Aleatoric Serial Music: A little morning serial

about twenty years ago, I wrote an application (Evolution #9) that creates parametric aleatory serial music from which this is an example. Originally, it was strictly a twelve tone composition experimentation tool. By its final version, it was modified to require just a single pitch be selected as the minimum material for composition. From several sets of parameters (or by default, randomly generated parameters) which include not only pitch order, but also rhythm, dymanics, density, and spacing, the application creates retrogrades, inversions, and retrograde inversions from the motif materials; randomly selects the material "row" and writes the voices/lines of the composition. I do not remember which specific parameters I created; but from my view of aleatoric music, that really doesn't matter -- it's like casting tarot cards: that moment in time determined the composition.

For an overview of the process, please read:
http://fxmahoney.com/resume/MW_Music&SoundBible.pdf
This review is of version 1.x of the application. Version 2 added several more (deterministic) features.

Non-aleatory elements have been added: i.e.: percussion to help round out the composition.

It has been an interesting experiment, and I will have more examples as time goes on; all of which are to be re-rendered and mixed in Logic Pro.

The images of the cosmos are from the NASA library of images (and copyright free.) Something to look at, while you listen.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• algorithmic composition
• serial music
• aleatory
• random
• evolution #9
• logic pro
• experimental
• serialism