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Scoring with Code: Composing with algorithmic notation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2014

Thor Magnusson
Thor Magnusson*
Affiliation:
Department of Music, School of Media, Film and Music, Silverstone 214, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RH, UK
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Computer code is a form of notational language. It prescribes actions to be carried out by the computer, often by systems called interpreters. When code is used to write music, we are therefore operating with programming language as a relatively new form of musical notation. Music is a time-based art form and the traditional musical score is a linear chronograph with instructions for an interpreter. Here code and traditional notation are somewhat at odds, since code is written as text, without any representational timeline. This can pose problems, for example for a composer who is working on a section in the middle of a long piece, but has to repeatedly run the code from the beginning or make temporary arrangements to solve this difficulty in the compositional process. In short: code does not come with a timeline but is rather the material used for building timelines. This article explores the context of creating linear ‘code scores’ in the area of musical notation. It presents the Threnoscope as an example of a system that implements both representational notation and a prescriptive code score.

Type
Articles
Information
Organised Sound , Volume 19 , Special Issue 3: Mediation: Notation and Communication in Electroacoustic Music Performance , December 2014 , pp. 268 - 275
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2014 

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