Analysis, reconstruction, and performance of interactive electroacoustic works for clarinet and obsolete technology: Selected works by Musgrave, Pennycook, Kramer, and Lippe

Performers interested in presenting interactive electroacoustic works face serious obstacles when the required equipment or technology becomes obsolete or unavailable. Transcription to updated technology provides at best a temporary solution. Detailed and device-independent documentation of interactive electronic systems used in older works can guide new performance realizations using available equipment. Such documentation should itself be formatted in a way that does not depend on specific electronic devices for interpretation or retrieval. Therefore, this paper proposes a model for the documentation and preservation of interactive electroacoustic music systems in which all synthesis and audio signal processing algorithms, control functions, and human-machine interactions are described in machine-neutral terms, using a combination of text, mathematics, and schematic diagrams. As an example of such documentation, the technical requirements for four works are analyzed and described: Thea Musgrave's Narcissus (1987), for clarinet in B-flat and digital delay, Bruce Pennycook's Praescio IV (1990) for clarinet and interactive MIDI system, Jonathan Kramer's Renascence (1974) for clarinet, tape, and tape delay system, and Cort Lippe's Music for Clarinet and ISPW (1992). New performance realizations of two of these works, Musgrave's Narcissus and Pennycook's Praescio IV are described and presented as part of the accompanying lecture-recital