Music Current 2026: Ressi/Benes Duo - Inside 'Game Over' (Workshop)

11 April 2026 15:00

game over – An Exploratory Musical Computer Game Environment

'game over’ is a self-developed 2D multiplayer computer game environment that has been explicitly designed for audiovisual performances with one or more players as well as for networked interactive installations. The hypothesis is that computer game environments should be understood as an independent artistic medium. Its highly interactive and non-linear nature makes it particularly well suited to realising the idea of open-form composition in a tangible and experiential way for both performers and audiences.

In the ‘concert’ version presented at this festival, clarinetist Szilárd Benes uses a wireless orientation sensor attached to his instrument to control a character through a vast, open 2D world. He faces the screen while he is performing, allowing the audience to watch ‘over his shoulder’. The clarinet sound is analysed in real-time and converted into game commands, while also being shaped and manipulated by the game environment itself. The game worlds are collages of familiar video game genres, such as side-scrolling platformers, top-down dungeon crawlers and isometric RPGs.

Since these ‘game modes’ can co-exist in close proximity, the perception of space is constantly challenged. The worlds contain numerous objects and computer-controlled characters with which Szilárd can interact musically in various ways. He can also create new objects and destroy existing ones, enabling him to create and shape his own unique soundscapes. He is encouraged to make impulsive and irrational decisions and to deliberately exploit glitches in the game mechanics to achieve unconventional musical and visual results. During the concert, he repeatedly encounters unknown and unforeseen things in order to provoke truly spontaneous reactions.

In this workshop the aesthetic and theoretical foundations of ‘game over’ will be explained and its principles will be demonstrated live in the game editor. Topics include: level design as composition, rule systems and emergent behaviour, game worlds as musical scores, and strategies for musical interaction. People are invited to ask questions about anything curious about, from high-level aesthetic concepts down to low-level technical implementation.

About the Artists

Christof Ressi and Szilard Benes specialise in audio-visual concept improvisations, exploring new strategies for musical interplay and interaction in custom-made digital environments. Both musicians share a desire for pushing boundaries: Inspired by contemporary music, free jazz and also klezmer, Szilard Benes is always striving to extend the sonic possibilities of his instrument. Christof Ressi develops ambitious live-electronic setups and computer programs that allow for spontaneous manipulation of sound and video. Together they search for new means of expression which they believe to find in the confrontation of different media, adhering to a very personal and open-minded definition of music.

www.christofressi.com/projects/ressi+benes/

Music Current workshops are supported by the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland.