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Simple Actions​/​Rules of Compossibility

from The Theory of Impossible Melody (ART 1004, 1989) by Larry Polansky

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Simple Actions for (Daniel Kelley)...was first written as an improvisation for solo performer and computer. This realization adds a poet. The HMSL program is based on Minsky's "society of mind" idea: complex intelligences are often the result of the interaction of simple individual intelligences ("agents") that share a common informational terrain. In this piece, simple musical behaviors ("glissandi", beeps," various timbral changes, melodies, and modifications of signal processing parameters) interact with each other in a complex musical terrain. The HMSL program allows the performer to activate, deactivate, and shape the behavior of hundreds of these musical "critters." The performer cannot control the details of any moment, but interacts with the environment to produce large scale changes.

After performing this piece as a solo for some years, I added software to incorporate the voice of Australian poet, composer and artist Chris Mann. The text of "Rultes of Compossibility" is from his larger work "Tuesday". Mann's voice serves as one of the musical "actions" - his pitch and loudness interact with the other processes.

Technical notes: Simple Actions/Rules.. was premiered in Melbourne, Australia in August 1989 by the Astra Choir, John McCaughey director. The piece uses Amiga local sound as well as special MIDI system-exclusive software written in HMSL for real-time control of a Yamaha FB01 synthesizer (thanks to Carter Scholz for his advice) and similar software for the Roland DEP-5 signal processor.

credits

from The Theory of Impossible Melody (ART 1004, 1989), released December 24, 1989
Chris Mann, co-composer
Larry Polansky, live computer
Chris Mann, voice
Recorded by Jeanne Parson and Andreas Mniestris, live with no overdubbing, at the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music in October 1989

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Artifact Recordings San Francisco, California

ARTIFACT RECORDINGS is a project of Ubu, Incorporated, an artist-run, non-profit organization supporting experimental and electronic music based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our download and compact disk series is dedicated to representing a living experimental music tradition that continues to thrive in the cracks between the commercial, academic and classical music establishments. ... more

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