IMPACT Conference 2016

Figure is a new application which allows digital scores or instructions to be delivered to individual performers via a networked screen interface encouraging a new way to arrange and direct ensembles in realtime.

Notated music is often pre written, rehearsed and played in a very similar way each performance. There is a composer that writes the music, a conductor who administers that music, and performers who execute it. The musical outcome is often quite predictable and there is not a large amount of "freedom" granted to the performers in the moment. It is something of a top-down hierarchy of organization. On the other hand, purely "freely" improvised music involves a more evenly distributed responsibility in which each citizen of a musical ensemble becomes the conductor, composer, and performer at the same time. The compositional possibilities between these two extremes become more intriguing than ever by incorporating networked and screen based strategies for composition and education.