Lorenz Factor: improvising algorithmic music

The authors reflect upon Lorenz Factor, a musical performance developed for the Everyday is Spatial conference at the University of Gloucestershire in June 2022. The piece involves tracking the movements of the audience in order to spatialise the sound and provide streams of data that the performers use to control synthesisers or generate patterns. Further methods drawn from algorithmic composition and data sonification are deployed to give the musicians elements to respond to and perform with. The authors consider the nature of immersion in musical performances, proposing an approach to immersion that draws upon disciplines including gaming and theatre, and is less technology-driven than some current trends. Considering the use of space, the nature of the instrument and the role of the audience in Lorenz Factor leads to a discussion of Simon Water’s “performance ecosystem” and Christopher Small’s “musicking”, which provide an expanded conceptualisation of musical instruments, performance and audience participation.