No. And in fact as I scan the content-addressable memory banks I recall that he did some fairly complex rhythmic constructions in his more durchkomponiertische works, bedeviling his musicians.

I guess it’s just the relentless character of his stuff that puts me off. But he will always have a spot in my heart for his witty repartee: my favorite the exchange with the obnoxious “opinionated but lovable” Joe Pine, an LA radio personality of some years back. When Pine said “So you have long hair. You must be a woman”, Zappa responded “You have a wooden leg, so you must be a table.”

But to wonder about ol’ EV’s comments to Frank, I remember, as amplifiers grew and grew during the sixties, the visceral thrill of great wattage at one’s back (and suffer from permanent tinnitus for it), and then the disco 70s quarter note kick drum. There has been a growing emphasis on visceral, simple pulse (aesthetic and cultural questions aside), I wonder why? Oh, maybe blame it on The Dave Clark Five and Paul Revere & The Raiders, glad all over, my foot! And is it really fair to critique Frank for the elements of his time?

PK, that is one approach to multiprocessing, but perhaps the asynchronous machines are more interesting. At least I hope so, as I find simple-minded rhythms pretty boring in music and machines.

Also, meaning no offense but since you are questioning it already, I think the comparison of human cognition and computers, at least von Neumann machines, will turn out to be one of the least productive and overall worst ideas of the twentieth century.