliveros argues that technology and what she coins as ‘Quantum improvisation’ can go a long way to find new ways to express the relationships between mind and matter. Upon reading this however, I questioned whether computers and data could ever really compete with the human mind and all of its complexities. While Quantum improvisation can technically produce an infinite amount of new material based off of old material, would it have the same edge as a conscious human mind that is coloured with emotion, experience and subsequent taste. Can a computer compete with the individuality of a human being?
While the use of technology and computing has allowed us to increase the speed and means in which we can develop our creativity and accelerate growth through learning, reading and improvising music, if we were to completely take the human being out of the equation, would an algorithm still be able to create music of the same calibre or authenticity. That is, until said computer or data set developed its own consciousness, somehow…