Generating Musical Phrases - Round II
It seems I am always fiddling with algorithmic musical composition. Most recently it is with the program, polygenic, which is a descendant of the program in the previous post on this subject.
It seems I am always fiddling with algorithmic musical composition. Most recently it is with the program, polygenic, which is a descendant of the program in the previous post on this subject.
After years of fiddling with algorithmic composition, I have come to reach for certain tools to craft melodies, bass-lines, solos, etc. My latest generative composition program and output will illustrate...
Ever been to the park and heard a tribe drumming in the distance? This is a drum circle. Upon closer inspection, each drummer has a single instrument (or maybe a set of bongos). Each drummer keeps a steady beat in common and in syncopation with his or her fellow drummers.
Recently I was enjoying Steve Reich's "Octet" (Eight Lines) and became curious if I could mimic the simple, staccato phrases with which he starts off his piece.
tl;dr: reichify
What are "ngrams"? And how do they relate to music? Well ngrams are basically groups of tokens. These groups are of a certain given size - say phrases of three words. If we consider notes as tokens we get musical ngrams! We can count the number of occurrences of each ngram phrase, and thus know how many times a given phrase is repeated. How often does Bach repeat himself, for instance?