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 Forum index » Discussion » Composition
Boolean Algebra Sequencing
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Inventor
Stream Operator


Joined: Oct 13, 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:00 am    Post subject: Boolean Algebra Sequencing
Subject description: Did I reinvent the wheel - again?
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Hi Folks, I am very much the newbie at creating music, in fact this is my first week. I know nothing about music besides my iTunes collection, so I thought I would just freely explore various ways of creating sounds and organizing them into songs. I presume that "composition" means the stringing together of notes/sounds to create a song, is that correct?

Anyway, I happen to be programming in ChucK, but that doesn't matter for my question. I created a music generation technique that I'll call "Boolean Algebra Sequencing" for lack of a better term, and I'm wondering if this is an old-hat method for generating / composing music. It works like this:

I create a binary counter five bits wide. I then create Boolean algebra expressions with those five bits and trigger notes to happen each time the logic output is true. For example, I have a counter [c4,c3,c2,c1,c0] and a boolean expression f = (c0 and c2) or (c1 and c3). Then whenever f is 1, i play a note. It makes a delightful sequence of notes.

That was the simple version. What I have done with it now is make it not just a binary counter but a base n counter. It counts out a base 2 sequence, pauses, then counts out a base 3 sequence, pauses, and so on. Then I encoded the frequency of the notes with the sum of the digit values divided by n and multiplied by a fundamental frequency. This enhanced the music quite a bit. The logic decision for the boolean expression is done by using the greater or less than operators, comparing to n/2.

I also attached a sine wave oscillator to each bit with the fundamental frequency at c0 and 5 times that at c4, which sounds really good. Finally, i put in an impulse generator driving a band pass filter and triggered it on the exclusive or of c2 and c3, which made a nice bass instrument.

That's way more details than you need to answer the main question but I thought being music creators you might enjoy the algorithm specifics. So did I reinvent the wheel? Is this a classic, time-honored technique for creating sequences of notes?

Now that I think of it, an old style player piano or wind-up music box works in a similar way, so maybe this is a very old technique indeed!

If you would like to hear the song, or at least the first three values of n, you can visit my new personal music web site here:

http://www.freedomodds.com/music/

The song is called "Boolean Trio" and is currently at the top of the page just below the introduction paragraph. Thanks in advance for your reply, I am so glad I found this forum!
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Antimon



Joined: Jan 18, 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Thanks for sharing! Very Happy I like listening to your experiments - I think you are spot on concerning the fascinating possibilities of algorithmic composition. It's fascinating to make things like these that take on lives of their own.

While many people (here and elsewhere) mess around algorithmic composition, the possibilities are so large that I think anyone can find a lot of uncovered ground to experiment on. I don't think I have heard anything like your boolean stuff, for instance - interesting!

For quick experiments on what simple binary sequences can sound like, you might want to check out the Nord Modular G2 demo. It's not nearly as flexible as ChucK, but has an intuitive GUI, and I personally think it's easy to try out basic ideas quickly in it. I got inspired by the stuff on your site, and tried out some boolean logic of my own (attached), not as dynamic as your stuff,more rhythmic. The NMG2 demo is freely downloadable from Clavia ( http://clavia.se/downloads/default.asp?filter=nord%20modular%20G2 ).

/Stefan

[Edit Blue Hell: added two spaces]


binary_player.pch2
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blue hell
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Boolean Algebra Sequencing
Subject description: Did I reinvent the wheel - again?
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Inventor wrote:
in fact this is my first week.


It's lovely to hear what you come up with, just listened to a couple of mp3s on your site.

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Acoustic Interloper



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 7:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Boolean Algebra Sequencing
Subject description: Did I reinvent the wheel - again?
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Blue Hell wrote:
It's lovely to hear what you come up with, just listened to a couple of mp3s on your site.

Yeah, it sure beats watching TV in this hotel room by a long shot Very Happy

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Inventor
Stream Operator


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Well, thanks! I'm enjoying this new hobby immensely and I'm glad you like what I've done so far! The Nord G2 song was pretty cool as well, more rhythmic as you say. I think that in general with binary sequences you can get the most rhythm by deriving your logic from just one or two adjacent bits, then more complexity and "phrases" by mixing in more bits in complex logic expressions. But that just makes sense, doesn't it? Now I'm off to go write a bit of code for someone and then i'll get back to composition. Thanks for the encouragement.
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EdisonRex
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Inventor wrote:
Well, thanks! I'm enjoying this new hobby immensely and I'm glad you like what I've done so far! The Nord G2 song was pretty cool as well, more rhythmic as you say. I think that in general with binary sequences you can get the most rhythm by deriving your logic from just one or two adjacent bits, then more complexity and "phrases" by mixing in more bits in complex logic expressions. But that just makes sense, doesn't it? Now I'm off to go write a bit of code for someone and then i'll get back to composition. Thanks for the encouragement.


I don't know how much sense it makes, yet. I don't know how much music MAKES sense, sometimes. being an engineer and a musician at the same time never actually gave me a clue about the art, although it appears I am artistic, but I can't explain that part. Confused

Whatever I am babbling, do please keep posting, and keep posting your music. It's wonderful to see someone come up with ideas such as yours.

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bachus



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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:04 pm    Post subject: Re: Boolean Algebra Sequencing
Subject description: Did I reinvent the wheel - again?
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Inventor wrote:
Anyway, I happen to be programming in ChucK, but that doesn't matter for my question. I created a music generation technique that I'll call "Boolean Algebra Sequencing" for lack of a better term, and I'm wondering if this is an old-hat method for generating / composing music. It works like this:


Counter pattern based composition techniques were first investigated by Joseph Schillinger in the early part of the last century. The variants of it are virtually uncountable, I think your's in in there somewhere Very Happy

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Inventor
Stream Operator


Joined: Oct 13, 2007
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Audio files: 267

PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Thank you for the kind words, Edison Rex. It is valuable to have a forum like this for sharing my work, so thanks also for your efforts in editing the forum. Without the fun of interaction I would quickly tire of this or any other hobby, but the responses to my posts make me want to do more!

Also thanks for the pointer to Schillinger, bachus, I read a little bit about his work and all that talk about visualizing music in 3d, colors, and time is very stimulating. I'll have to continue reading about Schillinger - perhaps it would be possible to generate music videos that illustrate something similar to what Schillinger could only describe so long ago.
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bachus



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PostPosted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Inventor wrote:
I'll have to continue reading about Schillinger - perhaps it would be possible to generate music videos that illustrate something similar to what Schillinger could only describe so long ago.


I've read both volumes of the "System" and don't really recommend them. What you are already doing is as interesting as most anything you would find in those weighty tomes.

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mosc
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Yes, I enjoy your explorations too.

BTW, if you don't mind, where in Florida are you?

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Inventor
Stream Operator


Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 6221
Location: near Austin, Tx, USA
Audio files: 267

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

mosc wrote:
Yes, I enjoy your explorations too.

BTW, if you don't mind, where in Florida are you?


Well, thanks! It has been a great deal of fun learning about and creating music, I never realized what a pleasure it could be. I am in Hollywood, Florida, which is just north of Miami. Are you nearby?
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

i'm originally from Jacksonville.
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