Wednesday 6 November 2019

Algorave!

As part of the Algorithmic Art Season 2019, we held an Algorave at the Fish Factory Arts Space, Penryn.



Algorave? Live Coding?

At a typical rave, a DJ selected pre-recorded music to play. At a live music performance, musicians play instruments live for an audience.

There is something magical and immediate about being in the presence of a real musician playing an instrument. It is a performance of the moment, a performance that is not like anything that happened before, or will happen again.

And a key part of the magic is that the musician is using skill, reacting to the instrument and the audience, and the music is subtly infused with the particular mood and state of the mind of the musician at that time. It is a very personal experience.

Sound isn't just created by pianos and violins, it can be created digitally with a computer. And a musician can instruct a computer to to synthesise and arrange sounds to make music. Those instructions are in a computer programming language, and the act of writing those instructions is often called coding.


Live-coding is writing code in the moment, with effects that are to be experienced immediately. So live-coding music is similar to a musician performing live with a violin or piano.

And when live-coding musicians get together and perform for an audience - it can be an algorave!


Fish Factory Art Studios

On the evening we gathered at the Fish Factory Art Studios in Penryn and experienced sets from Dave Griffiths, a pioneer of the algorave scene, Adam Russell and Barnaby Fryer.

Each set was very different in both musical style and also the software being used to create music.

Barnaby Fyrer orchestrated a rich and interesting soundscape that had the audience captivated and eager to hear what he was going to do next:



Adam Russell weaved a hypnotic and powerful soundscape threaded powerfully with a very relevant political speech.



Dave Griffiths performed the finale, a lively vibrant set using software he had written almost entirely himself. The interface itself is visual in showing what is being played, as well as being the means of control and composition.



Dr Norah Lorway is also a pioneer of the algorave movement, but sadly was unable to join us at this particular evening. You can hear her set, titled, This Is How The World Will End, from her previous algorave here - it is particularly sublime:


Thoughts

Algorithmic art is about creating art, in all its forms, from primarily logical or mathematical processes. Live coding music is very much in this tradition, and that's why we wanted to showcase this form of art as part of the Algorithmic Art Season.

We were very lucky to have such talented musicians share their passion with us. Everyone found the performances captivating, not only because there was a visual element accompanying the music, but because being in the presence of live performing musicians is always an immediate and personal experience.

I was particularly impressed with how everyone came together, the musicians and Rose's team at the studios, to make this wonderful evening happen, most of it with last minute changes of plan.


There was a a lot of interest and questions during and after the session, and I was encouraged that people wanted to hold algorave evenings again!


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