Uploaded August 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Desmond Clarke discusses his approach to automation in composition and performance via the use of generated video scores in Pure Data

desmondclarke.com
electricspring.co.uk
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cerenem/projects/creativecodinglab

Presented at the Creative Coding Symposium at Electric Spring 2019

Recorded and edited by Sam Gillies


// Abstract

Almost all of the music I make involves coding, but a lot of it doesn't involve any electronic sound in performance. Sometimes the coding is all tucked away inside the notes, and sometimes it spills out onto the stage. In this talk I'll explore my own approach to music (and) programming by playing and discussing a number of recent works, most significantly Gruppenspiel, a work for three improvising soloists, large improvising ensemble and live- generated video score. I'll be talking about the technical challenges I've experienced, the composition and performance tools I've built in pure-data/GEM, and more generally about (my view on) the relationship between systematic and "free" composition. I'll also touch on on prototyping, technology in performance, and "agile" art.


// Bio

Desmond Clarke is a composer, educator and performer, in roughly that order. Over the past few years his music has become increasingly dominated by computer-aided process, despite being primarily acoustic. He's worked in a lot of different spheres, from pieces for symphony orchestra to AV installations, via pieces for instruments, computers and improvisers.