Concept Planings

· 3 min read

concept note parts: 1. thesaurus, 1. micro definition 2. (1,2 sentences 25 40 words) : whats appears on hover 3. operational, not historical. 4. content: what concept does in your practice 5...

concept note parts:

  1. thesaurus,
    1. micro-definition
    2. (1,2 sentences 25-40 words) : whats appears on hover
    3. operational, not historical.
    4. content: what concept does in your practice
    5. how it functions (not why it matter philosophically)
    6. This layer answers: “What does this mean here, right now, in this work?”
    7. no ref, no geneaologys.
  2. deep research (phd comittes, )
    1. 300-500 words
    2. canonical definition
    3. sections:
      1. definition
      2. operational role (in the portfolio)
      3. relations to adjacent concepts (link to other concept notes)
    4. This layer answers: “How does this concept function across the whole practice?”
  3. research application
    1. state of the art (400-700 words)
    2. artistic implications: 200-400 words
    3. sections:
      1. State of the art:
        • key authors, theories, precedents, not exhaustive, but well-curated
      2. Tensions/ open problems
        • what is unresolved, contested, or under-theorized
      3. Artistic / compositional implications
        • how this concept enables or transforms composition, notation, instrument design
    4. This layer answers: “Why does this concept matter now, and what can be done with it artistically?”

total lengh;1200-1500w

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System
A structured set of relations between materials, bodies, technologies, and rules whose interactions generate musical form. In this practice, systems replace fixed musical objects as the primary compositional unit.

Notation
A technology of memory and control that formalizes pre-acoustic, acoustic, and post-acoustic phenomena. Not limited to symbolic pitch-time representation, but extended to parametric, procedural, material, and environmental domains.

Instrumentality
The condition by which an object, system, or configuration becomes musically operative through use. Instrumentality is not intrinsic to objects but emerges from interaction, constraint, and feedback.

Feedback
A recursive coupling between action and response in which sound, gesture, or data re-enters the system as a compositional force. Feedback functions as both material and formal generator.

Emergence
The appearance of perceptual or structural properties not explicitly encoded in the system’s rules, arising from interaction between components. Emergence is treated as a compositional outcome rather than an aesthetic byproduct.

Distributed Cognition
A model in which musical decision-making and perception are shared across humans, instruments, machines, and environments. Cognition is embedded in systems rather than localized in the composer or performer.

Embodiment
The inseparability of musical structure from corporeal action. Embodiment frames gesture, effort, and physical constraint as compositional parameters.

Material Agency
The capacity of materials (acoustic, electronic, mechanical) to influence musical outcomes beyond human intention. Materials are treated as active participants rather than passive carriers.

Speculative Organology
A research practice focused on the invention, modification, and fictionalization of instruments to explore alternative musical ontologies. Organology is approached as a speculative and generative discipline.

Score
A structured interface that mediates between system design and performance. Scores may be symbolic, animated, procedural, or implicit in material configuration.

Memory
The capacity of a system to retain, replay, transform, or mirror past actions. Memory operates at the level of notation, recording, buffering, and embodied habit.

Control
The deliberate imposition of constraints on system behavior. Control is always partial and exists in productive tension with indeterminacy and emergence.

Indeterminacy
The presence of non-predictable outcomes within a controlled system. Indeterminacy is not randomness but the result of complex interaction.

Crossmodal / Transmodal
The coupling of auditory phenomena with visual, spatial, or gestural dimensions. Musical form is understood as an entangled perceptual field rather than a purely sonic event.

Fictional Object
An instrumental or conceptual construct that does not correspond to an existing musical category but is rendered operable through notation, system design, and performance.