Re: fractal music (was Re: keeping loops interesting)

["Jon Southwood" <jsouthwood@gmail.com>]

Here's a trivial example, Kris (I say trivial, because it uses only
four pitches and is a relatively short loop; pitches were chosen for
simplicity not for aesthetic beauty):

let's take the melody:

C D E E F# D F# F# D F# E E D

If every pitch given is the same duration (let's say 8th note), then
this loop is 13 8th-notes long. So, let's say we record this loop on an
EDP or Mobius (or any other looper that allows us to multiply). If we
start multiply and play this loop at 1/5 the original speed, we will
still be in unison with the original loop. Likewise, if we play this
loop at 1/8 the original speed while in multiply, we will also remain
in unison every time we play a new note. It follows, too, that you
could have one loop running at full speed, one running at 1/5 speed
(rhythmically, not literally as in time-stretch), and one running at
1/8 speed, all simultaneously, and everytime they change notes, they
will be unison with the other changing voice(s).

This is a self-similar melody. I'll concede that it's not a
particularly interesting melody, but it is self-similar. At multiple
levels.

I created this example using methods outlined by Tom Johnson, a
composer who seems to do a lot of work with IRCAM. His website is:
http://tom.johnson.org/ and his book titled "Self-Similar Melodies" is
a very interesting read. If you're at all interested in the application
of recursive processes in music, get that book. It's not for everyone,
but there are lots of great ideas that can be used in a myriad of ways.

Cheers,

Jon Southwood

On 9/18/06, Krispen Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:

But I am still at loss how this applies to music. Are folks saying that you
create a piece of music where the pattern as a whole can be found repeated
in a similar way inside that overall pattern?  I need a more concrete
example of this. Rhythmically, perhaps, I can understand this better, but
not actual notation. I'm trying to imagine a melodic pattern that repeats
within itself, or even in a similar fashion....nothing is comeing to mind,
but I'm a bit tired right now.

Kris