This item is not in the library — it is a part of: Math for Music Games.
Players are in the circle, one conductor is in the middle (or otherwise visible to all).
Instructions for the conductor:
Before starting, present to players two gestures of your choice:
- "go to the next round", e.g. one hand falling from top to bottom,
- "end playing", e.g. two hands waving horizontally. (It's not a hard stop, more a signal that there will be no more rounds).
Before the first round, point to some players (maybe 20% of them) that will be playing at the start.
During playing, you will signal round changes to the ensemble for about 20 rounds (extending possible if everyone seems to be having fun, it depends on your timing and musical preferences). After that, signal the ending of the game.
Player:
There will be rounds, signaled by the conductor, but not everyone is playing all the time.
You play in the starting line-up if the conductor choose you just before the first round.
Then, in each round, you follow these rules:
- If you are not playing now, play in the next round if any of your neighbor is playing now.
- If you are playing now, stop playing in the next round if any of your neighbor is playing now.
In other words:
If your neighbor is playing now, for the next round change whether you play.
You have complete freedom in the contents your playing, just pay attention to your neighbors and signals.
Gamemaster's notes
Constellation — A line-up for a single performance of improvised music.
Depending on a group, a facilitator (if present) may use an introduction process for learning-by-doing with such steps:
- You may start with just one player active, then the constellation spreads slowly.
- With even number of players, starting with "every second player active", should switch each round between two halves of the ensemble.
- A fun pattern to present early is achievable when your player number is divisible by 3 (maybe you can arrange for it). Then, if the starting pattern is "every third player not playing", the game should naturally end in the 4th round. Otherwise there is a useful mistake to track.
Symmetric starting constellations give a less interesting result than asymmetric — the smallest such setup is for six players in the ensemble where four consecutive players are chosen to be "playing, playing, not playing, playing".
Variants
The first variant, for an experienced, or at least attentive group, is to resign from a separate conductor. If any player waves their hand, the ensemble goes to the next step (realizing the start/stop playing rule).
If you have one-sided cards, e.g. inspire cards, you can use them as both the visual aid and (if you want) an open score for players. In this variant, a player is active if, and only if, their card is face up. There are pros and cons, players need to remember to turn their cards appropriately, but the evolving pattern is easier to follow.
Variants as for the exact rules are explorable in Constellation Game App, which also lets you track changes of constellations over many steps for default rules.
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