On 22/02/2008, Andrew Sorensen <andrew_at_moso.com.au> wrote:
> Yes, exactly, but it is important not to let the process become more
> important than the result. Don't think I'm arguing for perfect performances
> here, I certainly don't mean to suggest that, but if you are going to have a
> programming competition then make it about programming.
>
In that case we agree completely, especially your last sentence.
I was also commenting on the competition idea. Let me put it this way. I
> love C code obfuscation competitions as much as the next hacker - but that
> is the point of the competition - to obfuscate C code. What exactly is the
> point of an audio LiveCoding competition if not to produce the best possible
> sonic result. If we can agree on that then why not use whatever you like -
> sound files, libraries whatever. And then of course who's to judge the best
> music ... and it just goes downhill from here. Of course you could run a
> "who can live code the best physical model oboe algorithm from scratch" but
> this is an engineering task, not a musical task.
>
Still, I would loudly applaud if somebody would live-code a oboe :¬). I
think we'd all be in big trouble if we took livecoding competitions too
seriously. It's a nice format for demonstrating (sharing) tricks or showing
off, it's interesting to perform music in a different way and context and I
strongly suspect some of the audience members were in it because it looked
like a amusing parlour trick.
I don't think it makes sense as a serious way to compare skills in MAX v.s.
Fluxus v.s SC vs Forth vs ..... It's fun though.
The one thing I think we can say is that if two performers square off in
multiple rounds they will know amongst eachother who "won", regardless of
the audience. I think that's the underlying mechanism is MC-ing contests,
dueling guitar solos, etc. The audience will likely pick up on this.
That would be the way to go for serious competition if that was desired, I
think. Personally I'd rather play duets between wildly different systems as
that would force one to adapt to a largely unknown new context which is
where I think livecoding has the best chance to shine compared to other ways
of performing. I do think there's a lot of merit to Marcel's points on
competition (which I'm sure he will elaborate on in due time) but there are
downsides to competition as well.
> p.s. Here's another live coding download for you (pretty big though 77M).
>
> You can use VLC if you're on Linux/Windows
> http://homepage.mac.com/digego/just_for_fun.mov
>
>
Looks lovely at first glance, will look in more depth later. Thanks!
Yours,
Kas.
Received on Fri Feb 22 2008 - 01:52:03 GMT