lectures & workshop on algorithmic music composition and harmony

— lecture I — 

lucie nezri, 'rational minds trying to find their own limits: the example of approximation pieces'

In this presentation, Lucie Nezri will discuss 'Approximating Pi' by Clarence Barlow and 'Approximating Omega' by Michael Winter. Both works illustrate a specific take on how a composer may build a musical edifice from mathematical concepts — a point of junction between computability theory, programming, and considerations for harmony. From my perspective and as a listener, the two pieces form a particular branch of computer music: one that presents the partial computation of complex numbers as a musical process, but that is not exclusively (if not at all) didactic, nor based on the mere perception of sound and harmony. Instead, 'Approximating Pi' and 'Approximating Omega' seem to lie somewhere in between.

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— lecture II — 

michael winter, 'A few more thoughts on modulations in harmonic space'

In this talk, Michael Winter will give a brief overview of the concept of harmonic distance in harmonic space followed by novel example of modulations in harmonics space in the work of James Tenney and Larry Polansky. Michael will conclude with more recent work of his own and Cat Lamb's in which modulations in harmonic space are reconciled with melodic/chromatic movement in pitch space.

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discussions mediated and translated by ernests vilsons

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