[microsound] musical structure

[Justin Glenn Smith]

Kim Cascone wrote:
> I'm gathering some info for a lecture I'm giving about structure in
> laptop music (read: electro-acoustic, noise, microsound, etc).
> 
> What sorts of structure do people use in creating their work?
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For me, a large part of structuring a piece is the composition of the
software, in csound, supercollider, or puredata. I consider these the
languages I use to construct the programs I am using, the program itself
is something I produce using one or more of these. There are very few
programs I have used for performing more than one composition. The
challenge is to construct something that is limited enough to give it a
particular character, and general enough so that I am actually using the
software in the live setting, and not just repeatedly pushing the button
labeled "next movement".

I like to use nonlinear and unpredictable algorithms with recursively
feedback generated data, so often I will have an overall shape
texturally in mind for each section of a piece I perform (usually
written out in pencil on paper in an idiosyncratic notation), which I
push the sounds my program is producing through.

Currently I am reading Xenakis' "Formalized Music", which I recommend to
anyone looking for compositional or programming ideas for electronic music.