Process Music and Indeterminacy Explorations
25th November 2021
In week 5 we have been exploring Process Music, Generative Music & Algorithmic Music which has been really interesting to grasp an understanding of and begin to work on applying the relevant techniques in my own projects to better that understanding. An example of Process Music could be to play a chord and derive a chord sequence by changing only a single note from the previous chord for each subsequent chord.
Edwards (2011) “Music composition has always been guided by the composer’s own computational thinking, sometimes even more than by traditional understanding of inspiration.”
I think that what Edwards is implying with this statement is that even when we are creating music or sound in a creative manner there is still an element of process at play in that the human mind is itself a computer restrained in some sense by computational methods of thinking, this shows how Edwards views creativity differently to most people.
Process Music was first coined as a phrase in Steve Reich’s 1968 manifesto ‘Music as a gradual process’ which is considered a reactionary piece against ‘modern’ music. Steve Reich believed that the process behind the piece should be apparent in the music. Reich created a piece of music called clapping music which showcases shifting rhythm, he also created ‘Piano Phase’ which showcases the concept of Process Music.
I think the concept of handing over control of a composition to an external decision maker whether that be a process, AI or any form of generative music is very interesting to better understand as it enters a philosophical school of thought when crossing over into attempting to understand what sound as art really is, as well as using elements of these different techniques such as process and generative music can be an obviously very useful tool for creating in different ways and also for specifically generating musical material which can then be altered and cherry picked by the composer into something which can be perceived as a cohesive piece of music, as well as the option of making something so experimental that it loses all sense of cohesion.
Its also interesting to consider that the audience for a piece of music or sound may have no awareness of the intentions of the processes or even of the process itself behind the creation of the sound which would alter their perception of it - for example some people may take a disliking to process music and by knowing that something they are about to listen to is just that they may decide they do not even want to listen at all - it could also simply alter the mode of listening for the audience.
