ABSTRACT
‘Animal’ is a synthesis algorithm used in several of my musical works. The chapter discusses how Animal’s moods and temperaments arise from its dynamics and dynamic response in performance, a kind of physical model ‘abstraction’, as opposed to a deliberate simulation of anything. Its great expressive range is able to give voice to musical characters suited to different contexts. These are different faces of a single, identifiable instrument, and the chapter examines the genesis of their contrasting personalities. Voicing the instrument has been a two-fold quest to create both a coarse identity (some kind of distinguishable instrument) and then more sharply defined variants. Overall, a musical character’s personality seems to be a complex mix of static qualities and dynamic responses. The latter aspect, which is exposed by parameter deflections in performance, is what makes Animal come alive.
