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Fig. 7.3
A rough scale of
predictability. Traditional
acoustic instruments, giving
tacit, embodied knowledge,
have a one-to-one mapping
from physical actions to
acoustic events. On the
top
of
the scale, instruments with
only one degree of freedom
(velocity or pitch) have
limited variance. On the
bottom
of the scale,
generative systems can
produce an unlimited
autonomous response to
action, resulting in a more
opaque experience. Human
collaborators, though
sometimes predictable, are
capable of effecting a radical
transformation of the
interaction rules
be followed and investigated. He recounts a tale in which Monk, frustrated with
an improvised performance, complained that he had “made all the wrong mistakes”
(Prévost
2004
)—indicating the existence and appeal of
correct mistakes
, which may
aid us in this creative search.
To follow this path intentionally, then, we are effectively designing for
serendip-
ity
(André et al.
2009
, van Andel
1994
): tacitly encouraging or inducing “correct
mistakes” as a route to unforeseen discoveries and new creative terrain; introduc-
ing “disorder”, as John Cage ordained (Cage
1968
). One piece of generative music
software that exploits these characteristics is Intermorphic's
Noatikl
.
6
This system
relies heavily on constrained stochastic choice in selecting musical values and is ad-
vertised as a tool to “generate new ideas” and “break composer's block” (Cole and
Cole
2008
), providing an explicit use of aleatoric processes as a way of developing
unexpected alternatives and jolting composers out of familiar habits and patterns.
A given creative act can generate a class of output along a scale of predictability
as illustrated in Fig.
7.3
. We may have complete, trained control over our actions,
or we may surrender some control to chance. This surrender may be accidental (we
slip and stumble) or intentional (we may use automatic writing, heavy air notes, or
chance processes). Both these kinds of accident—intentional accidents and acciden-
tal accidents—can be retrospectively incorporated into the work.
