Sonic Experimentalism in the Practice of Conducting : Sound Sticks and Magic Wands, or Expansion of Practice?

Abstract

The sonic baton is a novel intelligent instrument that expands the practice of conducting by sonifying conductor gestures, with or without an ensemble. This paper reviews related sonic baton technologies developed over the past two decades before it introduces the sonic baton, an intelligent instrument using neural audio synthesis with Realtime Audio Variational autoEncoder (RAVE) models, applying practice-research in a series of performance experiments. These experiments highlight the baton’s potential for diverse sonic expressions. Reflections on performances reveal unique opportunities for conductors, ensembles, and composers. paper concludes that artificial intelligence can significantly expand conducting practices and augment musical ensembles’ sonic expressions, reinforcing the emergence of a new music-science paradigm.