Propagate (2003)

Propagate attempts to aurally simulate the process by which species reproduce themselves, passing genetic material from parents to offspring, cycling through generations. The work is intended as an installation which occupies some indoor or outdoor space rich with various sound sources: human, natural, industrial, transportational... Consisting of a program constructed in Cycling74's Max-MSP environment, it begins by gathering and storing two brief sounds from its environment; recording these sounds at an interval of approximately twelve seconds, they may be similar or entirely distinct. These will serve as initiators of several generations of future sounds. The two are played by the computer back into the environment as if in conversation with one another until finally the two are cross-synthesized (or convolved) into a third sound, bearing characteristics of both the previous two. Again, the three are made to sound and interact in the space until the new offspring is allowed to develop.

As the offspring sound is played back into the environment, the computer listens and gradually alters it. In addition to changes made by the computer over time, it retains most of its original characteristics and takes on characteristics of other sounds entering the environment as well. Together with influence from environmental sounds and from occasional (though gradually less frequent) interjections from its parent sounds, it grows in duration and usually in complexity until at last a new unique sound is collected from the environment and cross-synthesized with the earlier offspring in the same manner as the work began. All future generations retain some vestige of earlier generations, however subtle they may become. Although this genetic algorithm is designed to continue indefinitely, it is equally interesting to restart the process after 3-5 cycles so that one may listen to the development taking place.

Propagate was premiered in recorded form on 13.June.2003 at the 33rd Festival Synthese in Bourges, Fr., as part of the Work Overture Project. The excerpt for download below represents three complete cycles of Propagate.

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