Musical Theatre of the Future

In February 2017 I went to Norway to talk to experimental LARP designers about making a participatory space musical. I got to share a lot of my beliefs about musicals, participatory theater and transforming the civic sphere with art. You can watch:

Watch it on YouTube
Also check out Lizzie Stark's primer on Nordic Larp HERE.

The Universe is a Small Hat - 1st Play Test

Engineering meaningful participatory theater.

Photos by Nora Mericicki from the Berkeley Rep Ground Floor workshop/playtest June 21, 2013. 

The Witness Training. Safiya Fredericks (background) as The Founder and audience member/colonist Melissa Nigro

During my time in The Civilians R and D Group and the Berkeley Rep Ground Floor Program I have been studying how to turn the experience of my musical into an immersive and interactive game. My piece is entitled The Universe is a Small Hat and tells the story of a techno-Utopian space colony which encounters a mysterious non-human atmospheric intelligence. Each audience member plays the role of a colonist and has to choose how to behave and interface within the micro-society on the ship. The decisions that colonists make influence their experience of the piece, opportunities they have, their access to the ship itself, and ultimately the ending that they experience.

A Song from the show:

“A game is an experience created by rules.” - Anna Anthropy (Rise of The Videogame Zinesters)

Games are systems and so they are well-suited to tell stories about systems. Small Hat is at its core about a society, which is a network of shared laws, customs, and/or organizations. My piece also deals with physics which is a system of laws capable of describing and predicting aspects of our Universe. The idea for turning my piece into an immersive experience first came from this video of futurist Jason Silva talking about his experience of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. 

When I found the Jason Silva video I was trying to figure out how to tell a futuristic story in a theatrical context, but I feared that being conventionally presentational would come off as hokey. My sense is that science fiction has a bad reputation in theater. Perhaps science fiction works better in novels and films because both forms are so good at immersing us in a fictional future. Silva connects Sleep No More to virtual reality and frames its (albeit analog) interactive environment as an evolution of the video game and “the future of storytelling.” I think he has a point. For centuries theater has served to create a moment of physical rest and reflection after a day of labor. But now, as more jobs than ever require hours of isolation sitting in front of a screen, plugged into a network, theater might be well positioned as a place to engage our bodies, and allow us to interact with one another in physical space. George Lucas recently came out with a similar point in his Times article The Future of Movies. 

The Healer Training

"Games are a kind of theater in which the audience is an actor and takes on a role – and experiences the circumstances and consequences of that role.”  - Anna Anthropy

Below I've presented some game concepts alongside a few thoughts on how we are integrating the concepts into The Universe is a Small Hat. The words that game designers use to describe their work have been helpful as I try to merge these two worlds. My hope is that more theater artists will start creating work that generates story-driven interactivity. In the two large playtests we've done I've found an incredible willingness on the part of audiences to participate as long as the system makes some sense to them.

Player Character - is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game.

In Small Hat the “player” is the audience member. And as I develop the “script” I am viewing the audience member as an actor in the play. The script should be a delineation of circumstances that allow for a mediated experience full of sensation, story and choice. The audience members will not be asked to “act” or play a character other than themselves. Since they are cast as members of the space colony we are asking them to be themselves exactly as they are, or as they'd like to be. Each colonist is given one of five “identities,” or jobs, based on an evaluation, but each individual can embrace, switch, or reject the identity as they see fit.

Non-Player Character - any character not controlled by a player. In our case, the actors.

Reward - The reward is the positive consequence of conquering the challenge; it can be anything from an increase in score, new items, or a scene.

The Bluelight

Risk - a situation involving exposure to danger, or in the case of a game, the loss of points, rewards, or status.

Cutscenes - A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay. Cutscenes are used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduce enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues.The video game form of scene/gameplay/scene/gameplay reminds me of the musical theater form of scene/song/scene/song. In Small Hat we will move the narrative primarily through songs, direct address, and gameplay, with few scripted scenes between characters. The colonists also have a lot of time to interact directly with the drones, in which case the drones will be improvising based on their understanding of the world.

The Belief Ladder

Items – Objects which play role in the story. The might contain clues, unlock elements of the story, offer powers or privileges.

Score - In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties. Most games with score use it as a quantitative indicator of success in the game, and in competitive games, a goal is often made of attaining a better score than one's opponents in order to win.

Playtesting – This is an idea in games that you have to play the game in order to gauge its effectiveness. Is it challenging? Too repetitive? Too easy? Interesting to both expert players and novices? Factors of the game can be tweaked and adjusted according the to subjective experience of the playtesting. I thought playtesting is the game design version of workshopping in theater, but I've actually discovered it is more analogous to rehearsal. We actually need the players (audience) to see even the most basic elements of the piece on their feet.

Skill and Chance – This is a polarity that is present in many games. There is a randomizing element (dice or cards) but also a system of rules which can be employed though a player's skill. Specific strategies will allow Colonists to achieve higher and reach greater depths of the world. But the randomizing elements will add unexpected outcomes.

Level - In a video game a level is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective.

Audience members fill out exit surveys after the playtest.

César Alvarez - Creator/Composer
Sarah Benson - Director
Ivan Safrin and Syed Salahuddin - Game Designers

For more information on the The Universe is a Small Hat tweet or contact César.

List of Sci-Fi Musicals, Operas and Plays

photo of Via Galactica by John Michael Cox

Musicals:

Rocky Horror Show by Richard O'Brien (1972)
Via Galactica by Christopher Gore, Judith Ross and Galt MacDermot (1972)
Time by Dave Clark, David Soames, Jeff Daniels, and David Pomeranz (1986)
Starmites by Barry Keating and Stuart Ross (1987)
Return to the Forbidden Planet by Bob Carlton (1989)
Metropolis by Joe Brooks and Dusty Hughes (1989/2002)
Superbia by Jonathan Larson (1989)
Weird Romance by Alan Menken with David Spencer and Alan Brennert (1992)
Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens by Charlotte Mann, Michael Cridler, Jonathan Croose and Robert Forrest (1995)
Escape from Pterodactyl Island by Peter Charles Morris, Michael Jeffrey and Phillip George (1999)
Area 51 by Noel Katz and Tom Carrozza (2000)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Richard and Robert Sherman and Jeremy Sams (2002)
We Will Rock You by Ben Elton, Brian May and Roger Taylor (2002)
The Last Starfighter by Skip Kennon and Fred Landau (2004)
The Brain from Planet X by David Wechter and Bruce Kimmel (2006)

Futurity by The Lisps, César Alvarez and Molly Rice (2012)

Operas:

Repo! The Genetic Opera (Original Stage Version) by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich (2002)

Death and the Powers: A Robot Opera by Todd Machover (2010)

Plays:
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Capek (1921)
Back to Methuselah by George Bernard Shaw (1921)
Unseen Hand by Sam Shepard (1969)
Illuminatus! Trilogy adpated by Ken Campbell (1976)
Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1977)
The Warp (22 Hour Play) by Neil Oram (1978)
Starstruck by Elaine Lee, Susan Norfleet Lee and Dale Place (1980)

Lunacy by Patricia Weaver Francisco (1984)
Henceforward... by Alan Ayckbourn (1987)
Comic Potential by Alan Ayckbourn (1988)
Darkside by Ken Jones (1988)
Dirk adapted by James Goss and Arvind Ethan David (1995)
A Number by Caryl Churchill (2004)
D is for Dog by Katie Polebaum, Sean T. Cawelti and Rogue Artists Ensemble (2004)
Coyote Trilogy by Don Elwell (2006)
Boom by Peter Sinn Nachtreib (2008)
Untitled Mars by Jay Scheib (2008)
Space//Space by Banana Bag and Bodice (2009)
Godlight Theatre Company's adaptations of 1984, Farenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, and Slaughterhouse 5  (1994-2009)
What We Once Felt by Anne Marie Healy (2009)
Bellona: Destroyer of Cities by Jay Scheib (2010)
The North Plan by Jason Wells (2010)
Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey by Wakka Wakka (2010)
Futura by Jordan Harrison (2010)
The Annihilation Point by Berserker Residents (2010)

Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War by Mad Ones (2010)
Galactic Girl by Jon Hoche (2011)
The Hallway Trilogy Part Three: Nursing by Adam Rapp (2011)
How to live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe adapted by Matt Slaybaugh and Jennifer Fawcett (2011)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? adapted by Untitled Theater Company 61 (2011)
Frankenstein by Nick Dear (2011)
World of Wires by Jay Scheib (2012)

This is by no means a complete list, just a sample based on some basic internet research. These are works which as far as I can tell have been published, or had at least one full production/run at a regional or off-broadway theater. (there are a few that were off-off Broadway). I left off plays which are closer to the genre of horror, fantasy, or which deal primarily in the super-natural (eg Little Shop of Horrors, Spider Man, etc.) I don't have anything against horror, fantasy, or comic book genres they are just not what I'm currently investigating. If you know of other works that fit the criteria please post in the comments. I will try and update.

Here is the definition of Science Fiction I am using (from Wikipedia):

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary that is more or less plausible (or at least non-supernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities. Exploring the consequences of scientific innovations is one purpose of science fiction...Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. It is similar to, but differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation).

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The Universe is a Small Hat

Other universes can get intoxicating, but ours is the one we are stuck with.
Many universes had to be tested to arrive at this one.
The specific qualities which ensure the possibility of life are unique and hard earned.
Multiple universes had to be tried on, stretched, re-purposed, folded, printed, rolled, curled, expanded, and imploded in order to know precisely which kind of universe could establish intelligence.

So feel lucky.
You are special.

The universe is a small hat worn by an enormous reserve of energetic potential.
It is one of trillions of accessories that completes the outfit of a primordial froth.

You are in a bubble.

You are a tiny bubble in a tiny bubble in an enormous foam of eternal consequence. It is no small thing that you can witness the edges of your own known universe.
You are everywhere right now.
Changes at one insignificant point can affect distant parts of the universe.
Your wave function extends into every known and unknown crevice of creation.
This is "Spooky action at a distance," and it is everything we have.
Try to appreciate it.

The fact of your existence has the same the likelihood of a laser telescope being assembled out of a pile of sand and a brisk wind. You are a small feat. You are deeply improbable.

Perhaps that is why so many of us are unhappy. Our sheer improbability is in a constant struggle against entropy. From day one we are forced to resist the Universe's desire to pull us apart and return us to non-existence.

It's hard to be an organized assembly of particles.


(Let's try to assemble a small neutron star out of metal parts.
That's the best way to keep ourselves afloat.)

Music Is Science Fiction: An Interview With The Lisps

Reposted from LightSpeed Magazine
by Desirina Boskovich

Brooklyn-based band The Lisps definitely bring a unique element to New York’s indie rock scene. Quirky performances and eclectic sounds, influenced by folk and bluegrass, lend playful charm to lyrics-driven songs that are cerebral and wistful by turns. Their first full-length album, Country Doctor Museum, was released in 2008, following a debut EP titled The Vain, the Modest and the Dead. And, as far as we know, they’re the first indie rock band to write and produce an original, steampunk musical fusing science fiction, experimental music, and the Civil War.

FUTURITY follows the wartime experience of aspiring science fiction writer and lowly Confederate solider Julian Munro. While surrounded by destruction, Julian strikes up a correspondence with real-life metaphysician Ada Lovelace, history’s first female computer programmer. Together, the idealistic pair imagine a utopian future defined by an omnipotent machine that will end war once and for all.

Sammy Tunis and César Alvarez of The Lisps play the roles of Ada Lovelace and Julian Munro, backed by Lisps’ drummer Eric Farber. The play was written by Alvarez, and staged with the help of theatrical collaborators, as well as financial contributions from their fans, raised via Kickstarter.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve exchanged several e-mails with The Lisps. In the interview that follows, we touch on topics such as self-help songs, The Difference Engine, string theory, and, of course, The Singularity.

#

Desirina Boskovich: Broad question: what was the genesis for FUTURITY? What inspired your interest in Civil War history? Can you talk about the writing process for the musical?

César Alvarez: The idea for a concept album about a civil war soldier who was a science fiction writer literally just popped into my head while I was driving through Virginia in the fall of 2007. I held onto the idea for a while and then started working on it for my master’s thesis performance at Bard the following spring. The idea quickly turned into a musical. …[As] I started writing in this completely new form, I had no idea what I was doing. The early drafts of FUTURITY are bizarre lists and haiku-like texts. It has come a long way. The writing process has really been defined by the productions. If you count my thesis presentation at Bard, we’ve performed FUTURITY with four different casts in five different places. Each time we put the piece up the show is transformed, songs are added, characters developed, major plot points are changed, etc.

DB: When you first began working on the project, did you conceive it as a “steampunk” piece, or is that a term that came along as the project evolved?

CA: Definitely not. It is an aesthetic that we’ve used to our advantage but we didn’t want to define ourselves that way because it seemed limiting. William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s novel The Difference Engine is something I read during my research period which was hugely influential, and I’m pretty sure it was that book that introduced me to the historical figure of Ada Lovelace. Also, Julian’s world is very rustic and messy, not the brass-encrusted fantasy of steampunk. So in Julian’s fantasy world, we like that his machine is made from rusty and dilapidated parts because that’s what his experience is.

DB: What were your aesthetic influences for the set design?

CA: The wonderful artist, and my soon-to-be wife, Emily Orling, did the set design. She is a visual artist and not a set designer and so she brought an atypical approach, I think. Her concept for the design was to use found and re-purposed objects as the raw material for the world. So there was very little in the way of set pieces, and scenery. Everything was a real object folded into an imaginary context. A lot of the drum set/Steam Brain was built by Eric Farber, our drummer. Pretty much everything that he used as percussion was something he found on E-Bay or in junk stores and then mounted to be part of his instrument. … Part of what we were doing was to create a science-fictional work out of things that a civil war soldier might see around him… Ada’s world was made from those kinds of materials, and even the natural landscape started to become mechanized and industrialized, but in an 1860’s sort of way. We also relish some choice anachronisms, and in no aspect of FUTURITY are we overly pious about any time period or historical narrative.

DB: One thing I loved about FUTURITY was the sensitive and sophisticated portrayal of Ada Lovelace, especially since the role of the female inventor is often overlooked in history and under-explored in science fiction. What inspired your interest in Lovelace, and how did you research her character?

CA: I first heard about Ada in The Difference Engine, and I was at the time really searching for how Sammy’s character was going to fit into the piece. Since this was supposed to be a musical for our band I needed both Sammy and I to have pivotal characters. Ada became the perfect link into the history of computing and such a great mentor/idol/muse for Julian. Their worlds couldn’t be more different and their relationship was so improbable that it was exciting territory. In earlier versions, Ada was imagined totally by Julian, but we found that her role had much more power if we made her real and invested in Julian.

DB: César, in a letter to your fans about FUTURITY, you wrote: “I like to think of music as a form of Utopianism. For me, Music is science fiction.” Could you expand upon that?

CA: I like to think about string theory, wherein the entirety of the universe is made up of infinitesimal vibrating strings. Music is the perfect metaphor for the way the universe is built. Musicians create physical organization through pure vibration. Music is also one of the earliest forms of organization. Someone banging a rock in rhythm is a very early form of civilization. Music is the “civilization” of air through the organizing properties of rhythm and harmonics. So I hold music to be one of the most important ways that humanity envisions alternative forms of organization, which, in essence, is also what science fiction does.

DB: Regarding the themes of FUTURITY, you also wrote that “a feverish drive towards innovation is what keeps us alive and what can aid in our self-destruction.” Is this what fuels your interest in The Singularity? (Follow the link to read the lyrics and hear the song.)

CA: I’m so interested in technological singularity because it seems very relevant. Future shock used to be something shared among generations. At this point, every few years you need to adjust your technological tools and mindset to understand what is happening around you. I think the discussion about tech singularity helps me understand what technology means in the context of society and it gives a frame of reference. I don’t really subscribe to any Kurzweilian orthodoxy but I do think that the discussion is really fruitful.

DB: You describe your band as “the public/performative version of all the relationships you’re struggling with.” Besides the angst and rewards of 21st-century relationships, what other themes do you explore in your songs?

Sammy Tunis: Lately the themes of our songs haves touched less on personal relationships and more on science, space, time, The Singularity, and mathematics. The songs in the musical obviously follow somewhat of a narrative having to do with the relationship between scientific innovation and imagination, technological hubris and war, artificial intelligence, fantasy, etc, but there are also some pure love songs in there, too, and a lot of folk ballads. The songs on our forthcoming album really run the gamut as far as themes. …There are a few songs I like to obnoxiously call Self-Help songs: “you should do this and that”, a song called “Try” about trying new things, and a song called “Psychological Health.” Cesar’s about to get married, so a lot of the songs were written when he was falling in love with and living with his girlfriend and fall more in the domestic/love realm…

DB: SF-themed music boasts a venerable tradition, from David Bowie and Sonic Youth to the Flaming Lips and Deltron 3030, etc, etc. What are your favorite “sci-fi songs,” other than your own, obviously?

CA: My favorite sci-fi song is “Two-Slit Experiment” by Jess Segal. I was also hugely influenced by The Flaming Lips album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, though you might not hear it in my music. I grew up almost exclusively listening to jazz and then came really late (in college) to most rock/pop music. I’ve probably read more sci-fi than listened to it.

DB: Besides The Difference Engine, what science fiction books and stories have been influential for you? Or maybe just fun to read?

CA: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was really important for FUTURITY, because it dealt with so many of the same issues and was in a pre-computer time frame. Other books I love: Neuromancer, Parable of the Talents, The Forever War, Accelerando, 2001, The Final Question. Also, I have to give credit to Betty A. Toole, who was the first to transcribe Ada’s correspondence in her book The Enchantress of Numbers. Though that is all science fact, we relied heavily on her research for FUTURITY.

#

The Lisps are currently working on the next incarnation of FUTURITY, along with a FUTURITYAre We at the Movies? is slated for release this fall. Meanwhile, Alvarez is working on his next musical: M-Brane: A Splendid Dimension, a story about string theory and two untrained astronauts on a four-year space journey. concept album for full production in 2011, and their third album, tentatively titled

To learn more about The Lisps, hear their music, and find out where and when they’re performing, visit them on Facebook and Myspace.

Tasks

Why not re-structure and more closely examine various philosophical and linguistic approaches to sound. Below are a set of incomplete tasks and unanswered questions that might arise in relation to that re-structuring:

1. Examine the ways of hearing.
2. Discover rhythm (and secondarily melody) as sources of mimetic/empathetic experience. These musical elements engage the most primal ways of learning and interacting: imitation.
3. Take responsibility for the implications of performance. What is worth rejecting and protecting about a concert experience? Is musical performance necessarily indoctrination?
4. Admit to persona. Decide on (create) its meaning.
5. In musical contexts, explore the distinguishing qualities of prose, dialogue, narration, poetry, and lyrics.
6. Re-examine the word “experimental.” What status quo does it imply? What status quo can the idea of “experimentation” engender?
7. To what extent has inherited (evolved) neural “wiring” pre-determined a relationship to sound? In music, does the familiar only validate or does it create space for transformation?
8. In what ways do the digital music “revolution” de- and re-commodify music? How is the composer implicated? How does the role of composer transform?
9. Where does unamplified acoustic sound stand in relation to:

• Networked culture
• Simulated (virtual) experience
• Cellular and video communication
• mp3 (musical) culture
• Nano-technology
• Space travel

10. Examine the “processing” that happens to sound through every channel:

• amplification
• pirating
• distribution
• documentation
• studio production
• mixing
• mastering
• sharing
• marketing
• performance
• verbal/written critique
• repeated listening
• podcasts/radio/downloads
• co-opting
• sampling
• scoring/transcribing/arranging

A Machine That Creates Peace


Dear Friends,

The run of FUTURITY that is ending this weekend has been a really major development for my band and for me as an artist. The experience of collaborating with so many wonderful performers, designers, directors, and talented people has been an unbelievable blessing that has brought forth a really original piece of performance.

I came up with the idea for a musical about a a Civil War soldier that wants to be a science fiction writer almost two years ago. The piece started out as a goofy idea for The Lisps and has turned into a 70 minute play with 15 songs and a Cast & Crew of 18 people.

FUTURITY, at is core, is a piece about war and imagination. It's about the simultaneous human drive towards both destruction and phenomenal acts of creativity. FUTURITY is about the malleability of the past and the future. It's about the way in which a feverish drive towards innovation is what keeps us alive and what can aid in our self-destruction

I've thought for a long time that music is the opposite of war. Though I realize that music is so often used to promote war, the origins of music are in the human attempt to organize chaos (noise). Music is one of the earliest forms of civilization, and it possesses within it all the same potential for chaos and disharmony that society does.

I've tried to create a piece that speaks to the way in which I've learned to understand my life as an artist. Being a musician may sometimes feel like an exercise in futility but I know that at a fundamental level we are creating a proposal for society. A proposal for the way in which things might be organized with an eye towards community, compassion and creativity. I like to think of music as a form of Utopianism. For me, Music is science fiction.

I hope that you'll come see this piece not because you feel obligated but because we have put forth so much effort to create a piece that speaks to these ideals. We are telling the story of creativity and conflict in a time that needs so much of the former and has so much of the latter.

I hope to see you there.

Love, César

FUTURITY: A Musical by The Lisps
2 More Shows at Joe's Pub
Friday May 22 8pm
Sunday May 24th 7:30pm

www.futuritythemusical.com

Buy Tickets Here

50 Proposals for the Future of Sounds

Martin Puryear “Plenty's Boast”

1. A digital recording is a score, performed by trained and partially equipped experiencers.

2. New bots inhabit the spaces between samples. They communicate to one another the absences and potentials alluded to by a moment of media.

3. Inter–disciplinary gave way to anti-disciplinary fades into post-disciplinary erased by the inconceivable volume of communicative possibilities.

4. One moment (in multitudes) of sound: so loud that every mobile Malleus (hammer) on earth flexes in honor of the experiment

5. Sample rate so rapid that the time each bit inhabits has been warped by the speed necessary to collect its binary name.

6. Immerse the public in Perilymph.

7. Chemical composition determines resonance. The composer is a chemist.

8. Emotional resonance is the body’s unwillingness to relinquish expressive decisions to the brain.

9. The network, starts as a string (cable). Becomes a web. Becomes a porous fabric. Becomes a metallic sheet. Becomes a dense compression of strata. Becomes a living skin inhabited by emerged consciousness.

10. The network has wildlife. Predators, Prey, Parasites, Fauna, Sickness, Herbs.

11. Design is Disease. Disease is Mutation. Mutation is Design.

12. Learn to understand memory by depleting/processing your material possessions.

13. I believe in emptiness, vibration and electricity.

14. Isolate the ingredients for your projects. Molecules, Cells, Atoms, Consciousness.

15. Dark matter is a musical frontier.

16. Space travel is inhabiting sound on pause.

17. Rhythm is the body. Headphones are disembodiment.

18.Sounds to examine: purchases, energy, children interacting on the network, the oscillation of viral exchange, the afterlife of packaging material, human migration, melting.

19. Designate each person as a sample and derive 37,792 hours of CD quality audio.

20. Screaming is a commodified point of view.

21. Vibration is an elusive business model. Purchasing power is equivalent to memory.

22. Musical creation becomes the output of networked and cybernetically predictive conglomerates. Their objectives fluctuate between arousal, placation and inciting amnesia

23. Atonal and arrhythmic recordings are subjects of anthropological discourse.

24. Isorhythm becomes an affliction.

25. Audio warfare is the subject of congressional hearings in which the public debates sonic cruelty and the woeful of lack of adequate protection for the nation’s citizens and armed forces.

26. Middle Ear nano-receptors revolutionize the memory enhancement and psycho-acoustic capabilities of multi-function cognitive entertainment systems.

27. Neocortical Sound Synthesis programs are officially added to most prenatal and early childhood music curricula.

28. Vibration from city, highway and airport noise is stored and reused via kinetic energy cells.

29. Standardized measuring of personal sound energy flux allows everyone to ascertain his or her own relative (native) receptivity (density) to experimental audio.

30. Teach fractal synthesis, electrical current phrase mimicry, breath/pulse listening, audiosomatic pain reduction, “hearing things” as composition, and sonic turmoil.

31. Post-Digital is the frontier in which ones and zeros (quantum particles) exhibit predictive behavior.

32. Bruises are bodily reverberations of compacted/inertial sound.

33. Sounds to examine: Vocal and cerebral activity during prayer, the oscillation of public opinion, internal organ noise of grain fed livestock, bacterial evolution, the numerical resonance of economic collapse.

34. Develop a new theory of musical pleasure based on perceived hype, redundancy, and novelty.

35. As a composer, expect emotional and critical sublimation from your audience.

36. Sensory dissonance on the basilar membrane (inner ear) is a widely accepted technique in popular/commercial music.

37. Auditory hallucinogenic drugs are delivered illicitly on personal music players.

38. Drum machines develop cybernetic (organic) personality.

39. Rhythm regains lifespan.

40. After the unification of Physics, composers work to make the world of quantum mechanics audible (popular).

41. Musical Nano-Drugs, which allow adults to enjoy their children’s music, are commercially available. Bots benignly invade the auditory cortex and install the neuron structures of your choice.

42. Absolute Pitch, Environmental Mute Function, Hearing Reinstatement, and Earshot Extension, are all available commercially.

43. Sound comes from the brain’s evolutionary need to fictionalize (embellish) vibration.

44. Pitch is an invented linguistic outgrowth of sound.

45. Music is a longstanding human accident (adornment) in which the brain rewards itself, and the body, for it own accomplishment and discovery.

46. Noise is a constructed regret. Fake.

47. Rhythm, as a structure, is the (a) fundamental unit of life and physical organization.

48. The composer is measured against the possibility of visceral ecstasy. She is loaded down with the failures and Gnostic wisdom of tradition. She is able to conjure and deaden. She is never taught what is available, but it is still available.

49. Recording: initially the instatement of illusionistic reverberation into the seat of authentic experience. It inaugurated a colonial structure onto the haphazard economy of musical experience and experimentation. Recording turned on itself and became the subject of it’s own gaze (colonization). Recording became wilderness anew. It seeped into the ground.

50. Music is the human effort to civilize air.