Algorave

In 2011 the duo Alex McLean of Slub and Nick Collins delivered the first “live coding” music festival, that became known by the new coined word “algorave” (from an algorithm and rave). The event was the first of its kind in London, UK, and in a way it was a technological evolution of the Rave subculture, during which people danced to music generated from algorithms. Djs projected their computer screens and used lived coding techniques, so that the audience could dance, while watching the code being manipulated.

What was this exactly, a performing art or an evolution of technological music making?

Alex McLean is the creator of Tidal Cycles, the main program live coders use to make music. Djs report that the focus was on people enjoying dancing and listening to the music, however, it takes a software engineering knowledge to type the code, while the audience isn’t required to understand what is displayed on screen.

Is there something missing here? Are we heading toward a misinterpretation of the language of music itself or, on the contrary, this could be seen as a natural consequence of a more digitalized approach to our daily life, that is slowly shaping the culture of tomorrow?

The English musician, Brian Eno, who is world-wide renewed for his pioneering contribution to music, and self-describes himself as a “non-musician”, in 1970 established a randomized approach to musical practice, which was rather conceptual and involved generating electronic dance music with algorithms. Eno influenced the techno culture of the ‘90s, which evolved and turned into a political protest, when the Government prohibited raves describing them as gatherings where music, (defined as a succession of repetitive beats) is played. The Anti EP, and more precisely the track “flutter”, was, therefore, a protest against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

Hence, in the same year, two designers at Microsoft contacted Brian Eno, asking to compose music for the Windows 95 project. Mark Malamud and Erik Gavriluk commissioned Eno the “The Microsoft Sound”, that had to be 3 14 seconds long, and as they said, in an interview with Joel Selvin in the San Francisco Chronicle: “a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional”.

When comparing the Algorave to a more traditional culture of popular music, many are the elements that seem to be left out from the artistic production. No education of instrument play is required, as well as a previous knowledge of music composition. Still, this conceptual approach to music making embraces contemporary culture.

“Do you think that media-rich technology is the answer for music education, whether in a curricular sense or in self-directed, informal learning? Or do you think that technology is developing so fast that we should be more conservative in our uptake of it – and even then, what technology do you think is worth investing in, if any?

In 2017 an article published on the British journal “The Guardian” titles: ‘We could build something revolutionary’: how tech set underground music free. 

A provocative reflection may then consider the cultural role played by Institutes such as the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul, as opposed to Computers Companies. Furthermore, the very same performances of both Afghanistan National Institute of Music and the Algorave Festival may be considered as two forms of social action, using the language of music to pursue freedom.

As Director of A.N.I.M., Ahmad Sarmas, says in his interview with Sydney University Dr. James Humberstone: “without cultural diversity, we shouldn’t say that all right, we’re building a civil society. What kind of civil society are we building if an Afghan child or an Afghan will be deprived of learning Western classical music or playing jazz or not being allowed to learn its own musical culture. Or not being allowed or unable to get engaged in cultural dialogue to any means that can be understandable to the wider community.”

What are the opportunities and perils of artist devoting their work intentionally to a humanitarian cause, for instance, or to addressing political oppression in the context of the wider education?

Hence, Francis Xavier, founder member of the Motorik record label, when interviewed by Dr Humberstone, said he didn’t get influenced by a guitar first, instead he was intrigued by the engineering side of the musical composition, being a reader of UK Magazine Music Technology. Francis was also influenced by “synthetic drums and synthetic machines, and just the creation of noises to make a pop song” underling how there is an EQ component, when learning music, and that the language must resonates with oneself, in order to be engaging and attract the student’s interest. He also pointed out how the role of a Dj is often misinterpreted, leading to the wrong assumption that the person qualifies only in changing songs for the audience.

And then again, as Lecturer of Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Western Sydney University andmusic educator Dr. Wendy Brooks quiet rightly pinpointed in her PhD study, there is a wrong age associated with the initial use of technologies, that is internationally agreed. So, how can we “free” music of whatever genre, if we are constrained by a wise use of media technology? Moreover, how may traditional studies for composition equally coexist with a conceptual improvisation within academic institutes?

In Francis Xavier’s opinion, “to disregard electronic music, to do that would be quite a sin, because it’s so, you could use a technology to be more immediate, and you want people to just grab hold of it straight away, and have interest. And I think that’s where music should head, I mean, I think teachers should be more open to the current use of technology to teach people in music.”

As long as music is performed and conduits the transmission of social values, I guess both “languages” can be presented as 2 faces, that complete each-other by tracing a solid fil-rouge between cultural heritage and innovation. And perhaps the notion that, the act of imagining a different reality is the precursor of positive social change.

Elena Arzani


Sources:

https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/16150/1/what-on-earth-is-livecoding

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/22/we-could-build-something-revolutionary-how-tech-set-underground-music-free

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/part/V/crossheading/powers-in-relation-to-raves

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/30/is-algorave-the-future-of-dance-music-sheffield-algomech-festival

“Every something is an echo of nothing” – John Cage

The Place of Music in 21st Century Education (University of Sidney)

While continuing my professional training and research in the world of Music, I am presently reflecting on John Cage’s quote:

“I believe that the use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the use of electrical instruments which will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard.” – John Cage (1961), “The Future of Music: Credo”, in SILENCE 3-4.

Was John Cage right? If not, do you think he will be right? Are “electrical instruments” as valid and important music-making instruments as acoustic instruments such as a violin, a piano, a guitar, or a trombone?

Pondering on John Cage’s quote, Vygotsky’s theory of “thick” as opposed to “thin” experience suddenly approach my mind. Will electrical instruments be able to guarantee the qualities and characteristics of a “thick experience”, reflecting on the complexity of the human being as opposed to the “thin” concept of sensory experience, while making available the whole spectrum of sounds than can be ever conceived?

Even though my provocation may not appear to be dramatically related to Mr Cage’s theory, I believe the impact of the electronic sound discovery will surely affect human conditions and the way a person experience the musical experience as well as the artist’s performance. The dichotomy between new and old ways of producing sounds and music, may then lead to a wider reflection having social and anthropological implications.

The Italian political philosopher, Giovan Battista Vico (1668-1744) was the first expositor of the fundamentals of social science and of semiotics and became particularly important for a few ideas he introduced into Western philosophy, for his theory that, historically, civilizations cycle through three periods, from one governed by imagination, superstition, and custom to one governed by rational understanding, after which things always cycle around again.

Furthermore, I would argue that present times are shaped by increasing research on Technologies as well as Artificial Intelligence. Their implementation tell and will be telling, very much about our culture, and behaviours. Following Mr Vico’s theories, I believe that technological innovations will be carried on as far as a point of “saturation” will be reached. However, the discoveries will provide us all with a qualitative experience that will stimulate a multitude of human feelings, among which the “nostalgia”. The learning curve will tell a different story and most probably will bounce back the electronics renewing a sense of belonging to the past and the old ways in which instruments were played and designed. Electronic instruments will then cohexist with classical ones, that perhaps will be used only in small groups of communities, yet they won’t abandoned. 

Elena Arzani

www.elenarzani.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58XjuGAla5U

EA versus AE

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”

― Albert Einstein

When Albert Einstein expressed those lines, he was totally unaware that many years later, someone born with the same capital letters, would have reflect not only his name, but also his attitude towards life and knowledge, just like a mirror. Indeed, if I were not a creative mind, most probably I’d be a physician inspired by the ancient knowledge and wisdom of the Greek world…

Hello everyone, I am Elena Arzani, your Captain on this cultural journey, and I welcome you onboard!

I am an Italian multiPod creative person, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and Master of Arts in Design Studies, with a PgCert in Academic Practice in Arts, Design, and Communication. I attended the MA in Design Studies at Central St. Martin’s College of Arts and Design, and I’ve been  practicing internationally as Art Director, Photographer and Editor, for over 25 years. More recently I have become Associate Lecturer at University of the Arts London, collaborating with the Master course in Culture, Criticism, and Curation at CSM, and the Master in Graphic Branding and Identity at LCC, London.

After having made a few intervention in several academic courses, embedding the study of music culture within in the UAL course curricula. I was meant to become a PhD researcher this year, further developing my academic inquiry on sound landscapes in Academic Institutes, but plans have gone astray due to the pandemic. I am presently looking for financial support, investors and partners, that may hopefully allow me to pursue my objectives in 2021.

My background in strongly informed by creative communications, new media and contemporary arts, the industry of fashion, publishing houses, music and advertising. In the past I developed a pioneering project on Art in (health) Therapy combined with new technologies. This continues to be a great interest of mine. I publish on exhibitions of modern and contemporary arts, cinema, book and music reviews, and I interview people from the star system.  I am currently working on a book on contemporary photography, while completing my research project in Musicology.

Elena Arzani