

Algoraves: dancing to algorithms - cjauvin
http://boingboing.net/2013/05/11/algoraves-dancing-to-algorith.html

======
evadne
Quick-sort with Hungarian (Küküllőmenti legényes) folk dance:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywWBy6J5gz8>

Bubble-sort with Hungarian (“Csángó”) folk dance:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyZQPjUT5B4>

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
Not sure if weird or amazing.

------
meistro
I feel awkward just watching it. But hey, if it's fun more power to them.

------
dups
I went to the algorave in Brighton. Was the recommended field trip for a
Generative Creativity modules im taking as part of my degree. In my opinion
the spectacle of coding IS as intrinsic to the performance as the musical
output is.

I dont think it really does it justice to compare it to more traditional
DJing/controllerism. Generally the kind of music from livecoding is
qualitatively pretty different.

~~~
dthtvwls
What degree/uni, may I ask?

~~~
dups
Computing and A.I at Sussex - Just about to graduate. Really enjoyed it.

------
dreamfactory
This looks like a (rather cheesy) repackaging of the experimental electronic
music scene. It's not significantly different to what people like Autechre
have been doing for decades (several names on algorave.com are from that
scene).

------
shurane
Looks a bit cheesy, but neat idea. What makes this different from DJing? You
still need someone to control the flow of the music, whether the person is
'live coding' or switching knobs to a synthesizer.

~~~
jckt
I guess not at all, except that algorithms are probably more powerful in a
certain way that controllers/mixers/etc cannot achieve.

Of course, "algorithms" (to be honest I don't really know what is happening in
the video) and using "traditional" DJ tools aren't really fair comparison --
they're totally different. With DJing the virtue is in the DJ's manual
abilities, his technique (among many other things). In this case it's in the
programmer's ability to automate a soundsystem.

I should note that modern DJ software is very advanced in the algorithm
department though...perhaps the algorave approach is the quintessential hacker
mentality of playing with the technical nitty-gritty, whereas modern mixing
software remain rather closed to the DJ (an attempt to emulate DJ hardware, I
guess).

Edit: whoops, looks like the "hacker mentality" is the whole point. According
to <http://algorave.com/about/>

"These days just about all electronic music is made using software, but with
artificial barriers between the people creating the software algorithms and
the people making the music."

~~~
solistice
To be honest, it kinda reminds me of the chiptune, fingerdrumming,
controllerism deparment. When you DJ, your main job is to match two beats up
so that they don't conflict, everything else (like scratches or effects) is
soundactic sugar.

It's not coding the program, it's making them cross compatible.

~~~
yaxu
I'm not clear on your point (the video shows music improvisation, not DJing),
but "soundactic sugar" is fantastic.

~~~
solistice
I'm not sure of the point either now. It was kinda late at night to be fair.

