Sync or Swarm, Revised Edition

David Borgo is Professor and Chair of Music at UC San Diego, USA. He has performed around the world, released 13 albums, and published extensively in scholarly and other outlets. The first edition of Sync or Swarm (Bloomsbury 2005) won the Alan P. Merriam Prize in 2006, the Society for Ethnomusicology’s most distinguished award.

• AcknowledgmentsPreface Preface (first edition)1. The Sound and Science of SurpriseThe Age of ComplexitySync or Swarm2. The Study of ImprovisationThe Field of Improvisation StudiesReferent-Based ImprovisationReferent-Free ImprovisationFreedom MusicFreedom Is, Freedom Ain’tImprovisation Is, Improvisation Isn’tA Marvel of Paradox3. Strange LoopsThe Embodied MindEnaction and PredictionTaking the Note for a WalkIt’s a Bit Like JugglingLived Body and Living BodyOn RepeatFractal CorrelationCircular CausalityHall of Mirrors4. Rivers of ConsciousnessThe Art of the TrioComplexity and EmergenceMusical ElephantsThe Sound of One Note ClappingTime and the Qualia of ExperienceThe Phase Space of ImprovisationAttractorsHues of MelaninFractal CorrelationFlights and Perchings5. Orderly DisorderChaoticsComplex Adaptive SystemsDissipative StructuringAncient to FutureSketches of Another Future6. Sync and SwarmThe Science of SyncEntrainmentA Coordination ProblemInsect MusicThe Art of Improvisation in the Age of Computational ParticipationThe Puzzle of CoactionA Web Without a SpiderReassembling the Social7. Harnessing ComplexityThe Map is Not the TerritorySituated MusicianshipGroup CreativityYes, and…ComprovisationThe Shores of MultiplicityComplementarity and MetastabilityReferencesIndex

"I am pleased to have had my work subjected to such rigorous scrutiny and I appreciate all the thinking David Borgo has done in an area where it is almost impossible to make any single uncontested statement!"