About the experiment

Wolff1 is a digital score. It is a realisation of Christian Wolff’s famous composition For 1, 2 or 3 Players (1964) conceptualized as an interactive robot. The robot is embedded with AI that has been trained on Wolff’s original score and will work with you in realtime to realise the music.

You are being asked to prepare, rehearse, and perform Wolff1 as part of an experiment to study the extent to which digital scores communicate musical ideas. Below you will find a range of resources that will help you prepare for this experiment. This experiment will be conducted on a piano for all participants.

Actions to do:

  • Read the participation info sheet (at the bottom of this page). Ask questions if you have any, then sign the consent form
  • Read Wolff’s original programme notes, performers’ instructions and the list of principles (all below). It is important that you develop your own interpretation strategy, so please use the further reading and resources provided or search the net for info.
  • Have a play through using the original example of the score below (or any page from his score) to test out your interpretation strategy. Record it, how well do you feel it matches Wolff’s programme notes?
  • Then, spend some time practicing your interpretation strategy with the Wolff 1 practice video.
  • Now you are ready for the experiment.

Example of the original score (© Christian Wolff 1964)

Below is a sample page taken from Wolff’s original score. Before you attempt to practice with this example, it is an imperative that you read, and understand the original programme notes, and read and understand the performer’s instructions.

Wolff Extract

Programme Notes (original)

Below are the original programme notes from Christian Wolff. We have highlighted several key phrases that are critical to understanding the core philosophy and approach needed with the original 1964 version and also Wolff1 (we have highlighted key phrases):

This music is drawn from the interaction of the people playing it. It requires for its performance independent self-discipline (unpoliced by a score defining fixed relationships and timings) and a capacity and special alertness for responding to what one’s fellow performers are doing, the sounds they are making or changing and their silences. The responding can be variously deliberate (there is time and you are free) or must be quick and sudden (there are precise requirements which appear unpredictably). At the time (1964) I was concerned to make a lively situation for the performers, and shift about the difficult and the free areas of their playing (for example, the more unusual difficulty of articulating timbre changes in a situation where you are busy coordinating with others’ unpredictably appearing sounds; or, the freedom to choose any pitch at your leisure). The resulting sounds and silences were to be the music, and the fact of its emerging in this way was to be the source of its expressiveness.

In the meantime, others pointed out the pedagogical character of this activity and some social implications (for instance, a kind of democratic interdependence). Where the presence and internal activity of the players can only be imagined by the listener, these latter aspects of the music are evident only to the experience of the players. For the listener the sounds can only speak for themselves and for the devotion and skill of the players.

Two further thoughts: the score and its requirements for making this music is such that anyone seriously wishing to, whether or not musically trained or professional, can read and use it; the music might be an incentive to do that; that is, to make performers of listeners. And, a more general thought, the movement of the music (and, I think, just about all the music I have worked on) is towards melody in its largest sense (as well as, sometimes, its familiar sense of the singable line). This may not be always obvious, but then the times are not conducive to easy optimism. (Wolff 1964)

Performer’s Instructions (original)

A copy of the original score can be found here. LINK

The general principles for performance are:

  • Respond to others: Performers must be aware of what other performers are doing and respond accordingly.
  • Be self-disciplined: Performers must be able to exercise self-discipline and respond to unpredictable requirements.
  • Use any sound-producing means: Performers can use any instrument or method to create sound.
  • Be open to change: Performers must be ready to change their approach based on what others are doing.
  • Be aware of the piece’s structure: Performers must be aware of their position in the piece’s overall structure.
  • Be aware of the piece’s rules: Performers must be aware of the rules that govern the piece.

Features of the piece

  • The piece is written in graphic notation.
  • The piece is accessible to performers without professional musical training.
  • The piece is characterized by its unconventional notation.
  • The piece is considered “contingent”, meaning it requires performers to react in real time.

Performer’s instructions (for Wolff1)

Wolff1 will work in real-time generating the score for you to play. It follows the same rules that you do from the original Performer’s Instructions, the programme notes and from the principles listed above. Read, understand and learn these rules and you will be ready to perform the digital score

Examples of Performances

Example of Wolff1

Here is a demo video of Wolff1

Further reading on interpreting Wolff’s work

Interview with Wolff

Participation Information Sheets

Participation Info Sheet can be found here

Full Privacy Notice can be found here

Before you participate in this experiment you must read the Participation Information Sheet and Privacy Notice then sign this consent form and email it to Prof Craig Vear .