Laptop music inherits acousmatic listening without solving the agency-perception problem that acousmatic music raised

Acousmatic music (loudspeaker music without visible cause) created the challenge of listener agency perception. Dahlstedt (citing Collins 2003) notes this problem was transplanted to laptop music without being solved. Acousmatic compositions are often human-composed collages; laptop music relies heavily on algorithms whose inner workings are harder to grasp. When listeners cannot form a mental model of underlying processes, program notes, visual cues, or sonic gestural content (sounds that mimic physical movements) can help restore causal connection. The live coding practice of projecting code is one response to this challenge.

Examples

A laptop performer with no visible screen provides no more causal transparency than a loudspeaker. A live coder projecting code restores some agency visibility, but only for technically literate audiences.

Assessment

Explain the agency-perception problem in acousmatic music and describe how it applies to laptop performance. What strategies can a live coder use to make their agency more perceptible to a non-technical audience?