Computer Music! with Stephen Travis Pope

23 November 2016, Queen Mary University of London

Organised by: Bob L. Sturm with support from the C4DM Platform Grant

EECS lecturer Bob L. Sturm organised a concert at C4DM bringing together some local and international composers in the area of computer music. The evening was well attended by approximately 40 people in the C4DM performance lab.
concert bob sturm
The programme began with a piece entitled “Prelude to the Night”, by Kingston University-based composer, Oded Ben-Tal. He combined several recordings of a string section (tuning at the beginning of a rehearsal courtesy of the Royal College of Music student orchestra) with simulated string sounds using a bowed string physical model. This was followed by an interactive real-time metadata animation, “We need Us” by C4DM PhD student Julie Freeman (generated by Zooniverse participants). The guest composer, Steven Travis Pope, then provided a 15 minute survey of his musical output and computer tools from the past 30 years. The next piece, titled “You Slut! – Plural Sex (MCLD Remix)”, was by C4DM researcher Dan Stowell. This fun piece is a remix of a song by the mathrock band You Slut! The short but rich piece “Piquetitos” was next, which is composed by LA-based composer Jennifer Logan. The penultimate piece was by Bob L. Sturm, or rather his deep neural network, or something like that. The final piece of the evening was a 21 minute audiovisual work by Pope, which is excerpted from his feature length “Secrets, Dreams, Faith, and Wonder – A Mass for the New Millennium in Five Parts”. It can also be seen here: https://vimeo.com/120127660.