Published June 29, 2026 | Version v1

Am Zürisee, Ohni Maschine - Dataset and Original Composition Files - Rubato Dataset - Anti-Algorithm Improvised Piano Dataset for research and AI training

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Am Zürisee, Ohni Maschine is a sixteen-track improvised piano album built around Lake Zürich, the city of Zürich, and the canton I hold citizenship in but have never called home. Some pieces run close to nine minutes, others barely a single minute, each left exactly as long as the improvisation needed to be, rather than edited to fit any expected shape. Some are pure piano, others synth-backed, but all were performed in a single take, in keeping with the principles of rubato playing, where tempo bends and breathes with the performer rather than locking to a fixed grid.

Every piece has a documented provenance trail. Each track has an accompanying live performance video on YouTube, alongside the original MIDI file and Ableton Live project file, so the working process behind each piece is fully visible rather than asserted. This sits alongside the wider provenance practice I maintain across all of my creative work, books, music, and visual art alike.

The album follows the lake from its source on the Linth plain down through the city, into questions of history, rowing, and authenticity, before closing on a track that links directly to a piece of academic research I wrote on exactly this subject, The Bifurcation of Intent, Authentic Creation and AI "Creator" Language Games, a paper examining what happens to authorship and intent when creative work is outsourced to generative tools, grounded in a dataset of 213 entries drawn from AI music creator communities.

I wrote and recorded this album as someone who carries Swiss citizenship through my home canton of Zürich, but who has built his life and work entirely abroad, in Britain and now in Canada. It is a way of bringing something back to a place I belong to on paper, if not in daily life, and of putting into practice the same belief that runs through all of my work: that authorship matters, that a human hand and an unrepeatable take are worth more than anything generated, and that humans remain the drivers of creation.

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Am Zürisee, Ohni Maschine isch es Album mit sächzäh improvisierte Klavierstuck. Es drillt sich um de Zürisee, d Stadt Züri und de Kanton, vo däm ich zwar s Bürgerrecht han, woni aber nie dännä gwohnät han. Einigi Stuck dured fascht nün Minute, anderi chum e einzigi Minute. Jedes Stuck isch gnau so lang blibe, wie d Improvisation s hät wölle, anstatt dass mer s in e bstimmti Form prässt hät. Einigi sind reins Klavier, anderi händ en Synthesizer-Hintergrund, aber alli sind in eim einzige Take gspilt worde. Das passt zu de Prinzipie vom Rubato-Spil, wo s Tempo sich biügt und mit em Musiker schnuuft, anstatt dass es an es feschts Raschter bunde isch.

Jedes Stuck hät en dokumäntierte Härkumftsnachwis. Zue jedem Track gits es Live-Video uf YouTube, zäme mit de originale MIDI-Datei und em Ableton Live-Projekt-File. So isch de ganz Arbeitsprozäss hinder jedem Stuck offesichtlich und nöd nur behauptet. Das ghört zu de umfassendere Praxis vo Härkumftsnachwis, woni bi all mine kreative Arbeite duresziehn, egal öb bi Büecher, Musig oder visueller Chunscht.

S Album folgt em See vo de Quälle in de Linth-Ebeni abwärts dur d Stadt, mittedrin in Frage vo Gschicht, Ruedere und Authentizität. Es schlüsst ab mit eme Track, wo direkt mit enere wüsseschaftliche Arbeit verchnüpft isch, woni gnau über das Thema gschribe han: The Bifurcation of Intent, Authentic Creation and AI "Creator" Language Games. Das Paper undersuecht, was mit Autoreschaft und Absicht passiert, wänn kreativi Arbeit an generativi Tools usglageret wird. Es basiert uf eme Datesatz vo 213 Iträg us KI-Musig-Plattforme.

Ich han das Album gschribe und ufgna als öpper, wo s Schwiizer Bürgerrecht dur min Heimetkanton Züri hät, aber mis Läbe und mini Arbeit komplett im Usland ufbaut hät, zerst in Grossbritannie und jetzt in Kanada. Es isch en Wäg, öppis an en Ort zruggzbringe, wo ich uf em Papier dezu ghöre, wänn au nöd im Alltag. Und es setzt gnau de Glaube um, wo sich dur mini ganzi Arbeit zieht: Dass Autoreschaft zellt, dass e mänschlichi Hand und en unwiderholbare Take meh wärt sind als alles Generierte, und dass de Mänsch de Träger vo de Schöpfig blibt.

Files

Album Covers.jpg

Files (648.3 MB)

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Additional details

Identifiers

UPC
882638388381

Related works

Is supplemented by
Publication: 10.5281/zenodo.20005414. (DOI)