Abstract
The application of Chua's oscillator in a music performance system requires several stages of research: (1) understanding basic principles of the chaotic system in terms of mathematical descriptions of the system and hardware configurations; (2) understanding the output signals in terms of vector space descriptions as well as understanding the auditory signal outputs in relation to the vector space descriptions; and (3) incorporating the system in a performance context. While the abundant papers available support the first stage of research, the second stage of research required alternative ways of listening to the auditory signals with respect to the chaotic system behaviors. For the third stage methods and tools were invented for exploration of the chaotic system, a simulation of the system in computer was implemented, and a peripheral performance system has been configured. One of the most interesting preparations for this research was the invention of an interactive graphical interface, the manifold interface, which is an exploratory tool rather than a display tool. This interface was extensively used for exploring parameter regions for precompositional activity and for sending control signals to the oscillator in real time performance.