Gastvortrag: Dustin Zorn - Welcome to the Jungle

This lecture discusses L-systems as generative algorithms for composition. Originally developed in 1968 by the biologist and botanist Aristid Lindenmayer at the University of Utrecht, these algorithms were used to model growth processes of plants. Starting from an axiom, these algorithms grow recursively by applying production rules. Through a series of iterations, they replace parts of their own structure. Recursion and self-similarity allow these systems to generate computer graphics for plants and fractals. L-systems provide a way to generate complex structures from small sets of rules of a formal grammar. By working with representations, these systems are open to being used to generate musical structures. Since their development, L-systems have been used by a number of different composers to develop musical material within their pieces. In this talk we will look at how different composers use L-systems in the musical context of their compositions. By analysing the grammar of the systems, their musical mapping and the relationship to the aesthetic realisation within a specific composition, we will explore the possibilities and limitations of L-Systems. The representational nature of L-systems provides a method for growing small particles into larger musical structures, while maintaining a consistent relationship between their smallest parts and their overall form. But interpreting the structural formalism raises a number of important questions:

What can a musical particle be to begin with?
What are obvious or interesting forms of musical development?
How can these musical ideas be developed into a set of abstract rules?
How can a composer remain in an active position, "controlling" and "guiding" the growth of the system?

Through the thicket of systems and questions concerning their musical interpretation, we will try to reach a profound understanding of the use of L-systems as a compositional process.

Dustin Zorn is a composer, performer and research fellow at the Department of Music Acoustics at the mdw and a lecturer at the hfm Hanns Eisler Berlin. His compositions range from live electronic solo performances, in which Zorn acts as composer and performer, to large ensemble works. They are performed by ensembles such as KNM, Mosaik and Lux:NM at festivals such as Ultraschall, Kontakte in venues such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Beethovenhaus Bonn, Akademie der Künste Berlin. As a scholar he has given lectures and workshops at the Orpheus Institute Gent, Bilkent University Ankara and UdK Berlin. After completing his studies in Berlin and Paris, he is currently working on his doctorate at the mdw, researching setup design in live electronics as a compositional task and research process.

Vortragende*r
M.Mus. Dustin Zorn
zorn@mdw.ac.at