Generative Music relies on a system or process to create a continually evolving and ever-changing piece of music. Unlike a live performance or recorded music, Generative Music is never the same. Using software and technology as paintbrushes, the artist is able to create his own sounds and then let them free within pre-set parameters. The process is similar to a craftsperson creating a wind chime so that he can hear music. The craftsperson knows that he will only be able to control the type of material and how thick it is and how many chimes there will be on the finished piece. Such construction will directly affect the sounds that will emanate from the wind chime, but beyond this he will have no more control. Once the piece is finished, the craftsperson must hang it in the wind for unpredictable sounds to emerge as the wind blows.
As I scanned a few articles on this topic, I began to wonder more and more about how we will experience music in the future. One article pointed out that because generative music is ever changing it cannot be recorded and therefore copyrighted. What will the affect of this be?
I am also very curious about generative music being brought into more public spaces like Brian Eno’s 1975 project, “Music for Airports”. I am specifically interested in bringing such music into a hospital environment where people lay staring at white walls for hours on end without much stimulation except for the static and whirr of hospital machines and the un-rejuvenating noise of the television. Last year, I took part in a one month intensive class with Shands Arts in Medicine that looked at using the Arts in a hospital setting to foster healing in patients. I saw music in particular to be very powerful. One woman who had been in a lot of pain and not able to fall asleep, fell asleep within 10 minutes of three people performing live music right by her bedside. I even watched the monitor that was hooked up to her change to a more relaxing state right before my eyes! As part of this class, we were also lead through a musical journey in which we all played various instruments at different intervals with our eyes closed. The process took about 10 minutes. It brought us into another state and when we finally opened our eyes again, we came out of this musical journey refreshed. So, the healing qualities of music are undeniable.
The Terry Riley video that is posted on this blog talks about the possibilities that music opens up for a person to more fully realize himself. Riley says that “music carries a powerful message about who we are”. I think that is true not only on a personal level, but can also be applied to the larger society. If music has this power, then incorporating its effects into the larger society should be something we aim for. We should be including the positive and healing aspects of music into our everyday lives in the different public spaces that we interact within.
The idea of music as including healing and spirituality makes me wonder what sounds exactly affect one’s mind in such a way as to cause this mental shift. What makes one noise grating and another uplifting? The sounds of the sitar have a very calming effect on me so I’d like to find out why that is so.
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