Composing for relative time in distributed performance

Abstract

Music is a temporal art. Recent experience with distributed performance has introduced new challenges to traditional ways of thinking about time with respect to ensemble composition and performance. Performing across two sites connected by the Internet entails compensating for delays, though those delays have become shorter and musicians more experienced in dealing with them in recent years. When the number of sites involved grows to three or more, however, another layer of complexity is added as performers at the various sites are confronted with different configurations of latency, and thereby significantly different performances, at each location.