(Ongoing) Reflections

Is it possible for a composer to create music solely from intuitive impulses? Is it possible for one to truly abandon all rules and just let creativity flow from the gut? And if one does, is this a genuinely creative process or merely the production of an uncontrolled stream of familiar patterns that the composer has absorbed throughout study, influences of music making and listening? Patterns that, as comfortable as they are, don’t challenge any norms?

I hear these musicians who play incredibly fast, accurately, and expressively without even thinking. It’s so inspiring! Yet, sometimes so predictable after a couple of songs… How to feel about these trends in music education that encourage “intuitive” practices? –because it’s all about intuition… maybe it’s all about what fits commercial demands or popular taste.

Is that wrong?

I mean… even academic and institutionalized tastes can –and often do– push this normativity. I hear a lot of new music nowadays that still has that good-old IRCAM sound. Even some music that still sounds like Darmstadt in the 60s. Mine sometimes does. Not that I want it, it’s just there, over my shoulders.

Is this not a manifestation of the same compositional recombinancy paradigm, pretty much as using ChatGPT? We now see artistic statements, abstracts, and even entire articles generated by ChatGPT. It has such a strong dialect that one can almost read it from a kilometer away. Are we genuinely uncovering new “tapestries” or “intricacies”? Are we truly making the world a more creative or even democratic place?

Is this good for the coming newer generations?

Shall I keep writing complex rules, hoping that I will get some musical ideas worth the time it took me to code them? Complex and thought-through music… is progressive? How is that more progressive and experimental than the subtle and perfect rhythmic variations of a bombisto playing Chacarera* Chacarera is an Argentinean folk species typical from the north area of the country, especially the province of Santiago del Estero. in the middle of the hills in Santiago del Estero? Or from the last fully improvised album of Azul 514?*Azul 514 is an experimental musical project I take part since 2016. You can watch one of our live performances here: https://youtu.be/T-KEdFdKRGw

Am I losing my edge?

I believe I slowly drifted away from the point of these reflections…

Maybe there is something good in exploring the nuances of AI-driven creativity in discovering new possibilities with prompts and gen-AI. Maybe that is progressive. Is it not what everyone is doing nowadays? Then, it’s normative. Normative vs. Non-normative…

Who cares?

What does it mean to train a neural network on some music, press a bang, get a result, and claim it as my composition? Is it art? Even if it takes me forever to code, implement, and make the whole thing work? Even if I write fancy articles about it? Where is my agency in the process? Is it in the choice of the dataset? Is it in cherry-picking the outcome?

Is writing code rules art? Is art the result of the rules? Is it the result of the selection? Is it the result of the engraving? Is it how it looks in the score? Is it how it sounds? Is it what it says?

Is it what others say about it?

Is art an experience, regardless of who or what made it?

But then, is nature art?

Ok. I have spent too much time in my office now.