General outline of musical element to "Finding Time" 



Instrumentation:

Any instrument  (acoustic for now) that can sustain a tone for an extended
period of time, preferably wind or string instruments.  Aside from that, any
tuning, timbre, or tone is welcome.  The more various, the better.



Players:

Should have a background in improvisation, some knowledge of music outside of
their immediate culture or style, some experience listening to and/or playing
drone or modal music of some sort.  Knowledge of Western "functional" harmony
not in any way required.  Experience with or exposure to sonic improvisation,
the use of noise as musical material, and polytonal, atonal,  and nontonal
systems.  Some experience with creating music in response to visual information,
(ie, a traditional score, physical movements or directives, a graphic image),
but reading of traditional Western notation is not required.  Ability to shift
musical directions in the course of the performance of a given piece, as
response to external stimuli (ie, graphic information, text, sonic directives). 



The piece:

The piece itself will undoubtedly evolve to greater degrees of complexity over
time, as more factors are added, but I will begin by explaining the general and
initial idea, and follow with probable expansions.



As should be clear from the outset, the basis for the piece, and the main
cohesive structure, will be that of a drone; a sustained harmonic framework
comprised of the blend of the six voices.  Each voice will have shifting notes,
not simply staying on a single note throughout the entire piece.  The process of
how and when to shift notes has not yet been determined.  There will also be a
great amount of structured improvisation throughout, both of guided content (the
composer suggest certain sounds) and free content (the player is free to play
whatever sounds they choose).  The time of the improvisations (both when they
occur, and for how long) will be determined and communicated to the players. 
Likewise, the combinations of players improvising at any given time (the
relationships between the players) will be determined.  These determinations
will be displayed online, and the players will be expected to respond to them as
they appear.  



How the determinations are made, communicated, and displayed to both the players
and the web audience is part of the future of the piece that cannot be
specifically stated.  We are aiming to develop a system that incorporates sound,
visual material (graphics, also acting as a score), and a listener response
element into the decision making process that will in turn effect all three
elements.  A sort-of open-circuit feedback structure that will hopefully sum to
a greater product than all of its components.



In more concrete terms, the players will be working from a drone structure,
occasionally breaking from the main group drone into smaller group and solo
improvisations, and then coming back into the drone, as directed.  But the
player must be open and able to follow a score (of some sort) that will
determine how and when events happen.  The layers of added complexity will
become clear as we move forward in this process.