Simon Yuill v texte "All Problems of Notation Will be Solved by the Masses" píše o voľnom umeleckom zoskupení Scratch Orchestra v raných 70s v Londýne

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The Scratch Orchestra grew out of a series of public classes in experimental music that Cornelius
Cardew and other composers had been running in London in the late 1960s. These began at the
Anti-University on Rivington Street and then at Morley College, a workers education centre set up in
the 19th Century. It was here that the original members of the Scratch Orchestra first came together
Cardew, Michael Parson, Howard Skempton and people attending their classes. The foundation of the
Orchestra was officially announced in June 1969 through the publication in the Musical Times of ‘A
Scratch Orchestra: draft constitution’ written by Cardew. The constitution defines the Orchestra as
‘a large number of enthusiasts pooling their resources (not primarily material resources) and assembling
for action (music-making, performance, edification)’. Membership was open to anyone, regardless of
musical ability. Many visual artists, such as Stefan Szczelkun, joined and they brought with them an
interest and experience of art happenings and urban intervention works. Through these, and more
conventional concerts, the Orchestra aimed to ‘function in the public sphere’ presenting works
developed by the group. The constitution outlined various forms of activity that the Orchestra would
follow in creating these. One of the most important activities was the writing of ‘Scratch Music’. Each
member of the Orchestra had a notebook, or ‘Scratchbook’, in which they would write small works that
could be combined into larger ensemble pieces. The constitution emphasises that these Scratch
Music pieces should be an active process of experimentation with different notational forms: ‘verbal,
graphic, musical, collage, etc.’ By 1972 a clearly defined process for the development of Scratch Music
had emerged. Each piece was originally performed by its author, the scores were then exchanged and
performed by other Orchestra members, providing a kind of ‘peer review’ critique of the pieces.
‘Scratchers’ were asked to write no more than one new piece per day, but encouraged to keep a ‘regular
turnover’, so that there was a tight feedback loop between writing and performing.

From the very beginning the Scratch Orchestra took a conscious decision to make all their notations
freely distributable, stating that the Scratch Music works were without copyright [31]. One of their first
collections of scores, published in 1969 and called Nature Study Notes: Improvisation Rites, replaced
the conventional copyright notice with the following:

No rights are reserved in this book of rites. They may be reproduced and performed freely.
Anyone wishing to send contributions for a second set should address them to the editor:
C.Cardew, 112 Elm Grove Road, London SW13.

Whilst rejections of copyright restriction were nothing new, both the Situationsists and the folk singer
Woody Guthrie had placed anti-copyright notices on their works, it is notable that the Scratch Orchestra
also encouraged others to modify and add to their scores, stating that these may be incorporated into the
next version.

The works in Nature Study Notes are all textual instruction pieces. Few of them describe ways of
making sound however, and instead focus around various social interactions often constructing and
playing with power relations amongst the performers. Some are like party games:

Form a standing circle. Nominate a leader, who stands in the circle with eyes blindfolded.
The remainder of group rotate slowly around him/her. ... When the leader is touched, he
forfeits his role and so doing shouts ‘Porridge’.

Others like generative automata:

Each person entering the performance space receives a number in order. Anyone can give
an order (imperatively obeyed) to a higher number, and must obey orders given him by a
lower number. No. 1 receives his orders from the current highest number (the most recently
entered player); the highest number can give orders only to No. 1.

http://www.transmediale.de/site/fileadmin/user/08/download/SimonYuill_All_Problems_of_Notation_Will_be_Solved_by_the_Masses.pdf