Army of Darkness. A Generative Sound Installation by Gullibloon :: December 16-18, 2010 :: Nivell Zero / Fundació Suñol, Rosselló, 240, Barcelona.

Army of Darkness is a generative sound installation, in which four custom-programmed minirobots act as instrumentalists, playing electric guitars and basses. The robots move freely in a room with a network of black lines laid out on the floor. They are programmed to follow the lines and to find their way back on course in case of going off track. On some special points of interest, guitars and basses are placed upside down so that the robots, prepared with a kind of plectrum, are able to play the instruments by driving underneath them. Sensors monitor these points and initiate a plucking algorithm. Each robot tries to play a guitar or bass for a certain amount of time and moves on afterwards. Continue reading

Algorithmic and Systems Music. An Introductory Seminar to Generative Systems as Applied to Art and Music in Particular :: December 17-19, 2010 :: Hangar, Passatge del Marquès de Santa Isabel, 40, Barcelona.

Over the past 30 years, and especially during the past decade, several environments and programming languages have been developed leading to a greater interest in that which is often called generative art, which – among other things – proposes an approach to the algorithm as a tool of creation. These generative practices often raise interesting questions about the nature of the creative act, blurring the essence of apparently clear concepts such as authorship, tool, work or process.

This seminar will provide a historical overview, from antiquity to the computer age, on the use of algorithms and rules to generate sound and musical pieces. Continue reading

Composing with Process: Perspectives on Generative and Systems Music 2.2: Marcus Schmickler and EVOL:

Generative music is a term used to describe music which has been composed using a set of rules or system. This series of six episodes explores — written and edited by Mark Fell and Joe Gilmore for Radio Web MACBA (RWM) — generative approaches (including algorithmic, systems-based, formalised and procedural) to composition and performance primarily in the context of experimental technologies and music practices of the latter part of the 20th Century and examines the use of determinacy and indeterminacy in music and how these relate to issues around control, automation and artistic intention. Each episode of the series is accompanied by an additional programme, entitled ‘Exclusives’, featuring exclusive or unpublished sound pieces by leading sound artists and composers working in the field.

This show presents two contrasting generative works by German composer Marcus Schmickler and Catalan collective EVOL.

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