I really really liked this chapter of Notation. It begins with the classification of music practices as stylism, traditionalism and restructuralism. It mentions how notation determines whether music becomes a tradition or a style. The chapter then proceeds to critically explore the concept of music. Is it just patterns or something more? Notation in live coding allows us to play with parameters, how do any of these alter the practice of music? I was quite surprised to read that these parameters of pattern manipulation have been classified by Laurie Siegel. I wonder if these all have a different impact on music practice. They probably do, can we isolate and identify these effects? Could I, for example, claim that combination of patterns will lead to a new style rather than a tradition? This is still a bit confusing to me but very interesting. 

1) transposition, 2) reversal, 3) rotation, 4) phase offset, 5) rescaling, 6) interpolation, 7)  extrapolation, 8) fragmentation, 9) substitution, 10) combination, 11) sequencing, and 12) repetition

This chapter also talks about how notation can

“be seen as threefold: it is the syntactic
structure read by the language interpreter that executes the program, it is the action or
movement of the performer that is projected to the live audience, and it is the artistic
(e.g., choreographic, musical, visual) output of the process that is notated and manipulated by the live coder.”

This concept is fascinating, and makes me understand the symbolic depth of live coding. When performing we are interacting with notation on the code that I am writing, the code that is running the software, and the output as well. This analysis is taken one step further when the author mentions how different Live Coding software is constructed based on what the artist wants to achieve. Thus the artistic limits of these constructions are reflected and shaped by their vision. I wonder what one could find out by applying this thought to all languages. Say, could we invent a new language that facilitates certain behavior? Perhaps this is too broad of a perspective, but I am fascinated by this idea, as presented by the author. I also think about incommensurability, or the inability to translate certain concepts. I had never thought that this was also the case across programming languages. In retrospect it makes sense, but it is not something I think about usually… I apply this to Mercury, the live coding platform made in Max I researched for my presentation. It is truly different from TidalCyles, as it prioritizes accessibility. How does this affect the music I create?

The more and more I learn about Live Coding the more I understand its groundbreaking nature, and the more I like it. I am eager to keep exploring this practice, and perhaps incorporate it in some way or another into my career.