Intension
60 second electronic music composition.
at the 2010 International Computer Music Conference.
The title of this piece is a play on words in three different
senses: in the simplest sense it refers to the state of being tense,
something which is clearly reflected in the tumultuous nature of the
composition. Secondly, the title is similar to the philosophical
term "intension", which refers to the set of all possible things
that a word could possibly describe; in this sense I raise the
question of whether or not digital music could be considered
intensional, since it is composed of bits of data which can be
interpreted in infinite ways. In the third sense, the title refers
to the more common definition of intension: "a strenuous exertion of
the mind or will", which, as any composer knows, is an essential
part of music-making.