Jumping on the discussion (not a frequent poster, but I do follow), I must say I agree with Marco... but one question (kinda related, but at the same time isn't): what would consist, then, "improvisation" when using Pd?
I mean, if you consider *free* improvisation the only thing I can think of, in five seconds, is "live coding". However, if you think of an instrument there are also "pre-given" structures one must follow, that is, pitch range, playability, timbre and so on. Roughly, with traditional instruments (from western tradition) you can't go that far away from the 12-tone paradigm (of course, a few exceptions here and there with guys like Otomo Yoshihide for the guitar or Coltrane/Evan Parker for Saxophone), but then, again... what is *true *improvisation in the context of Pd, Max, whatever?
I'm asking because, like I said, I do agree with Marco - recombining patterns doesn't consist of improvisation for me as well... and if improvisation in that case consists of playing notes over the riffs and patterns, why use a gestural controller? Just for the sake of technology?
Such topic interests me a lot, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)
On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 1:43 PM, Marco Donnarumma devel@thesaddj.comwrote:
Ingo, thanks for your explanation, I think to understand how he's playing.
The movement looks to me secondary - it's more like a dance movement and not too much music control.
This might be a very personal take, but if movement is secondary in gestural control, why one uses gestural control at all? I believe that effective and ancillary gestures are what reinforce our perception of an instrument as a musical tool, rather than a mere "device". Imho many gestural controllers would benefit of a better focus on this aspect.
How would you play such melodic lines (like those jazz licks) - in time - simply with gestural control?
Setting an array of preset chords, triggering them with multiple switches, deploying a timeline which holds the trigger until the onset of the next beat or quarter, etc... I guess the list here could come up with many other methods. I'm not saying that's trivial, I only think that it's not the "future" as it is presented in the video.
How would you improvise on scales, pattern or harmonic structures? After all he's a jazz player calling his music "beat jazz".
What do you call improvisation in this case? How much is he improvising? I can imagine he's "improvising" with the melodic lines, but playing samples and presets chords doesn't match my own definition of improvisation.
cheers, M
-- Marco Donnarumma Independent New Media and Sonic Arts Professional, Performer, Instructor ACE, Sound Design MSc by Research (ongoing) The University of Edinburgh, UK
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