Composing an Interactive Environment and Preparing a Performance with Generative Agents
As part of its research into generative processes, the work of IRCAM's Musical Representations team is reflected in the design of software for composing interactive devices and inventing new modes of interaction with composers, musicians, and impro-visers. By means of artificial listening and synchronization of musical signals, Dicy2 and Somax2 implement intelligent agents capable of learning on the fly or in advance, and of immediate or predefined musical interactions in structured or composed contexts.
Objectives
Upon completion of this course participants will be able to use both the Somax2 and Dicy2 environments independently to de-sign their own interactive devices. They will be able to continue the technical and musical exploration developed during the course and to use it in their own practice.
Public
Composers, musicians, teachers, performers.
Prerequisites
- Fluent written and spoken English.
- Participants must be comfortable with a computer environment and have experience in performance, composition, or musical interpretation.
- Experience in musical improvisation with an acoustic instrument or computer is a plus.
- Participants must be able to justify a good knowledge of Max and its environment: completion and understanding of the basic Max tutorials (Max Basisc tutorials 1 à 11, 14 à 22, Max Data tutorials 1 et 2, MSP tutorials, MSP Basics tutorials 1 à 5, MSP Panning tutorials 1 à 3, MSP Analysis tutorials 1 à 2, MSP Delay tutorials 1 à 3 et 6) or to have followed the Max Initiation course.
Training Period and Organization
36 hours of training, Monday-Saturday, December 15-20, 2025 10am-1pm/2:30pm-5:30pm
8 students maximum
In the event that IRCAM cannot physically welcome students for a program that requires face-to-face instruction, the program will be cancelled.
Program
Somes details of the training program are subject to modification in line with developments in the software on which it is based.
After the first morning of this training devoted to the general context and history of creative companions, participants will dive successively into the mechanisms and the concrete use of the Somax2 and Dicy2 software (5 half days per software). These tools will be addressed both conceptually and through practice, in pairs and collectively
Monday
| Morning | General introduction: discovering the history of improvisation and the tools of co-performance Discover the genealogy of the tools of IRCAM's Musical Representations team Understand the interaction situations in which Somax2 and Dicy2 are used: free improvisation and interactive activation of "me-ta-composed" behavior |
| Afternoon (Dicy2) | Introduction to the environment and concepts |
Tuesday (Dicy2)
| Morning | Computer skills: learning to use the tutorials, building your own databases. |
| Afternoon | Hands-on session in pairs. |
Wednesday (Dicy2)
| Morning | Hands-on session in pairs #2. |
| Afternoon | Hands-on session: sharing, debriefing. |
Thursday (Somax2)
| Morning | Introduction to the environment and concepts. |
| Afternoon | Computer use: taking control of the environment. Hands-on session in pairs. |
Friday (Somax2)
| Morning | Hands-on session in pairs #2. |
| Afternoon | Hands-on session: sharing, debriefing. |
Saturday
| Morning (Somax2) | Hands-on session: sharing, debriefing #2. |
| Afternoon | Evaluation. Final performance and general debriefing. |
Educational Resources and Techniques
- Training room equipped with iMac computers with software, headphones, MIDI keyboards, and microphones. The hands-on sessions will take place in an IRCAM studio.
- Technical requirements: Participants are required to bring their own database of sounds to work with Dicy2 and Somax2. These sounds will be used to feed the agents' memory, which is controlled by "navigating" through files by listening and reacting to a « live » audio stream. Any data may be used, whether it comes from your personal repertoire or completely exogenous material. However, for ease of use, it is preferable to work with 'simple' files that are relatively homogeneous in terms of timbre and and number of instruments (ideally separate monophonic tracks ). For Somax2, we require files that are preferably stereo, with an average length of 5 minutes, and that present a diversity of timbre as well as of rhythm.
- For the hands-on improvisation sessions, we will form pairs. You will also be asked to bring an instrument, preferably an acoustic one, for practice.
- Training format: alternating between theoretical explanations and hands-on exercises.
- Teaching aids: video-projected presentations, course material with bibliographic references, software documentation.
The environments available in the Premium membership are not included in the training price and are not supplied at the end of the training.
Supervision
- Welcome the first day of training beginning at 9:45am
- Attendance controlled; signature of an attendance sheet required every morning and afternoon
- A certificate at the end of the program is given to each participant with the results of the exam
.Assessment
- Assessment of knowledge in the form of a multiple-choice question test