The Digital Computer as an Instrument of Musical Creation: 1957–1997

Colloquium Presentations 305 T H E A E S T H E T I C S O F T E C H N O L O G I C A L A R T THE DIGITAL COMPUTER AS AN INSTRUMENT OF MUSICAL CREATION: 1957–1997 Luc Rondeleux, Centre Audiovisuel d’Etudes Juridiques des Universités de Paris, 17, rue Saint Hippolyte, 75013 Paris, France. E-mail: . Computer music first emerged on the international scene 40 years ago. The growth of digital technology in the mid1950s reflected an important meeting of four fundamental fields of knowledge : acoustics and the description of physical data; hearing and the psychological data field of perception; sound synthesis and digital signal processing; and, lastly, musical normalization, an unlimited artistic field that remains impossible to define due to the need for constant development in musical theory. Those four fields appear to have benefited mutually from their respective advances [1]. Originating with the electrical production of sound and subsequently amplified by the arrival of the tape recorder and its spatial transcription capabilities, musical experimentation has become more and more technologically oriented . Immediately after the Second World War, electronic musical production —which resulted in musique concrète in France, elektronische Musik in Germany and “tape music” in the United States— demonstrated the importance of a definition of musicality. The confrontation with this new area obliged every composer to restructure the conception of his or her art. The introduction of digital sound synthesis by Max Mathews at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1957 [2]—which coincided with the start of experiments in computer music formalization (for example, Lejaren Hiller’s and Leonard Isaacson’s Illiac Suite of 1956 [3])—constitutes the most important technological breakthrough. The computer enabled composers to work concurrently on levels of macroformal structure and microscopic quality. This technological leap forward was particularly remarkable for the new scope of aesthetic inspiration it opened up. But computer-aided formalization has never produced a general definition of artistic structure. Nobody has been able to measure the quality of musical sounds, much less the aesthetic relevance of some musical constructions. The most important question has now become: “How does technological art function in the processes of perception?” Musical aesthetics have been extended into the investigation of music’s meaning [4]. Some statistical evaluations have translated this subjective perception into an algorithmic model grounded in the structure of tonality [5]. Mediocre results have suggested that the computer offers true functionality only when it can overshoot a simple sequential treatment and when it interacts with the composition. “Sound art” has subsequently become the most interesting practical application of a science devoted to the analysis and description of sound quality. This creative application is integral to most of the great computer compositions. These include : Jean-Claude Risset’s Computer Suite for Little Boy (1968) and Mutations (1969); John Chowning’s Sabelithe (1971) and Turenas (1972); and, later, Tristan Murail’s Désintégrations (1982), which utilized “spectral” writing; and Philippe Manoury’s Jupiter (1986), which used “neo-serial” rules of composition. Such works were often the results of research in acoustics. The arrival of real-time synthesis and MIDI control in 1982 transformed the whole world of technological music. Regarding this utilization of digital technology, Répons (1981) by Pierre Boulez constitutes a turning point of the 1980s. With this work, technological investigation became a modeling instrument for new musical concepts. The aesthetic focus is now on controlling the principal parameters of musical perception (space, time and timbre recognition) in order to transform functionalities into compositional tools. José-Manuel Lopez-Lopez’s Lituus (1991) and Philippe Hurel’s Miniatures (1991/1993) explore some ideas of the possible interactions between instrumental timbre and macroformal innovation. As we approach the turn of the century , the emphasis is on widespread extension of the Internet and on-line synthesis algorithms. Those options are currently being demonstrated at universities in Berkeley, Stanford and San Diego . But major record companies are interested in using the Internet, and they have started with the diffusion of music videos. Shall we now see the commercial development of music via the Internet? Composers must resist this phenomenon and their tools must remain a vehicle...