7 Philippe Manoury's Jupiter1

148 • Andrew May
indications of time points and descriptions of sound will refer to Elizabeth
McNutt’s recording of Jupiter, with which the author became thoroughly
conversant in the process of preparing it for release on CD.
An overview of the relationship between fl ute and computer is also relatively
simple. Th is relationship is highly determinate: the parts are synchronized
frequently at cues provided by particular notes in the fl ute line. Th e
fl utist reads from a score that includes the computer’s part, as well as each
numbered cue. Th e computer, too, reads from a score; each section of the
work is represented to the computer by a pair of text fi les. One of these, the
“follow” score, documents the fl ute’s expected sequence of notes and relates
it to a numbered sequence of cues. Th e other text fi le, the “qlist,” correlates
each cue with messages to soft ware modules that determine the computer’s
responses. In this textual notation, the follow score corresponds to the fl ute
part, and the qlist to the computer part. As the fl utist reads the notated score
in performance, the computer reads through the follow and qlist scores to
fi nd its way through the piece. Th e relationships between fl utist and computer
are constantly mediated by a combination of the computer’s text scores and
the fl utist’s notated score.
7.3.1. Technological Perspective: Instruments, Players, and Conductor
Th e Jupiter scores are parsed and put into action by a large and intricate
patch written in the Max environment (see Puckette 1991a). Th is graphical
document both creates and displays the fl ows of data, signals, and processes
that produce the timbres and behaviors of the computer part. Th e patch is
modular, consisting of numerous “subpatches” that are oft en nested inside
one another. Each subpatch performs a specifi c function such as pitch tracking,
score following, synthesis, or sample playback.
Th e Jupiter patch integrates the functions of orchestra, players, and
conductor. Th e pitch tracker and score follower correlate the fl utist’s notes
with the follow score and trigger messages from the qlist. Th e qlist messages
instruct the various subpatches to generate the sounds and behaviors that
make up the computer part. Th e messages are interpreted according to a
syntax built into the design of each subpatch. Many subpatches can receive
several diff erent kinds of messages which trigger diff erent behaviors. Th e
instruments themselves are signal-processing functions buried within the
patch; they receive data from a variety of other subpatches that mediate between
the qlist’s messages and the instruments. Th us, the score follower acts
metaphorically as conductor; the players are the subpatches that interpret
qlist messages and turn them into instructions to the instruments. Manoury
describes the computer’s role as “becoming more and more like a human being
(a musician, in this case). In other words, the machine listens, waits for an
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