Hi Alex (and all)--
> So what I'm aiming for now is to be able to start with a blank text
> editor and write code from scratch during the performance. Has
> anyone tried this approach yet?
I've been doing some from-scratch music performance with Squeak (
http://squeak.org ). It's an interesting question where to draw the line
between behavior that is "built-in" or "premeditated". :) Squeak uses a
virtual machine that runs an "object memory", where almost all of the
actual behavior lives. How much to include in the object memory at the
beginning of the performance is a tricky issue. Including some way to
enter code, for example, is probably fair game. :) Support for feeding
samples to a D/A converter is probably okay, too. I've also allowed
myself a couple of libraries I wrote for streaming audio and MIDI events
from one machine to another.
At the minimalist extreme, I've been working on making the virtual
machine and object memory absolutely as small as possible but still able
to start and extend itself. I think that could afford interesting
opportunities for employing many connected machines in a performance (a
sort of orchestra).
Your point about frozen performances also struck a chord with me... in
addition to being changeable during performance, Squeak can make perfect
snapshots of a running object memory, for resumption later (e.g., on a
different machine, with a different host operating system).
More rambling thoughts for you... I'm glad I found you folks! :)
-C
--
Craig Latta
improvisational musical informaticist
craig_at_netjam.org
www.netjam.org
[|] Proceed for Truth!
Received on Thu Jul 08 2004 - 07:11:08 BST