SINGAPORE -- Instead of a conductor leading an orchestra or a rock group belting out songs, the newest musical rage in Singapore is a collection of computers, tone generators and speakers without a human maestro in sight.
Emanating from the Electronic Music Laboratory at the National University of Singapore are original scores ranging from pop to symphonies, leaving audiences awed by unconventional blends and surprising variations.
'Our creative potential is limitless,' said Joseph Peters, assistant director of the Center for Musical Activities.
The veteran composer's idea for an unusual extracurricular activity to pry Singapore workaholics away from their books has blossomed into such popular multi-media computer music shows that Peters is planning a tour of Southeast Asia next year.
Not only are audiences exposed to new dimensions in rhythm and pitch, but the pieces are synchronized with special lighting, graphics and colorful smoke to give visual impact to the arrangements.
'The chance to compose with such state-of-the-art technology is overwhelming at first,' said Patrick Chan, who joined Peters after finishing his studies at the Berkeley College of Music in California. 'All I ever worked with before was a guitar and keyboard.'
Inundated by applications from hundreds of students eager to participate in any aspect of computer music production and only 60 spots available, Peters said he seeks out 'the most creative,' regardless of their occupational plans.
'The technicians, engineers, computer experts and anyone else exhibiting an unusual flare for high-tech gadgets are as vital as the composers,' Peters said. 'We need people with imagination because we're changing the audience's perception of a concert.'
Peters admits the first public demonstration in 1987 taught him a lesson in showmanship. While the listeners were intrigued by the auditory novelty, a spotlight on a stage full of equipment left them restless and bored.
Bombarded with the latest in dazzling discos, Peters and the students realized the novelty of the music alone wasn't enough to hold the interest of audiences.
Now his 'orchestra' consists of two tone generators or digital computer systems, which generate the sounds and two computers, an Apple Macintosh SE-30 and an Atari Mega ST4.
Instead of musicians, members of the behind-the-scenes team occasionally scramble out to alter wiring or make adjustments. To make sure no one's attention wanders, Peters has expanded the experience, to the delight of audiences.
A device linking the computer system to multicolor lights and synchronizing their intensity with the music was created for exciting visual effects. Computer graphics and smoke emissions are also correlated with the production, and a university dance troupe performs along with some of the numbers.
Preparing for the next event in November, Peters said he plans to include a painter interpreting the music on a large canvas, a poet composing verse and audience participation with everyone rising at an predetermined point in the score and stomping their feet.
A slide show will also open the performance, explaining just how these mega-media events come about.
Until now, the array of all the musical instruments were the boundaries of the composer's creativity, Chan said.
'With tone generators, a composercan create the exact sound he needs for a composition, modulate pitch, rhythm and quality as he sees fit, using sounds which conventional instruments are unable to produce,' he said.
A lion's roar, wood blocks, the commotion of a busy street and the cry of a sea gull have all been incorporated in the latest numbers.
'For these effects, we go out and tape record the sound we want and transfer it onto digital tape,' said computer student Victor Pan.
For the tone generators to 'play,' they must be linked to computers. A special computer language called MIDI (Musical Instruments Digital Interface) enables the two computers to communicate with the generators.
Peters, the originator of a symphonic piece in five movements called 'The Merlion Odyssey' named after the half-lion, half-fish symbol of Singapore, said it took him three months to complete the score. Then he turned it over to the computer and engineering students who translated the mammoth composition into a computer program.
Aspiring musicians and composers work for a month on their contributions, primarily love songs, which also are turned into computer programs.
'This is relaxation for me,' said Richard Chan, a medical student who is one of the lab's sound engineers. During a performance, his role comes closest to a conductor, since he modulates the volume and mixes the sounds from the 10 speakers.
'I need to get away from my books for a while,' said Chan. 'Working with computers in a new dimension is very refreshing, and I love music.'
As enthusiastic as he is over every new score, Peters said computer music will never supplant the traditional orchestra.
'It is another idiom of music making,' he said. 'But in the future no musician can be trained without using the computer and digital technology.'
