Unusual Music Ideas

I am interested in aleatoric music, where much of the structure is dependent upon chance. Most of my compositions are produced in this way - a good cop-out if you're of limited musical skills, but offering an endless source of fun! It is arguable that a surprising amount of musical enjoyment is due to random effects - where you sit in the concert hall, whether the performer is in a particularly inventive mood, etc.

There is also increasing interest in semi-random music - Koan, and similar systems, where the detail is pseudo-randomly provided by computer. Some very interesting results can be obtained with these systems, and it's difficult to argue that they are more or less musical than Harrison Birtwhistle, for example.

I have recently been playing with 3 concepts: text as music, picture as music, and random step improvisation. Take a look at these ideas and let me know what you think. You don't have to like the music that results, I can't say I find it that appealing!

Creative idea #1 :Text Music - where the characters of the text determine the notes and the flow of the music.

Creative Idea #2 :Picture As Music - where you make a picture on a piano roll editor (on a computer screen), and play the result.

Creative Idea #3 :Random Step Improvisation - where you use the fixed step input into the computer to produce subtle rhythmic effects.

Something else you may consider, is how to tell the difference between music and noise. A year or so ago I wrote an essay on music and noise (about 40k) which discusses this point.

Copyright © 1996 Roger Yeates
Most recent revision 16 October 1996