tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post113835333845910769..comments2024-03-04T06:09:18.295+00:00Comments on open...: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, HackerGlyn Moodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04436885795882611585noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138633800028750602006-01-30T15:10:00.000+00:002006-01-30T15:10:00.000+00:00Ultimately all you can really say is that both pro...Ultimately all you can really say is that both programming and music making have rules, and both use a special code for the communication and preservation of an idea or process. But this is fundamentally similar to a variety of professions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138444187417936332006-01-28T10:29:00.000+00:002006-01-28T10:29:00.000+00:00a joke? no; i'd regard it rather as playful clever...a joke? no; i'd regard it rather as playful cleverness. the author clearly _could_ know more about both hacking and music, but touches on several good points.<BR/><BR/>i'd give the author minus points for: stating that there is a consensus that all malicious hacking activity ought to be called 'cracking'; comparing conductors with video game players; stating that canons employ recursion.<BR/><BR/>plus points for: drawing an analogy between piano rolls and punch cards; finding similarities between musical scores and computer code; mentioning bach.<BR/><BR/>for anyone not already familiar with all of the above, well worth a read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138422726956905222006-01-28T04:32:00.000+00:002006-01-28T04:32:00.000+00:00Ok, so Mozart was great; but let's see what L.v Be...Ok, so Mozart was great; but let's see what L.v Beethoven gets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138387813630524122006-01-27T18:50:00.000+00:002006-01-27T18:50:00.000+00:00To the classical pianist:As a person with a Master...To the classical pianist:<BR/><BR/>As a person with a Masters Degree in Music Composition who makes a living doing computer programming, I can state that it is my experience that this is totally right on, and while frought with whimsy, not at all a joke.<BR/><BR/>The universe is an elegant machine, and defining variables and playfully manipulating them is what creates the music that we dance to. Even our usage of words is the implementation of code into sentences and paragraphs. We are all always defining and manipulating variables.<BR/><BR/>I have met lots of pianists who really don't understand composition. In fact, I have met very few people who are fascinated with the concept of defining and manipulating variables. Most folks just want to play the songs that other people write.<BR/>Mozart wasn't like that, in the same way a hacker who manipulates a different set of variables isn't like that.<BR/>If you think there is something more to Mozart than the playful manipulation of variables, then your don't understand Mozart, the weather, the sea, or the sun. It's all the same joy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138387064108350212006-01-27T18:37:00.000+00:002006-01-27T18:37:00.000+00:00Well, maybe I simplified the argument slightly.......Well, maybe I simplified the argument slightly....<BR/><BR/>But what I wanted to get across was this interesting similarity in the process of programming a computer and "programming" the orchestral or choral machine.<BR/><BR/>Of course, music is much more than just feeding in those programs, but nonetheless I think it throws an interesting light on Mozart - and on composing in general - to think of it in these terms.<BR/><BR/>(And even if I've not played in Mozart in an orchestra, I've played his chamber music, so I do have some idea of what you mean.)Glyn Moodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04436885795882611585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138385399284484402006-01-27T18:09:00.000+00:002006-01-27T18:09:00.000+00:00"Computers may not have existed in the eighteenth ...<I>"Computers may not have existed in the eighteenth century, but the musical machines called orchestras and choirs are conceptually identical to synthesisers"</I><BR/><BR/>As a classical music playing web developer, I can see where you're going with this - but I think you are mistaken in stating that the two are <B>conceptually identical.</B><BR/><BR/>There is an incredible amount of cooperation, collaboration, two-way communication when playing in an orchestra. I actually view it as near opposite of the "rote execution" that a synthesizer does.<BR/><BR/>The score is a sketch, an early plan meant to help musicians coordinate their efforts - but it is the composer's vision (in the form of the score) AND musicians AND the conductor who imbue the music with the feeling and emotion that makes it enjoyable and compelling. This three way relationship is not strictly hierarchical as you wish it to be.<BR/><BR/>It is this process of variable and collaborative interpretation that makes playing and listening to Mozart's music, even several hundred years after he has died, worthwhile.<BR/><BR/>Your analogy is an overly deterministic view of music making. Music (even Mozart's) is much more than "following directions." <BR/><BR/>But don't take my word for it - I hope you get the opportunity to play Mozart in an orchestra. It can be an exciting, emotional and thrilling experience in a way that listening to a synthesizer execute a midi score simply is not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138382318830689342006-01-27T17:18:00.000+00:002006-01-27T17:18:00.000+00:00The above comment is a heavily laboured joke, righ...The above comment is a heavily laboured joke, right? Because I am a degreed classical piano and voice major currently working as an IT professional, and I see nothing wrong with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19798349.post-1138365914886974182006-01-27T12:45:00.000+00:002006-01-27T12:45:00.000+00:00This is a (heavily laboured) joke right ? I hope s...This is a (heavily laboured) joke right ? <BR/><BR/>I hope so - because you clearly have no idea about music.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com