I’ve recently (as in, over the past few years or more) been fascinated with the concept of generative music, something that Terry Riley first brought to my attention (see my blog entry and version of his aleatoric/generative composition “in C”) and that of course Brian Eno has championed. Eno has found success with many different generative systems, most recently and notably a series of iPhone apps including Bloom which compose random ambient music based on a handful of parameters the user defines.
Wanting to tackle something like that myself, but wanting to start simple, I found that I can do this with Ableton Live and the sample devices that come with the Max for Live package… without even opening Max itself.
Max For Live's MIDIgran effect
The Follow Action feature with 8:1 odds of repeating vs stepping back to the previous clip.
Using the randomized sequencing trick I used in “In C”, plus the Max for Live MIDI effect “Max MidiGran” I was able to take a simple 2-note passage (that forms the main drone) — playing only very long notes of C and F alternating which you can here, below — then separately for each of 2 additional “solo” synths, repitches randomly and remaps to a note on the C major pentatonic scale. These come and go randomly based on probabilities I set up and on multiples of 8 bars.
Then I added a drum machine loop, which also comes in based on random probabilities.
Finally, I added another Max effect that brings up some random feedback to the main drone and the drum machine at unexpected moments. Might be too jarring for the effect I was originally going for though.
It’s also number sixteen in the ridiculously optomistic “song of the week” project, but better late than never…
DOWNLOAD:
#16 Opalize (mp3, 24MB)
UPDATE: Here is another mp3 generated by the same setup. Very similar of course, but different!
#17 Opalize (reprise) (mp3, 24MB)
