Reading Response No. 4

Nancy Rico-Mineros

Principle 4.3: "Build Complexity As The Sum Of Simple Elements."

As I am wrapping up my final milestone, this week I've been taking the time to figure out what I want the music to be. The limitations of writing music for a computer are endless. Despite the endless limitations, I couldn't help but finding myself in a creative block where I couldn't find myself being able to program any music to my visualizer. I am no stranger to writing music - I have a degree in music, but still I find myself trying to compose a simple accompaniment to. my visualizer.

The first thought that came to mind was programming a rendition of Jupiter by Gustav Holts given that it was the music I used to demonstrate my first milestone, however it felt wrong. In Principle 4.5 of Artful Design, Ge states that you should:

Design Things With A Computer That Would Not Be Possible Without!"

He continues on to mention how you should create something novel rather than copying, digitizing, or emulating something that exists. I thought about Principle 3.5: "Building Complexity From Simplicity" from the previous readings. I feel that the same principles that are used when it comes to visual design can be applied for sound design. With nothing yet composed I started at the most simplest form, a saw wave.

Building to this simple saw wave, I began seeing the music take shape and form. What became one line of code multiplied and what once was a saw wave turned into 13 voices of distinct frequencies coming in at different times. Slowly, I saw my piece take form and shape. I think back to one of my favorite artist, Steve Roden. His most notable works "Forms of Paper" was a sound work created using electronically manipulated sounds of paper being rubbed, scrapped, and ripped. The simple action of manipulating paper turned into a complex soundscape. Similarly, composer Ryoji Ikeda created his album Dataplex by using raw computer data. These examples echos back to principle 4.3. Complexity is created by simple elements. This has informed the way I create computer music - starting off with something simple and building upon that, experimenting with the possibilities of what a computer can create.