>>From Alex McLean a.mclean_at_leeds.ac.uk and Roger Dean roger.dean_at_uws.edu.au
Dear Colleagues,
We are happy to share the news that we have had our proposal for the Oxford Handbook on Algorithmic Music accepted. Before we start approaching authors to contribute chapters, we are keen to canvas opinions within our communities that may diverge from or complement our present ideas. The purpose of this mail is to invite such comments, preferably by 25th July 2014, when we will move to the next stage.
First, a couple of motivational quotes:
‘… computers will be able to write better poems than we can. So we must now add to logopoeia, phanopeia and melopoeia: algorhythmia.’
‘The job of poetry is not to get syntax back in the corral but to follow its wild journey into the unchained’.
Charles Bernstein Recalculating (2013, pp. 6, 86, Kindle Edition).
‘.. at the same time that narratives of use are converted by technology into algorithmic structures, these structures are themselves put to use within the ongoing activities of inhabitants, and through the stories of this use they are
reincorporated into the field of effective action within which all life is lived.’
Tim Ingold, Being Alive (20, pp. 62, 2011)
Perhaps the above gets across our interest in how algorithms extend our creative reach, and also the cultural processes which bring them back into the human realm.
We are particularly interested to receive your thoughts on the conceptual arena in which algorithmic music operates (see general issues below); and any specific suggestions you might have on individual topics that merit coverage (see preliminary sectional organisation below) and which you think we may not have considered. In line with policy of this book series, this is not intended as a call for people to propose themselves as contributors; rather it is a call for ideas that may help us to make the book as far-reaching and useful in its coverage as we can. Nevertheless, if you suggest a topic, please feel free to suggest potential authors. Please email us directly, or if you prefer, open up a broader public discussion on the present forum, which we would be happy to follow.
GENERAL ISSUES.
The concept of algorithm which we propose to use will have a wide range, though the majority of the book will focus on computational algorithms. Put simply, it may range between a dictionary definition of an algorithm and of a heuristic. It will take a historical perspective, respect the arithmetic origins, and discuss both analogue and digital processes. Just as provocation points we abstract these two terms from the Apple dictionary:
Algorithm: a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
Heuristic: (a means of) enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves.
We plan to open the book with a chapter with working title “Algorithmic art: Algorithmic Music”, providing historical and cross-arts background and perspective (from Gertrude Stein and George Brecht, to Stockhausen, Xenakis and live coding). After this there will be about 25 in depth chapters focusing largely on algorithmic music and computational approaches, and many shorter contributions by those reflecting on their own algorithmic music practice.
The book will include some emphasis on computational creativity, and relationships with perception, cognition and cognitive modeling, as well as cultural issues, critical theory, and practical detail of how algorithmic music is made. It will explore algorithmic work in terms of generative processes and outcomes that are fixed or variable, and notated and executed via a range of media including physical objects; movement; image; word; sound; mathematics/statistics; and of course programming languages.
SECTIONAL ORGANISATION
The working titles for book sections are “Grounding algorithmic music”, “What can Algorithms in Music do?”, “Purposes of Algorithms for the Music Maker”, and “Algorithmic culture”. Our idea is to provide a firm basis for notions of algorithms in music, then shift focus from the algorithm, to the musician, and to the place of algorithms in culture. In addition we will interleave “Perspectives on Practice” chapters, which will provide the opportunity for selected practitioners to reflect upon their own work. Appendices will include a substantial discography.
Thanks very much for your attention, and we look forward to any comments you may have on the above.
Best wishes,
Roger Dean and Alex McLean
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Received on Fri Jul 11 2014 - 12:00:28 BST