Abstracts Category : Other

Dialogic coding: a performance practice for co-creative computer improvisation

by Jonas Frederick Hummel

This research project explores Dialogic Coding a performancepractice situated within the field of live computer music which workstowards a dialogic relationship with the computer as a programmablemusical instrument.The writing articulates a Practice-as-Research (PaR) inquiry thatplaces my practice within specific contextual, analytical andphilosophical frameworks. The point of departure is the assumptionthat following the concept of dialogue a more reflexive way ofperforming music with a computer becomes possible. This approachmay produce innovative results through transformations of musicalideas, embodied interactions as well as the performer's self-conceptwithin a situation of improvised group performance. Dialogic Codingemploys the concept of nontriviality to create an independent but atthe same time programmable musical agent the apparatus whichso becomes a co-creator of the improvised music.As a context for Dialogic Coding practice serve other dialogic formsof music making such as free improvised music as well as dynamicperformances of programming found in live coding practice. Adialogic approach in music performance is based on listening and theability to speak one's voice in response to the situation. Here,listening is understood beyond the auditory domain on the level ofabstract thinking and physical interaction (interface affordance).This research presents a first-hand account of a computerperformance praxis and thus makes a contribution to academicknowledge. For this it makes some implicit or tacit 'knowings'contained in the practice accessible for an outside communitythrough this writing. Dialogic Coding practice was developed throughparticipating in free improvised music 'sessions' with other musiciansas well as composing pieces in program code with which I thenperformed live (solo and group). This writing contextualizes thedeveloped practice in a historic lineage, discusses it within theconceptual framework of dialogism and delineated how a dialogicapproach fosters creativity, learning, surprise and flow. As aconclusion I summarise the ethical dimension of Dialogic Coding as aform of human-computer interaction (HCI).