Reflections on Collaborative Process and Compositional Revolution

Author(s): Diane Thome

Source: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 5 (1995), pp. 29-32
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1513158
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Leonardo Music Journal

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ARTIST'S NOTE

Reflections on Collaborative Process

and Compositional Revolution ABSTRACT

The author discusse

periences as an early
Diane Thome of computer and elect
music, beginning with
of her early engagemen
computers as a gradua
at Princeton in the lat
continuing through dis
her most recent collab

BACKGROUND IN COMPUTER MUSIC ington Human Interface Tech- piec

nology Lbortory in 1 , s reality ar
nology Laboratorynity
I first became fascinated with the compositional structuring in 1992, she
11994), a ity
compute
of time, timbre and pitch made possible by computerwas already well into the creation sol
synthe-
sis of musical sound while I was a graduate student of anat original artwork called An- the
gels,
Princeton in the late 1960s. The frustrations of working infor which she had designed tive
r i s s t various music te
this field were considerable at that time: computer music pro-
computer images, spoken text impac
and a specific narrative [1]. I was her
grams were tedious to learn and quick to become obsolete.
For me, digital-to-analog (D-A) conversion required commissioned
a 6-hour by Nicole to com- spec
pose electronic music for the se- shi
round trip (I lived in Philadelphia, commuted to Princeton,
ries of virtual environments she con
where I was working on an IBM 360-91, then drove up to Bell that are occurring with
was working to realize.
Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, to use the D-A converter This
tion to new task
electronic
proved
there). Despite these obstacles, I felt an immense artistic cu- quite challenging because
riosity and intellectual stimulus catalyzed by workingparticipants
in this could determine the
sequence order of the narrative
new sphere. My doctoral dissertation, "Toward Structural
and to
Characterization of the Timbral Domain," was an attempt because I had to assign specific
of music
deal both creatively and analytically with an extraordinary ac- associated with the differen
in advance that these sections coul
celeration and expansion of compositional possibilities.
trary times. Given the basic malleabi
sequences (which could be altered b
TWO MULTIMEDIA COLLABORATIONS cided to compose a "reference loop"
transit time between participating
While work on several concert pieces at Princeton provided
the research necessary for my dissertation, my life as a associated
profes- with a much more gen
sional composer was also challenged and enriched bymotivic
friend- music than that which acco
ships with two gifted women artists in separate fields:ored
Judith environments themselves. Th
Vassallo, a filmmaker and kinetic sculptor at the Moore(approximately
Col- 10 min) was the res
on Stenger's part: she attempted to
lege of Art in Philadelphia, and Birgitta Trommler, a German-
duration
born choreographer and dancer who was living in Philadel- of a participant's experien
phia. We decided to create an environmental theater could
piece vary depending on how quick
acted
together to be presented in the outdoor pavilion of the Moore with the environments. Thu
College of Art in May 1973. This collaborative work, environment
titled a specific musical loop
Night Passage, was designed for "seven dancers in zonesas well as possible the needs of the
of fire,
laboration
earth and water." The three of us decided very early in the pro- I was constantly reviewi
cess to allow for considerable freedom in our individual cre- with Nicole and often "walking thr
final images with the associated mus
ative roles. More than anything else, it was a series of frequent
group discussions about the affective and ritual qualities of the
work that suggested the type of music I was to compose. We
DIFFERENCES IN THE COLLABORATIVE
agreed upon a large-scale formal structure that associated par-
PROCESS
ticular choreographic sequences with specific sections of mu-
sic. However, considerable freedom was exercised in the local
While Night Passage and Angels both utilize solo tape music,
theiral-
temporal relationship of music to dance. Most significantly, relationships to performers-whether the actual dancers
though we initially discussed our respective contributionsof Night
to Passage or the virtual computer-generated figures in
this multimedia presentation, we then proceeded to Angels-were
begin quite different. A more direct, intimate and
working independently. Our individual creative ideas durationally
were symmetrical connection between visual and mu
then woven together during subsequent meetings. sical perception was present in Angels. While the participant
In marked contrast to this type of simultaneous entry into
a new creative project was my collaboration with French Diane
vir-Thome (composer), School of Music, DN-10, University of Washington, Seattle,
WA 98195, U.S.A. E-mail: <[email protected]>.
tual reality pioneer Nicole Stenger. Coming from Massachu-
Received 11January 1995.
setts Institute of Technology (MIT) to the University of Wash-

? 1995 ISAST LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 5, pp. 29-32, 1995 29

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 neau, Alaska, and the association of this
could alter the sequence of virtual envi- partials, I was not yet liberated from the
ronments, the particular images and visual stimulus with a virtual world of
idea of notes playing sounds.
music associated with each environment percussion-like sounds. The tools I used Later, when I worked in the analog
remained fixed. Unlike the music for a in the creation of this work allowed for a studio at the State University of New
conventional movie-a form that does considerable degree of freedom: I com-York (SUNY)-Binghamton (1974-1977),
not allow for control or interactivity binedto digital synthesizers and computerwhere the hardware was already present
be exercised by the viewer-the software total in order to sculpt sounds andin the form of the modular Moog syn-
musical structure of Angels had to be ef-
developed a process of real-time experi-thesizer and various peripherals, I was
fective both modularly and linearly,mentation
pre- as a method of generating no longer an instrument designer in the
cisely because the participant could meaningful
exer- compositional gestures. totally comprehensive sense demanded
cise some degree of control over the flow As a composer of chamber and or-by early digital synthesis. Rather, I be-
chestral works, I had begun my explora- came much more spontaneously and
of the piece. In contrast to Angels, which
tion of the electronic medium with the
allows the participant to alter the narra- fluidly engaged with these machines
notion of the computer and other elec-
tive sequence but not the virtual perfor- (i.e. synthesizers, mixers, recorders,
mance space, the viewer/auditor of tronic
Night media as repositories of an infi- etc.) as a composer/improvisor working
Passage could move out of the perfor- nite potential of sounds. However, over in real time and later reviewing and ed-
mance space, but never out of the theab-years I have increasingly recognized iting the results of these interactions.
stract performance narrative, which the
waspower of these technologies to While the sounds available to composers
potently delineated through lighting, modify and transform ways of imagining in an analog studio environment were
sound and choreography. The perfor- not only discrete sounds, but also sono- highly constrained, the process of com-
rous forms. For example, as a composer
mance space of Night Passage was defined positional exploration in "real time" al-
by the seven dancers and sculptured of orchestral or chamber music I may lowed for more freedom and flexibility.
zones of fire, earth and water. The audi-
think in terms of a certain note or While I have often lamented the ab-
ence could wander freely in and around chord being played by a particular
sencein-of a long-term connection to an
this performance space. strument or group of instruments,
advanced studio (situationally not prac-
Just as the music for these two col- whereas with computer synthesis,
ticalI given
am my geographical and profes-
sional relocations after I left Princeton
laborative works was synthesized using able to compose sound spectra them-
different tools, the collaborative pro- selves and apply their transformations
in 1973), I have come to recognize that
cess itself was different in each case. In to a continuum of timbral modulations the necessary adjustments I made to
the first instance, the available technol-and unique sonic textures. The domi-various analog and digital studio envi-
ogy reinforced more autonomous rela- nant element of a composition thus be-
ronments over the years have, in fact,
tionships among the different artists. comes sound itself, and processes of
substantially contributed to helping me
Each component-music, choreogra- spectral evolution constitute the musi- define, refine and expand my own aes-
phy and sculpture-of Night Passage wascal structure. thetic perspective. My compositional di-
in fact largely self-contained, although In essence, the systems available rection
to has increasingly focused on the
the components worked together tocomposers in the early 1970s tendeduse toof complex timbres in dynamic, dra-
matic and narrative musical structures. I
form a richer totality. In the later work,fall into two general categories: those
music and text are formally associatedthat allowed great control and littleremain in- fascinated with the new and
with given visual objects and both visualteraction, and those that offered consid-
subtle interdependencies between
and auditory space are completely indi-erable interaction but little control. For sound, sonic gesture and formal com-
vidualized within the virtual realityexample, the early computer musicplexity. I Though my classical training
hardware required to experience thecomposed at Princeton required a pre- and experience in composing with tradi-
piece. I worked very closely with Nicolecisely defined set of instructions for tionalthe instruments has continued to in-
Stenger to integrate the music with the computer, since musical sounds were fluence my use of computer music tech-
narrative structure. purely theoretical until they were actu- nologies, it is the creation of coherent
ally defined as a set of parameters. and All evocative timbral structures, rather
operations generating activity in these than a music of harmony and melody as
THE IMPACT OF "instruments" had to be specifiedtraditionally conceived, that continues
TECHNOLOGY ON MY through subroutines, some of them to pose the greatest challenge for me.
quite elaborate. Even though distinc-This challenge may be characterized
COMPOSITIONAL THINKING
tions between the timbral and pitch do- as a dual paradigm shift. The first shift
In a curious way, these creative projectsmains became blurred, the relationship involves a reconceptualization of the
may have brought me not only toward a
between sound and compositional struc- timbral domain: From its previous nar-
more visual and kinetic relation to ture my remained largely traditional. This row role as a repository of fixed instru-
own concert music, but also toward a was true primarily for two reasons. First, mental colors with limited possibilities
more interactive relationship with the the software I was using at the time- for transformational control, timbre has
various technologies I employ in con-specifically, Music V and Music 360-es- developed into a vastly expanded field
ceptualizing and synthesizing electronic sentially divided the program into or- for compositional experimentation. The
music. Thus, my most recent solo tape chestra and score sections. Secondly, second shift has entailed a recon-
piece, Masks of Eternity (1994) [2], was even though I was excited by the possi- ceptualization of the perceptual do-
initially inspired by the striking and bility of experimenting with certain main: the listener is catalyzed to more
powerful masks I saw displayed in the types of timbral transformations by con- clearly perceive the shapes of timbral
Museum of Northwest Indian Art in Ju- trolling various rates of change of the transformations. Processes of spectral

30 7home, Reflections on Collaborative Process

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evolution have become the new har- WORKING former, instrument, audience and envi-
mony and the harbinger of new forms in
COLLABORATIVELY AS A ronment. These assumptions are rooted
certain types of electronic composition in centuries of experience with acoustic
METAPHOR FOR WORKING
[3]. The listener is increasingly directed instruments, historically determined
WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES
toward a more subtle and penetrating performance practice, socially con-
awareness of the interior of complex I find it significant that Night Passage and
structed performance rituals and institu-
sounds and the articulation of novel Angels, with their respective differences
tionally supported cultural values. At the
timbral structures. in collaborative process, have broughtsame time, new models of interactivity
between
into relief my own changing views of the machine and human artist-

THE "SORCERER'S compositional use of technology. whether The composer or performer-ha

variety of relational configurations be- to challenge such rigid and lon
begun
APPRENTICE" SYNDROME
tween visual objects (live or virtual); ac-distinctions. Repertoires are bei
held
While the various associations that I tual dancers or virtual characters; de- created through exploration into th
have experienced with computer mu-
grees of randomness and synchronicity; spatialization of music, the elaborati
sic-a medium that is constantly linear ex-
structures of time and narrative, of mathematical models, such as cha
panding and becoming more responsive as in Night Passage; or modular struc- and new paradigms of creativity th
to creative processes-have radically tures of al-
these domains, as in Angels, has emerge from the interplay of art and s
tered and accelerated my expressive served de-
as a metaphor for the diversity of ence as modulated by technology. A
velopment as a composer, I am aware of
composer/technology links afforded by composers in the digital age who ar
the fact that the computer music com-
increasingly sophisticated and flexible working through these permutations
munity itself is largely research-cen-software programs. As different types of relationship to creative process a
tered. This can make attention to issues
composer/technology interfaces have product that the use of sophisticate
of musical language and aesthetic value
affected my thinking in and about electronic media both offers and de-
problematic. It can also result in a ten-
sound, so has my conception of timbre mands, we are at the same time explo
dency for electronic media themselvesand sonorous form become so funda- ers of and collaborators in the mappin
to dominate the compositional processmentally altered that I now viewof new
the twoartistic realms. Perhaps Marc
(the "sorcerer's apprentice" syndrome). Proust's dictum can serve as a fittin
as inextricably intertwined, suggesting
Too often, even if discussion of contem-
new modelings of aesthetic languages.guide: "The only real voyage of disco
porary musical language is pursued, it ery consists ... not in seeking new lan
takes place in a kind of ahistorical-tech-
REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY scapes but in having new eyes ..." [5]
nical context that is more about com-
AND THE FUTURE
puter technology than about music. Al- Acknowledgments
At no
though these marvelous new tools other time in Western musical his-
The author is grateful to Robert Austin, Rich
originate in science, engineering tory
and has there been such a rapid trans-
Karpen and Mona Miller for their comments
the text.
industry, it remains incumbent on formation
com- of what it means to be a com-

posers to use them musically, imagina-

poser. In earlier times, the composer was
References and Notes
the individual who conceived organized
tively and evocatively. As Trevor Wishart
has said, "The computer bestows no musical thoughts for existent sound 1. Angels is a journey through a virtual paradise,
magical virility on its musical products. real-time interactive movie in which the user par-
sources that would be played by other
ticipates by means of a VPL Dataglove and high
Aesthetic developments are made pos- individuals. These divisions no longer
resolution HRX goggles. Each visitor begins his
sible, but not defined by, technological apply in the sphere of certain electronic-
her experience in front of a fanciful merry-go
round that serves as a gateway to subsequent envi
developments" [4]. music repertoires. A composer may now
ronments. Touching one of the three angel hearts
In the course of working in the elec- design the sound sources, create seem-
on the carousel determines the order in which the

tronic medium, I have become acutely remaining five segments will appear. The duration
ingly endless varieties of timbres and uti-
of the segments ranges from approximately 30" to
conscious of the multiplicity of relation- lize software to generate a range of com-
2'30". The brightly colored, vibrant environments
ships engendered by the use of late- positional processes that may then are
be interspersed with a dark, shadow-like space ac-
twentieth century technology. As impor- artistically modeled. This companied by music, finctioning as a passageway
range of pro-
to each new scene. The angels' voices invite the
tant as it is to develop skill in the cesses may be divided into three general
participant to interact with each environment,
utilization of sophisticated tools, it is categories: those involving the evolution
causing a story to unfold.

equally important to understand that of unexpected patterns, those that gen- Stenger modeled the project in the Visual Arts De-
they can be applied to a continuum of erate details and mutations of these pat- partment at MIT using Wavefont's Advanced Visual-
izer on a Silicon Graphics personal IRIS. The VR
creative processes, ranging from the terns and those that delineate entirely
work was done at the University of Washington us-
composer defining these tools as instru- new macrostructures. It is currently pos-
ing VPL's Virtualization interface and its Body Elec-
ments or performer-substitutes to their sible to incorporate real-time interac-tric software running on the IRIS. The project was
funded by the Prix Villa Medicis and has been
being utilized as co-creators/collabora- tion between live performance and com-shown in video form at various exhibits in the
tors in the production of musical com- puter, and-in the case of certain types United States and Europe and on French and G
man television. The final VR version has not been
positions. Again, it is critical to recog- of sound installations-distinctions be-
completed.
nize that the use of technology in and of tween audience and performer are
itself does not confer, much less guaran- blurred. 2. Masks of Eternity and other electronic works by
the composer are included on Palaces of Memory,
The radical expansion of technologi-
tee, artistic merit. What it does do is to Electro-Acoustic Music by Diane Thome (Baton Rouge,
open up vast new possibilities for thecal applications to the arts forces usLA:
toCentaur, 1994) compact disc CRC229.
creation and exploration of unchartedconfront long-held assumptions about 3. Among composers whose music explores spectral
compositional worlds. the distinctions between composer, per-
composition areJohn Chowning,Jonathan Harvey,

7home, Reflections on Collaborative Process 31

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Richard Karpen, Paul Lansky, Tristan Murail,Jean- Dodge, Charles. Computer Music: Synthesis, Composi- spectizes on Contemporary Muisic 7heo7r (New York:
Claude Risset, Kaija Saariaho and Barry Truax. tion and Performance (New York, NY: Schirmer W. W. Norton, 1972) pp. 209-213.
Books, 1985).
4. Trevor Wishart, "Computer Music and Post-Mod- Rowe, Robert. Interactive Music Systems: Machine Lis-
ernism," Sonic Arts Network Journal 5 (June 1991) p. 5. Howe, Htubert. Electronic Music Synthesis: Concepts, Fh- tening and Composing (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
cilities, 'echniques (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975). 1992).
5. Marcel Protst, 7he Maxims of Marcel Proust (New
York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1948) p. 181. Mathews, M.V. The Technology of Computer Music Smith, J.O. "Viewpoints on the History of Digital
(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1969). Synthesis," Proceedings of the 1991 International Com-
puter Music Conference (San Francisco, CA: Interna-
Bibliography Randall,J. K. "Three Lecttures to Scientists," Perspec- tional Computer Music Association, 1991) pp. 1-10.
tives of New Music 5, No. 2, 124-140 (1967).
Babbitt, Milton. "Twelve-tone Rhythmic Structure
and the Electronic Medium," Perspectives of New Mu- Randall, J.K. "Operations on Wave Forms," in
siC 1, No. 1,49-77 (1962). Boretz, Benjamin, arnd Cone, Edward T., eds., Per-

32 Thome, Reflections on Collaborative Process

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