Bridge Podcast with David Borgo
In episode #56 I'm joined by saxophonist and author David Borgo to discuss improvisation in a complex age
David is an ethnomusicologist who teaches at the University of California San Diego in the Integrative Studies department as well as the Center for Research in Entertainment and Learning alongside previous Bridge Podcast guest, Shlomo Dubnov. A few of his musical projects include the duo KaiBorg and the sextet Kronomorfic.
David is also the author of the fantastic Sync of Swarm: Improvising Music in a Complex Age which covers pretty much all the topics I care about such as complexity, chaos, criticality, coordination - all the "C" words really.
Some of David’s Projects:
KaiBorg
Kronomorfic
Kronomorfic deals with complex polyrhythmic and polymetric structures. These materials are similar to the notion of “pulse fields” discussed by Denman Maroney in his Temporal Harmony.
For some more perspective on this approach to rhythm please check out my conversation with Denman on Bridge Podcast Episode #44 and my 8 minute video on pulse fields:
Discussed in Episode #56:
I wanted to spend most of the conversation talking about Sync or Swarm but I also tried to branch off into related topics.
Here’s an outline of the conversation:
0:00 - Introduction
0:58 - Coffee
1:58 - KaiBorg / Hyperinstruments
5:50 - Revised version of David's book Sync or Swarm
8:19 - "Improvisation is spontaneous composition"
13:00 - Does improvisation extend into the machine realm?
15:40 - Indeterminacy vs Improvisation
17:19 - Complicated / Complex / Chaotic
24:00 - Emergence
28:30 - Theories of Mind / Embodied Cognition
33:00 - Prediction Errors / Comedy
36:30 - Flow
39:00 - Evan Parker / Cybernetics
43:00 - Jazz transcription vs GPT-3 training
48:00 - Quining Qualia
52:00 - Futurism