Composer Ryan Ross Smith from New York presented a lecture at the Sample Music Festival 2016 that was illustrative of its topic, in that its format was both textually and representationally relevant. Generating quasi-randomly and represented with Animated Music Notation, this lecture focused on the low-level symbols and functionalities that are emblematic of contemporary animated scoring practices.

He started working with Animated Notation around 2011, after discovering the work of Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson and, subsequently, many more works by the Icelandic composer’s collective S.L.Á.T.U.R. For many years he obsessed over these works and the works of many composers from around the world, eventually compiling their work here. His work with Animated Notation has slowed considerably since 2017 as he moved into other areas of music-making, but it continues to be an important part of his musical life and, occasionally, research.

In short, Ryan Ross is defining Animated Notation as a subset of dynamic scoring that features clear contact and interaction between elements in a notational fashion. Additionally, Animated Notation can offer composers the ability to create complex music that is easily read and realized by performers of all levels. Furthermore, he believes that the dynamic features of these scores (particularly those that are generated in real-time), introduce new approaches to time and form.