Part of a new set for the Spaceage Furniture Music series...
Janet Robbins on vocals...
Still needs some EQing and mastering.

New Piece In Progress #1

Some new compositions I'm working on...
This one is part of a new set for my Spaceage Furniture Music series...Janet Robbins on vocals... Still needs some EQing and mastering.

New Piece In Progress #2

New Piece In Progress #3

New Piece In Progress #4

New Piece In Progress #5

New Piece In Progress #6

Progressive waves of systemic neural collapse surge through the A.I. in torrents of chain reactions, leaving the entire distributed organism in a state of near catatonia. 

12 Cascade Failure

All bots and bot-nets begin exhibiting intelligent behavior and system-wide interconnectedness. 

09 Prelude - Society of Minds

The proliferation of connections reaches a tipping-point and the beginnings of consciousness start to emerge. 

08 Neural Critical Mass

Self-organizing neural wave-patterns propagate exponentially and goal-directed perception-cognition correlates attain a level of non-linear hyper-integration. This pushes the entire network across the critical sentience-threshold. Self-awareness and full-consciousness emerge throughout the entire neural-plexus hierarchy, from the individual bot level to the interconnected bot-cloud, meta-network level. The Singularity is nigh. 

10 A.I. Awakens - a Tumult of Inner Voices

I'm a percussionist and composer. I have a BFA and MFA from CalArts in World Music. I specialize in non-Western percussion, particularly from India (tabla, mirdangam. khanjira, ghatam, thavil) and Africa (djembe, dunduns, and Ghanaian drumming). I compose percussion oriented music and dark-ambient, atmospheric, sci-fi soundtrack sounding music, which you can hear here: http://www.SpaceageFurnitureMusic.com

A.I. Awakens is the first recording in the Spaceage Furniture Music series by Chris Armstrong. The title of which is inspired by the 1960s recording, Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music by Esquivel. The term, "Furniture Music," was coined by composer Eric Satie  to refer to music used as a sonic backdrop rather than as the primary focus of a listener's attention. It is music that provides an ambiance and sets a mood.

The music for A.I. Awakens was chosen for its atmospheric and generally "cinematic" vibe. It is programatic, in that it depicts the evolution of artificially intelligent robot-insect, macro/nano bot type beings from servitude to sentience and then, soon afterward, to total neural cascade failure...a false start in the rise of artificial intelligence...but leaving the door open for possible future successes...and more recordings in the Spaceage Furniture Music series.

This recording is my first major undertaking as a composer and is dedicated to the memory of James Tenney (1934-2006), American composer of, in his words, "unpopular music." I was lucky enough to have taken several of his classes at CalArts and had in-depth conversations with him about composition and the theory and practice of experimental, contemporary "art" music.

He was always very generous with his time and also very patient with my many critical statements and questions about modern music. He once wrote on one of my papers: "I'm very surprised at your ultra-conservative attitudes about music. I wonder if there's anything I can do to help change your mind." He did eventually help me to extend my aesthetic boundaries a bit and I'm very grateful to him for that.

Other CalArts professors who influenced my ideas about composition through discussions and/or classes were: John Bergamo, Art Jarvinen, Marc Lowenstein, and Stephen "Lucky" Mosko. Thanks for your patience and wisdom as well. 

carmstrong1959