A Szigetvari Outreach Report

INTEGRA OUTREACH REPORT Outreach Event, Birmingham Conservatoire, UK Tuesday 23 November 2010 Andrea Szigetvári, Lecturer of Electroacoustic Music, Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest I was honoured to be between the invited guests of the Integra Outreach Event on the 23rd of November 2010. For me, it was a very important programme from many points of view: - Being a composer with special interest in interactive electroacoustic music. - Teaching computer music on an academic level and launching, last September, a new course exploring interactive music for MA composers and doctorate instrumentalists at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. - Taking part in a project supported by the Culture programme of the European Commission. The information delivered during the Integra Outreach event was very useful for me. The day started with an extensive presentation of the Integra project by Lamberto Coccioli, the Project Manager. Mr Coccioli, being a composer himself, has a deep understanding of how to integrate scientific research and development with artistic creation and musical performance. In his talk he informed us about the idea behind the project and the organisational and financial issues encountered in its realisation. It was very edifying to hear how the results of a preceding project (also supported by the Culture programme) influenced the planning of the second application. The history of the project shows how important it is to understand that pioneering projects need time to have the chance to reach full realization. The event continued with an introductory meeting, where we could get acquainted with the hosts and the invited guests. As a bonus to the Integra presentation I had the chance to network with colleagues from institutions I had previously not met. At the core of the Integra project is live electronic music software development, and the remainder of the event was allocated to informing us about the software from the perspectives of a developer and a composer. Jamie Bullock's (Software Development Manager) presentation was concise and clear; it was possible to understand all of the relevant information about the software. Following this technical demonstration, Hilda Paredes, a UK/Mexican

composer, talked about her musical experiences, presenting excerpts of her piece commissioned by the Integra project. Her case study clearly demonstrated how Integra can be used by musicians not familiar with programming and technology. She, being a very refined and sonically sensitive composer, could extend her everyday practice without being forced to learn software development or to hire an assistant. As a consequence of the two presentations it could be understood clearly that the very important advantage of the Integra Live environment is that it can be used on different levels (experts, technologically naive musicians, students) and for different activities (composition, performance, sound processing, education). The software is based on PD (or Max/MSP) and is aiming to free composers and performers from the programming (or "patching") burden of graphic interactive tools developed in the last 20 years. It is assumed that using Integra modules will make it significantly easier to create and realise live electronic music, allowing musicians not expert in programming to compose and perform interactive pieces themselves. Integra modules are different programs built with PD (or Max/MSP), which can be used to realise synthesizers, effects and sound processing tools, and which can be arranged so that only parameters relevant to the particular activity are viewable. Compared to PD and Max/MSP, when programming using Integra, one can work with musical data organized on higher level. Eventually, Integra might become a very successful environment that helps the wider usage of technology in live music creation, performance and notation. Compared to music theory, electroacoustic music is a very young and developing field. Building Integra modules is a very challenging task, since it requires both summarizing existing knowledge and following the developments of digital signal processing and algorithmic music. It is clear that the time needed for the full realization of the project is not equal to the duration offered by application schemes. Long-term sustainability requires more funds and a strong community of users. I hope that the organizers will be able to work out a scheme for Integra Live to survive in the long-term. The work presented during the outreach event was more than convincing, and, I think, there is a strong hope it will result in a successful, widely-used musical environment. As a composer and educator I plan to use Integra Live both in my creative and academic work. As an addition to the high level demonstrations, our hosts were very hospitable. I would like to thank them for the nice accommodation, the delicious meals and the very friendly atmosphere! Andrea Szigetvári Lecturer of Electroacoustic Music Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music Liszt Ferenc tér 8 1061 Budapest Hungary