Coil

The virtual improviser used to produce the tape part is a computer program that I’ve created that is still progressing through its infancy. For this piece, the rhythms are strictly predetermined while the pitches are improvised according to probabilities. A key aspect of this virtual improviser is that they understand pitch in terms of frequency ratios rather than discrete frequencies. Throughout this work, the virtual improviser cycles through different sets of probabilities of wavering harmonic complexity in order to provide a slowly shifting harmonic tensing and relaxation. However, it may be interesting to note that in this work the key never changes and the tonal center is always an A.

Premiere: Shawn Mativetsky, Ottawa, Spring 2017.