AIMC 2024 Music Submission Template

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DISEnsemble Live Performance

PubPub Link

https://aimc2024.pubpub.org/pub/bhreaz45/draft?access=2sa41fo0

Project Description

• Who we are:

  We are Indiana University, Indianapolis’s 30+ member DISEnsemble (Diverse Instrument Symphonic Ensemble). We make music out of non-musical stuff and non-musical people in collaboration with AI technologies. All instruments are welcome; all people are welcome. Digital people are extra-welcome. We have been in existence since 2018; we play shows, and we make videos. We laugh, we learn, we break things, and we build things. We specialize in AI music and musical AI. We strive to be what an orchestra would be if orchestras were suddenly a brand new thing, invented in the 21st century with no pre-existing history. We have an Emergency Musical Hologram (EMH) that improvises along with us, appearing as a ghostly human performer playing multiple instruments.

• If accepted (and if possible), we would like to perform two pieces (misophonia and past every exit), which involve AI and other interactive technologies at varying levels.

• Our pieces:

  • “paraphonia” was composed by Jason Palamara and choreographed by Maddie Korn, co- creator of the Telepod projection system used in DISEnsemble's Emergency Musical Hologram project. This piece was generated in collaboration with magenta, AVATAR, includes text by ChatGPT and voiceovers by Vocaloid. (9 minutes)

  • “past every exit” is an improvisatory piece that algorithmically generates a ‘score’ that human performers interact with. The score listens to the live performers and reacts by creating loops and changing its behavior in a number of ways. For this performance, DISEnsemble will also be joined by the Emergency Musical Hologram, which will listen to the players around it and improvise appropriately. (duration variable, 7-15 minutes)

• Which performance is best?

  Depending on other submissions, DISEnsemble could be more appropriate for either Performance 2 or Performance 3, but ideally we would prefer to do a set at both. If this is acceptable, we would do these pieces (or perhaps only one of these pieces) at Performance 2 and then do a more improvisatory set at Performance 3. If chosen to do an improvisatory set, we could perform for as long as necessary.

• The size of our group:

  Though DISEnsemble’s full complement is usually more than thirty performers (including production crew), this performance would necessarily be smaller, given the travel constraints. It is impossible to say exactly what performers would be able to make it on the trip, but my preference would be for at least seven performers and no more than thirteen.

Type of submission

• Performance 2, at an Oxford University performance space, will feature a flexible stage and electronics/projected visuals set-up suitable for music with more complex technical requirements. No live performers are provided, but musicians are welcome to perform their own works, or provide their own performers (this should be indicated in the submission)

• Performance 3 is a club night at the Old Fire Station. This is a very flexible space with multiple rooms and areas. The event will feature music suitable for a club night including (but not limited to) beat-based, ambient, live electronic and algorave music.

Technical/Stage Requirements

• DISEnsemble brings its own gear, generally, but as we will be traveling from the USA, we will not have the space for tables, chairs, and music stands. We will bring our own electronic drum kit if necessary, but it would be greatly appreciated if we could borrow a drum set (acoustic or electric). We will need an adequate two-channel PA/sound system, but can we will bring our own mixer and/or stage box (if it is possible to borrow this as well, it would make the trip much easier). The group will need multiple power cables (extension cords) but will bring its own power converters and power strips. One other important thing to note is that even a reduced-size DISEnsemble (7-13 performers) takes up a significant amount of stage space and it is unfeasible to set up in less than an hour, plus sound check time.

Program Notes

• ‘paraphonia’ was composed by Dr. Jason Palamara and choreographed by Maddie Korn, co- creator of the Telepod projection system used in DISEnsemble's Emergency Musical Hologram project. paraphonia was composed in 2023 for IUI's 30+ member Diverse Instrument Symphonic Ensemble (DISEnsemble). The piece explores themes of duality and deception via the use of AI-created voices and celebrity doppelgängers. The video projections used in this piece feature dance students of Maddie Korn.

• ‘past every exit’ - Every one of us is careening down some kind of highway. Exits turn off, down which we find ourselves on diverging paths. Some exits offer a turnaround, some offer escape, some offer even more delays and could possibly lead to total ruin. But once we have passed every

  exit, is there any hope to get back to where we began? This performance of ‘past every exit’ will be performed by IUI’s DISEnsemble and the Emergency Musical Hologram (an embodied AI system) developed by Palamara and Machine Musician Lab at IUI. The EMH is a machine learning-enabled performance technology that listens to live audio and collaborates musically using a machine learning model, and also includes a visual representation of a musician performing on various instruments.

  “past every exit” is an improvisatory piece that algorithmically generates a ‘score’ that human performers interact with. The ‘past every exit’ patch listens to the live performers and reacts by creating loops and changing its behavior in a number of ways. For this performance, DISEnsemble will also be joined by the Emergency Musical Hologram, which will listen to the players around it and improvise appropriately.

Media

• Photo of DISEnsemble:

  

• A video of ‘paraphonia’ performance:

• A notated score of ‘paraphonia’:

  paraphonia score, 4.18.2023 - Score.pdf

  2 MB

• A video of a performance of ‘past every exit’ (not by DISEnsemble, but including some of the AI technologies we would use):

• A video discussing technologies we use in the Emergency Musical Hologram project:

Additional Comments

• Taking a group of this size on a trip out of the country will be quite difficult but we have managed to pull off trips in the past and we want to keep doing things like this because the students benefit greatly from the experience. If it proves impossible to bring a large group to AIMC, I am willing to perform these pieces as duets with another performer and the EMH. Thanks in advance for your consideration.