Carter Scholz’s music is difficult to classify. On one hand it is almost fanatically dispassionate, highly mathematical and systematic. On the other hand it is simply too beautiful, too magical to be dismissed as purely left-brained stuff. Take "Lattice" for example. I won’t describe the mechanics of the piece (although Mr. Scholz does so with great clarity and succinctness in the liner notes) but essentially it involves computer-generated tones which begin in unison and then diverge to performer-arbitrated degrees of dissonance. The piece is in seven sections and each section allows a greater degree of dissonance. A section ends with the tones resolving to unison and is punctuated with a low pedal tone at the octave.

There are a couple of things I find wonderful about this piece. First, the system is so utterly transparent. It’s so easy to hear the process at work. It’s obvious (particularly once you know what’s going on) that each section becomes more dissonant than the last. No smoke or mirrors here, just unadulterated process! Second, despite the unconventional nature of this music, the section endings have such a traditional cadence that an interesting juxtaposition results. "Lattice" at once points towards a sort of futuristic sci-fi music and recalls a sound akin to sectional Baroque music.

Mr. Scholz also impresses me with his restraint. Too many of today’s computer musicians put a premium on long-windedness. While there is a piece on 8 Pieces that clocks in at 14 minutes ("Hamilton Circuit"), it somehow seems justified in order to adequately demonstrate the principles around which it is composed. But in general, the works are in the five to seven minute range and their impacts are heightened by this brevity. We are given just enough to understand and appreciate, no more. An artist should always leave his audience wanting more, and Scholz succeeds at this magnificently.