Tinman Tre
A Life Explored
by
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Several years ago, a student asked me to define ‘generative music.’ I thought about it, and soon realized—aside from its obvious dictionary meaning—that I really had no idea. Wanting to make sure I didn’t face that question again and feel so ignorant, I visited the web, and YouTube in particular, to discover what I’d been missing. Especially since it seemed to have a great deal to do with algorithmic composition.
What I found there mystified me. In a short video called, I believe, ‘An Introduction to Generative Music,’ I discovered, much to my chagrin, that I was one of the two pioneers of this field along with Brian Eno. Following one of my composition teacher’s dictums, ‘any publicity is good so long as they spell your name right,’ I should have been delighted at my pioneering efforts. And, while I don’t feel that Eno’s music and mine are particularly similar, I do respect his work and felt complemented to be included with his pioneering efforts.
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About the Book
Offering insight into the creative processes of music composition, writing and visual art, Tinman Tre presents 150 vignettes from Author David Cope’s life. Some of the individuals discussed in this innovative autobiography include Orson Welles, Ernie Kovacs, Evelyn Wood, Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dali, Stan Laurel, Raymond Chandler, Bill Watterson, George Perle, William Holden, John Cage, Donald Erb, Gordon Mumma, George McGovern, Andre Gregory, Leon Panetta, Brian Ferneyhough, Laurie Anderson, Mickey Hart, Brian Eno, Hiram Bingham, Pinchas Zukerman, Yuja Wang, John Steinbeck, George Lucas, and Steve McQueen.
The title, borrowed from L. Frank Baum’s book The Wizard of Oz, is an aphorism affectionately attached to Cope in the late 1990s. The reference reflects the many attitudes about his work with his computer music program, Experiments in Musical Intelligence, critics feeling the results of this program lacking heart.
About the Author
David Cope is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Santa Cruz. His previous books include New Directions in Music, Techniques of the Contemporary Composer, Computers and Musical Style, Experiments in Musical Intelligence, The Algorithmic Composer, Tinman, Tinman Too, and Computer Models of Musical Creativity.