A marvelous experiment in music creation

Composer, musician and computer hack Todd Rundgren has done something that’s never been done before: he has created an entirely modular musical program based on original music. He wrote a number of different full compositions, of different musical styles. But he wrote and recorded them in segments (of generally eight measures each, for the musicians out there). Each segment stands on its own as a musical clip, and each was written and recorded with the idea that they would be mixed and matched by someone other than Rundgren. That is, this entire musical experience is meant to be created by the listener.

The focus is the music. With TR-I: No World Order, which was created for the CD-I platform, Rundgren has focused entirely on the music. Unlike the David Bowie and Peter Gabriel discs that we discussed in Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 49, which rely heavily on digital video footage as part of the interactive experience, the visual aspect of Rundgren’s CD-I title is inconsequential. His goal was to expand the way we perceive and enjoy music — no small feat, even for a musician such as Rundgren, who in his 20-year career in the recording industry has constantly tried to broaden and redefine what a musical experience is.

MIX THE MUSIC TO MATCH YOUR MOOD

Once the user understands what options the disc offers, it becomes a very intriguing experience to find the musical mix that you like best or that best fits your mood. At the very least, you want to understand how each of the different options affects the playback of the music.

(We should note the term “mix,” when used in this piece, means the selection of clips. It does not mean that one can actually re-record the music, which is the common definition in the music industry.)

The program works like this: each segment of music has certain attributes, or “flavors,” associated with it, whether it be tempo, musical tone or mood. As you make your choices, the program calls up clips that fit the parameters that you have set. The interface enables you to be somewhat fuzzy in your choices; you can be as specific or general as you wish in your flavor selections.

31-derful flavors. The interface appears simple, but in some ways it is extremely awkward. There is only one navigation screen in the entire program. It is called the Flavor Editor. On the left-hand side of the screen are listed the “flavors” of the music that are available to the listener.

The flavors themselves include a great selection of musical variations, but some may be difficult for people without musical training to discern. The Tempo editor, for example, is straightforward enough, allowing you to choose the tempo or tempo range of the selections you want to hear. Others, like the Mix Editor, which allows you to “limit the performance to a particular quality of musical density,” are much more subtle. The choices in Mix include “thick,” “sparse,” “spacious,” “natural” and “karaoke.” The choices in Mood include “bright,” “happy,” “thoughtful,” “sad” and “dark.” There are a few instances of the same music recorded differently, so that you might notice the differences between mixes. Normally, you are choosing between different recordings altogether.

As you select the flavor you wish to alter, the options for that particular flavor show up in a list in the flavor editor (the middle column). Using the arrows under the list, you can choose any of the attributes. Using the arrows on the bottom of the flavor editor, you can determine how strict the program will be in selecting those attributes.

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT WITH A LEARNING CURVE

I found the interface to be more difficult than it should be — especially for a disc designed for the consumer music market — although I understand why it was created the way it was. By clicking on one of the function keys of the CD-I remote, the list itself scrolls, while the highlight stays in the center of the screen. This is more disconcerting than you might imagine. The second part of this problem is that to change the direction of the scroll, you have to move to a different screen icon.

It would have been much more intuitive to select a function button, and then use the thumb joystick to scroll up and down. (In fact you can do this, but not in the “mode” in which you are creating your set of flavors and attributes. You can only affect changes with the joystick in “real-time mode,” which I’ll get to in a moment.)

It was designed this way, however, so that you could choose your range of attributes without being constrained to a linear list. That is, if you were choosing between five different attributes, and you wanted to make a selection that included numbers 4, 5 and 1, you would not be able to do that unless the list itself scrolled. You cannot click and choose individual attributes (like 1, 3 and 5), only ranges from a single selection. (The limitations of the interface are a partial function of the CD-I technology and pointer device, which are more limited than those of a personal computer.)

No direct access to the database. Embedded in the application is a database of the clips and associated attributes. The biggest problem I have with this title is that you do not have access to that database. Instead, the program chooses the clips for you; you have no control over sequence, inclusion or exclusion. All you can do is choose the parameters by which the program selects clips. Perhaps what I am describing is too technical, or too complex for such a program. But musically, I found that when I messed around with the flavors, experimenting until I understood the different parameters, the jumps between different selections often sounded too random.

Rundgren seems to have anticipated this issue, however, as one of the parameters that can be set is “Form.” The Form editor allows you to set how “conservative” or “creative” a version you get. That is, the program will actually select segments that are more in line with each other, if you want it to. In this way, you may get a number of clips in a row from a particular song, as opposed to a more random selection from a number of different compositions.

Real-time mode. After you have chosen your flavors and you press Action Button II, the program shifts into “real-time” mode. This is where you get to sit back and listen (yes, you can just listen to this disc). If you really like the settings you have selected, you can save up to five different sets, as CD-I players do have a limited amount of memory available. You can then go back to that setting another time.

Instead of watching the static editor screen all the time, there are three simple screen options you can choose while in real-time mode. Rundgren created two visual environments called Swarm and Warp, which are really just screen savers. The first is random swirling colored spots, and the second is a stream of geometric shapes coming at you. You can change the direction of the Swarm or the Warp with the joystick. The third option is to black out the screen altogether.

You can change the parameters while in real-time mode, but not in the same manner in which you set them. You can enable the program to scroll through and change the options with only the joystick. In this way, you can set some or all of the parameters to change when the thumb stick is moved either right/left or up/down. If you have one of the screen savers on, every time you alter the direction of the screen elements, you are also changing the flavors. This is the most random method of enjoying this title, as you have no way of seeing what changes you have made to the program.

Same bricks, different building. I especially enjoyed listening to each of the five versions created by the well-known music producers who worked on the project: Don Was, Jerry Harrison, Hal Wilner, Bob Clearmountain and Rundgren. While each of them had the same basic building blocks to work with, it was immediately apparent that each has a particular style. I found that listening to the music with the default settings and simply changing producers was the most enjoyable way of experiencing the music. This is not to say that anyone else could not have come up with an equally enjoyable mix, but these producers most likely had access to the database of segments and were able to create their musical environments with more control. [Rundgren also released a linear version of No World Order for standard CD audio players, which contains Todd's Mix, as he calls it.]

TAKING RISKS TO CREATE A NEW MEDIUM

The review copy of TR-I: No World Order I received had no documentation, and it took a good two hours or so for me to figure out how best to navigate through this title and how my actions affected what I was listening to. (There is online instruction, but it’s not very informative.)

During this time, I was frustrated with the program itself — and not paying too much attention to the music. There was no direct response to my input, and I was still unsure what each of the different flavors and parameters actually changed. I spent a lot of time clicking the action buttons and wondering why anyone would want to buy and use this disc, as it was just random audio clips and an awful interface.

The more I experimented with this title, however, the more involved I became. Eventually, as I became more familiar with both the music and the interface, I enjoyed finding out how my actions affected the selection of music. At that point, I was able to set the program, shift to real-time mode and just listen.

Tackling art and interactivity. One can question whether what you get out of this product is, indeed, “music” as we define it today. After all, throwing together a bunch of random clips can make for a very disjointed musical experience. The seemingly random jumping from clip to clip can get frustrating. (Just when you’re getting into a groove, it changes!) Even the linear version of the music suffers from this problem.

But Rundgren has gone a long way to find some answers to a number of questions that have plagued creators in the emerging world of interactive media: How do you create non-linear entertainment? Can you enjoy an interactive program without having to “do something” all the time? Would you, as an artist, want someone else to mess with your creation? Todd Rundgren has created a musical canvas with the express intention of letting his audience find their own way through.

Will his audience enjoy this product? Only if they are willing to spend the time with it. If you simply want to listen to Todd’s Mix, then just buy the audio CD.

TR-I: No World Order will be available in September for $25.

David Baron