Copyright

Mikhail Malt; Benny Sluchin;

Published On

2024-10-09

Page Range

pp. 537–542

Language

  • English

Print Length

6 pages

32. Somax2 and Reinterpreting Iannis Xenakis

  • Mikhail Malt (author)
  • Benny Sluchin (author)
Chapter of: Meta-Xenakis: New Perspectives on Iannis Xenakis’s Life, Work, and Legacies(pp. 537–542)
In the French leg of the Meta-Xenakis marathon global conference, we presented a Computer Aided Improvisation Performance based on Xenakis’s Keren for trombone. This was possible with the SOMAX 2 environment, developed by the Representations Musicales Research Team, at Ircam, a multi-agent interactive system performing live machine co-improvisation with musicians, based on machine-listening and generative units. Here we briefly present SOMAX 2, opening the path to a future detailed explanation of the musical and aesthetic implications concerning its use.

Contributors

Mikhail Malt

(author)
Associate Director of Research at Sorbonne Université

Mikhail Malt is a researcher, composer, computer music designer. Having a twofold training, scientific and musical (engineer, composer, and music conductor), he started out his musical career in Brazil as both flutist and orchestral conductor, having conducted youth orchestras for almost ten years. He has a PhD from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and an HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des recherches) degree. Currently, he is a Researcher at Ircam in the Représentations Musicales team (UMR 9912—STMS) and Associate Director of Research at the Institute for Research in Musicology (IReMus—UMR 8223), Sorbonne Université. His actual research and creative work are based on generative music models, creative systems, representation epistemology, and listening strategies.

Benny Sluchin

(author)

Benny Sluchin studied at the Tel-Aviv Conservatory and at the Jerusalem Music Academy, parallel to pursuing a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy at the University of Tel-Aviv. He joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and was engaged as co-soloist for the Jerusalem Radio Symphony Orchestra. A member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain since 1976, he has premiered numerous works and recorded Keren by Iannis Xenakis, Sequenza V by Luciano Berio, in addition to nineteenth- and twentieth-century works for trombone. As a Doctor of Mathematics, Sluchin is involved in acoustic research at Ircam. Passionate about teaching, he edited Brass Urtext, a series of original texts on teaching brass instruments. He published Le trombone à travers les âges (2001, Buchet-Chastel) with Raymond Lapie. Two of his books have been awarded the Sacem Prize for pedagogic publications: Contemporary Trombone Excerpts (1996, EME Editions) and Jeu et chant simultanés sur les cuivres (1995, EME Editions). His written publication on brass mutes is a benchmark and his research on Computer Assisted Interpretation has been the object of several presentations and scientific publications. As an application to his research, Sluchin has released several recordings of John Cage’s music. His film Iannis Xenakis, Le dépassement de soi, was released in 2015 by Mode Records (Mode 284). In 2024 Sluchin received “A Lifetime Achievement Award" from the International Trombone Association “in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the trombone and a career that has reflected commitment to excellence and achievement.”