ï~~A Meta-Trumpet(er)
Jonathan Impett
50 Haliburton Road
Twickenham TWl iPF
England
Abstract
This paper describes an instrument I
composition environment built around a single
instrument - the trumpet- and a particular musician
- the writer. An outline of the principles guiding
the development the instrument is followed by a
technical description of the system.
1 Introduction
"...it seems that a new type of musician is
necessary, an 'artist-conceptor' of new abstract and
free forms, tending towards complexities, and then
towards generalisations, on several levels of sound
organisation." [ Xenakis 19851
The "meta-trumpet" system consists of an
instrument fitted with a range of physical sensors
(their output converted to MIDI by a STEIM
Sensorlab), sound-to-MIDI conversion, and
software which processes the incoming data and
provides a composition and scheduling environment
in which the composer can determine the system's
response. In general, the output is directed to
MIDI-controlled instruments and processors.
Aspects of performance already inherent in
playing the trumpet are abstracted and extended to
become: a) musical material for compositional
purposes, and b) means of direct control over other
parameters. The information generated could be
seen as depicting a broader performance situation,
of which the sound of the trumpet is one view.
Centro di Sonologia Computazionale
Via San Francesco 11
1-35100 Padova
This is thus a "meta-" instrument in that
it consists not only of the trumpet itself, but also
the physical actions performed to and with it, the
acoustic output and the musical / logical behaviour
of the whole. The sound of the instrument is
integrated into the system, being directed to the
sound processing elements, which in turn are
controlled by the software whose input comprises
the physical parameters of performance and of the
sound itself. Different views in any number of
dimensions can be constructed through the resulting
continuous information / sound space, including
the possibilities of folding parameters onto or
inside each other, and the use of temporal
processes.
2 Background and Principles
A central aim in designing the instrument
was to permit a close and dynamic relationship
between performer, instrument and impovised or
composed musical material, whether computerstored "score" or constructed in real-time from
performance data. As in most successful
instruments, the roles of sound source and
controller can be fully integrated - on a wider
surface than the trumpet alone - by effectively
incorporating the computer ( and thus potentially
the composition) in the instrument. The player can
maintain a directness and spontaneity of
communication whilst retaining "higher" levels of
abstraction and formalisation of both structural and
sound material. This can be seen as part of a move
ICMC Proceedings 1994
147
Interactive Performance
0
