Terry Riley’s “In C“ - Algorithmic Live Performance with generative visuals

For this electronic performance of Terry Riley’s seminal work “In C“, I sequenced and programmed an Ableton Live session that is capable of playing the entire piece without any human intervention beyond one initial mouse click. The data of the session is also sent in real-time to Touch Designer to create generative visuals on the fly. Since the development of the piece is determined via probability, every performance is slightly different. This unedited 50 minutes long recording of a live performance only shows one version from an endless pool of possible ones. About In C: “In C is a musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for an indefinite number of performers. It consists of 53 short, numbered musical phrases, lasting from half a beat to 32 beats; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times. Each musician has control over which phrase they play: players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase. In this way, although the melodic content of each part is predetermined, In C has elements of aleatoric music to it.“ (from ) Follow my work: If you want, you can buy me a coffee: