Projects

Musical Transformation modeled after John Conway's "Game of Life"

Life Music uses Conway´s "Game of Life" (a cellular automata, published 1970) for structuring sonic material. A cellular grid is projected on the town map of Graz/Styria, as well as on 49 loudspeakers of the CUBE (at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, Graz). Every cell uses its own audio sample of app. 10 seconds. The evolving patterns of the "Game of Life" are responsible for selection, volume and motion of sounds.



The illustration shows the patterns of the first 150 seconds. The complete work (about 30 minutes) was first presented at the CUBE on the 8th of March, 2005.

Günther Albrecht (synth, CUBE playback)
Franz Schmuck (perkussion)

Constructed from 49 local samples, Graz is "played" as an instrument, utilizing the acoustic space of the CUBE as a gaming board. The rules of John Conway´s "Game of Life" determine the progress of the actors that control the sounds. The live players extend and comment the CUBE playback.

The presentation on 26.5.2005 at the IEM CUBE was part of the 5th V:NM Festival 2005, Graz.