MetaMix: Between Unity and Collaboration

In this paper, I describe MetaMix (2002) and I analyze its ambivalent relationship to modern and postmodern thought. I offer neither a complete analysis of the work nor a deep exploration of relevant theory. Rather, I focus on the two key aspects of MetaMix which best exemplify its ambivalence towards modernism and postmodernism: its approach to form, and its transformation of the roles of composer, performer, and listener. Reading this paper is no substitute for experiencing MetaMix directly. The accompanying CD-ROM is an install disc for Mac OS X 10.1.x/10.2.x and Windows 98/NT/2000/Me/XP. (MetaMix is not compatible with Mac OS 9 and earlier or with Windows 95 and earlier.) The disc also includes some audio examples of MetaMix's output, accessible through any audio compact disc player. MetaMix is algorithmic audio remixing software for Mac OS X and Windows. It is a musical composition in that it creates original music, but it consists entirely of direct quotations, and the source of those quotations is not even predetermined. It is a software tool in that it manipulates audio files, but its functionality is too narrowly focused to be of practical use, and it lacks even the built-in ability to save or record its creations. It is a digital audio player in that it plays compact discs and MP3 files, but it would take longer than the age of the universe for it to reach the end of a five-minute audio track. It is an interactive experience in that musical output is dependent on user input, but users are encouraged to set a few parameters, press play, and then let the software run without further intervention — for hours or even days at a time. And it is a work of conceptual art in that it is the stubborn realization of a single simple idea, but its intent is to communicate musical structure more than to communicate a concept. 1 The concept behind MetaMix is simple. Take an audio file. Divide it into equal-length chunks. Label those chunks with the natural numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3,…. Rearrange those chunks as dictated by an interesting (and usually self-similar 2) infinite integer sequence. Essentially, MetaMix superimposes a new musical form onto pre-existing musical material. Chunks are the basic building blocks of audio which MetaMix manipulates. Figure 1 shows how MetaMix divides an audio file into chunks by beginning a new chunk every four seconds in …