Results
Relentless Variations
"Since I have always preferred making plans to executing
them, I have gravitated towards situations and systems that, once set into
operation, could create music with little or no intervention on my part.
That is to say, I tend towards the roles of planner and programmer, and
then become an audience to the results."
- Brian Eno
All songs © 1999, Shawn J.R. Bulen.
Most of the following files are in General MIDI format.
Most browsers will play the pieces simply by clicking
on the graphics in the left column.
I will update this page regularly with my latest
results!
All output on this page was produced by the Fractal
Sequencer.
The compositions were not altered in any way.
Each piece was generated from the simple 4-8 note
phrase shown in the left column.
MP3s of the Fractal Sequencer's Output Are not Available at this time!
I had been using MP3.com to share my
music, however, MP3.com appears to be changing their offerings, & my music is not
available online at this time. I should have a revised site available by the end
of summer, 2004. Check back in a few weeks!!!!
Real Audio Version of "The Human Braid"-
| The
Human Braid |
The
Human Braid is the submission for the MP3 collaboration produced by
the CNFractal_Music
Forum. This is a rock piece, arranged from the output of 4 rules: a
bass solo, a keyboard solo, a guitar solo, and a combined rule (using Multi
Voice Method II - see the Approach page). The
drums were added later, with the help of Fitz. The drums were not fractally
generated. Uploaded 11/5/99. |
A Couple of My Favorites
General MIDI files - 10/99
 |
'Two Slight Variations' (Result013)
- Part I. Two tunes. One pretty little piano piece, followed by a similar
vocal piece. Depicted is the rule used to generate the piano portion. |
 |
'Two Slight Variations' (Result013)
- Part II. The rule used to generate the vocal portion of Result013.mid,
above. |
 |
'String Quartet for Guitar 1' (Result014).
I let this one go to town - 6 iterations, 256 measures. Like the Mandelbrot
set itself, you find strange copies of the whole all over the place. Alternates
between order and chaos. Uses Multi Voice Method II. Extremely interesting
to (attempt to) follow the development - even knowing its simple origins. |
 |
'Where Did That Come From?' (Result011).
Starts simple, with very surprising developments in the final measures. |
The String Quartets
General MIDI files - 10/99
See the Approach section for
explanations of the two different techniques used to produce the following
string quartets.
Some folks I know have indicated they may perform these
pieces. If so, I may be able to post a recording of these in the not too
distant future...
 |
'String Quartet 2' (Result016). Balanced,
complex piece. Uses Multi Voice Method II. |
 |
'String Quartet 1' (Result015). Very
clean & pretty, although a simple progression. Uses Multi Voice Method
II. |
 |
'String Trio 1' (Result012). My first
attempt at a string quartet. (Actually only 3 instruments, I tossed one...)
Uses Multi Voice Method I. |
 |
'String Quartet 3' (Result017). Dark,
complex piece, with some subtle moods. Uses Multi Voice Method II. |
The Original Three
General MIDI files - 10/99
I keep these around mainly because the are excellent examples
to follow to learn the development of the concept. What's interesting is
how widely different the output can be with only minor adjustments to the
durations of the input notes - compare Result001 and Result003, below.
One of the most significant observations of the science of chaos concerns
sensitivity to initial conditions in complex systems - even though the
complex systems are constructed using simple rules. Here, we observe Lorenz's
"Butterfly Effect" in fractal music.
 |
Result001. The very first sequence
I tried. Simple, techno base riff. The input phrase has no overlapping
tones. |
 |
'The Just Plain Mean' (Result002).
The second sequence I tried. This one showed me how easy it is for this
to get out of hand. The lesson is that you need to be very careful how
much the tones in your input phrase overlap. |
 |
'The Platinum Mean' (Result003). The
third sequence I tried is the one that showed me there is, in fact a golden
mean. A moderate amount of overlapping tones produced a very interesting
piece. This piece reminds me of work by Geinoh Yamashirogumi on the soundtrack
to Akira. |
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Date Last Updated: 7/11/04
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