The Unusually Harmonious Blacksmith (2006)

Earlier this year I explored the possibility of writing a plug-in for Sibelius, one that used some of the techniques I had applied to my compositions in the 1980's. It was surprisingly successful despite being quite simple. It only required a page of code and that was enough to generate a series of coherent variations for two pianos on Handel's 'The Harmonious Backsmith'. [An extract from this is playing at the moment]

I just ran the plug-in several times with some values that I knew would be effective, and the score appeared. The only adjustments I had to make were to correct some pitches that appeared in the wrong octave.

My friend David Boshier and I met with David Harvey (Chief Technical Officer) and Daniel Spreadbury (Product Manager) at Sibelius' London offices to present the idea in April. They were generous in their praise, Daniel saying it was the best example of this kind of compositional plug-in he had heard; but they weren't able to fund its development. I understand the commercial reasons for their decision and part of me is glad - to turn it into a foolproof rock-solid plug-in would have required a lot of testing and programming - not something I'm drawn to. And the intended audience for such a program was not clear - there was a feeling it could be mis-used by music students! Of course, part of me is disappointed. It's not the financial angle (honestly!) - it's more that I do feel I made an original and significant leap in understanding with this area of my work and that this is currently going unnoticed.

So...any research establishments out there who are interested and who may wish to help with development, please get in touch!