Roosevelt Sykes Vol. 10 (1951-1957)

Savoy Boogie

Dedicated to Refaat Alareer & Hind Rijab
Performed by Timothy Georger (mixing boards, feedback, dice rolls) at the University at Buffalo about a week after campus administration approved of the brutalization of peaceful pro- testors at the hands of several local police departments, who themselves specifically targeted visibly Muslim students.
Post-production by Tim Georger

ideation is an improvisational piece that utilizes a technique known as no-input mixing. Developed by Japanese avant-garde performer Toshimaru Nakamura, and a staple in the world of industrial & noise music, performers play a mixer whose outputs are plugged into its own inputs. This amplifies small signals into audible feedback loops similar to how a microphone placed close to a speaker will start playing a harsh tone. Using the mixer, the performer is able to design the sound by changing various settings on the mixing board. The mixer is a complex system of feedback loops however, and is prone to chaotic, unexpected changes that the performer has to respond to. 

This limited control is further emphasized by the score itself, which utilizes random chance to make crucial structural decisions. The composition—influenced by games such as Dungeons & Dragons and the roguelike genre in video games—is structured as a game which utilizes dice rolls in order to determine how the performer improvises. The performer must follow the prompts given by these dice rolls, but they are given a limited number of points at the beginning of the piece, which they may spend to change how various aspects of the improvisation is performed. 

When taken all together, a performance of ideation wanders through a shifting possibility space—the set of all possible options at one point—in order to navigate the improvisation. Performers must not only choose how to improvise at any one moment, but also how to spend their limited points wisely, and determine the direction they want the performance to go in through the choices they make in response to random chance. 

This performance utilizes several forms of feedback, which may result in loud, high pitched sounds. Audience discretion is advised.

Tim Georger is an experimental electronic musician from Buffalo interested in sound design and the application of ludic structures into musical composition. A link to his works can be found at https://timgeorger.carrd.co/

Full score in the booklet that accompanies Rust Belt Artists Against Genocide:
https://infrasonicpress.bandcamp.com/album/rust-belt-artists-against-genocide

Timothy Georger - ideation (Live at UB; 14 Rounds 4 Points)

Infrasonic Press is an independent record label and publishing company based in Erie, PA. Our mission is to release music and art by adventurous composers, performers, bands, poets, and sound artists from the American Rust Belt.

Timothy Georger - ideation (Live at UB; 14 Rounds 4 Points)

infrasonicpress

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