On 10 Jan 2007, at 12:35, alex wrote:
> On Wed, 2007-01-10 at 12:04 +0000, Dave Griffiths wrote:
>> It's not quite the same thing, but I think there maybe some
>> parallel with
>> normal coding practice here, the state of complete concentration
>> while
>> programming, having to be disengaged from the rest of the world,
>> losing
>> track of the time of day. This must be true of playing instruments
>> too?
>
> I think so.
But do you think there is a difference in that the instrumentalist,
when playing
with his/her ensamble/group, is extremely concentrated on the music
and not on the tool/instrument he/she is using when making the music?
The performer coding away on the computer has to get into the algorithm
and stop concentrating on the music while typing. It seems like an
oscillation
between being immersed in the music and the abstract machine.
This happens of course with instrumentalists as well, when for example
they feel that they're playing too low and go to the amplifier to
raise the volume.
But arguably it's not the fundamental mode of the performance.
I'm curious to hear about how all of you subjectively experience the
music
whilst coding in a live situation. I myself feel that I loose
connection with the
music when going into the code too much so I tend not to code too
much in
live situation although I can't resist sometimes. But I might be bad
at multitasking
or splitting the consciousness into both following the music and the
algorithm.
> It's worth stating that the biggest value of this practise clearly
> isn't
> in getting better at typing. I think it's more about developing a
> musical style.
Following the argument above, the biggest characteristic of the
musical style
of live-coding might be that the formal structure of the music is
dependent
upon how long it takes the coder to code a new theme/part. So the
instrument
building/designing becomes part of the aesthetic of the music.
I'm probably bullshitting a lot here, but hey
thor
Received on Wed Jan 10 2007 - 13:19:29 GMT