Flocking for Orchestra

Flocking for Orchestra
Victoria Symphony conducted by Bill Linwood
April 6th, 2018
Alix Goolden Performance Hall, Victoria, BC, Canada

The term “flocking” typically references the complex behavior of birds coordinating their flight; it also refers to the texture produced by the process of depositing small fiber particles onto a surface. For “Flocking for Orchestra,” I’ve integrated the interpretation of data in a flocking model to develop essential structural elements of the piece, including most of the pitch material.

These phenomena are interpreted through data analysis or data models, and the results are used to control specific musical parameters.

The interpretation of data is expressed in several aspects of Live Structures compositions: in the overall structure of the work, in the audible shapes and gestures of the music and in the details of the orchestration, the pitches and the rhythm. The same data will also be controlling the MaxMSP tool when live processing is utilized (Live Textures).