A classical composition is basically a mathematical construction. By classical in this context I mean all of the music that conforms to some rigid notation system and is live performed. The ideal tones and frequencies are precise and in some given harmony within each other. It’s possible to create a perfect electronic reproduction of any composition. But is the result then perfect? Is the ideal of a performance to be as precise as an electronic rendition of the same composition? In classical music one can feel the muscles and individual psychophysical characteristics of the performers, which all contribute to the sound and composition in a slightly new way.
It’s this interpretation that is interesting. The errors are slight but significant. By comparing a performance to an electronically created ideal the errors themselves could be made audible. The differences in timings and tune could provide completely new music. The resulting sound would essentially paint a musical portrait of the performer rather than the composer or the composition.
This new music would be dullest when the performance or the performer is perfect (no differences in tune and timing results in silence) and most interesting when the performer is carried away and interprets the composition (continous or intermittent differences in tune and timing). Practising a piece would also provide interesting musical material, as well as a complex and difficult composition.
The differences of just a few hertz and milliseconds would have to be magnified in order to make them audible.
A dialogue could be formed between the interpretation and the performer. The error parameters could be used to create a new composition, which the performer has to play immediately (or after a little delay). A notation software would provide the notes and timings in real-time. If one hits the correct time and notes all the time there wouldn’t be any music to play.
For example there would first be silence. The performer then creates a tone from a violin. As long as the performer keeps hitting the same note exactly and keeps the timing (derived from the pause between notes) the composition would consist of one note hit at a constant interval. When the performer deviates from that the differences are transformed into new notes and times, which the performer should follow.
The resulting new music would follow quite an interesting pattern and end up to be too complex and difficult to follow exactly (thus creating new music) . The subtle individual characteristics of the performer and the performance become immensely magnified, and the performer becomes the composer.