This presented pure data patch is generating the midi notes for; kick, hi hat, snare, bass guitar & keyboard. In the randomly chosen scale of A major. I have run my completed patch a number of times and have a number of interesting final midi compositions that I will be uploading to SoundCloud. Island is the first of these new music uploads that employ this polyrhythmic patch.
A generating Pure Data patch using a A major scale.
I am using a system that chooses a scale from a database I am constructing that produces all the midi note numbers (0-128) from the random scale chosen. The midi note numbers are manually entered into the [number] objects seen through the patches of the instruments before their respective [makenote] objects. It's important to keep all the instruments in key. Also works as reference for bad or out of key midi notes that show up in the patch's performance. As I develop this generating band process, Randomizing the choice of scale in the patch is the first part, the notes in A major scale; E, F#, G#, A, D, C#, B. Pure data through probability & conditional statements, randomly chooses whether A goes to A# next or whether it goes to B. Here is a real AI question in my algorithm, what do we replace the [random] object that would choose going from A to B? What is the alternative to a random choice? And why is it made?
The core polyrhythmic patch, presented earlier in this blog is the core for the current tracks being uploaded to SoundCloud. The first track of this type is Island that has been uploaded to SoundCloud. I have exploded the polyrhythmic patch for all to see. If you are actually reconstructing these presented pure data patches and are having trouble deciphering. Please refer to the previous posts or YouTube channel videos to aid in your patching. Comments, questions on any of my pages are always welcome.
The final patch used in the performance of Island is larger than the patch I have presented in this entree. My final performance patches expand upon the instrument's diversity & direction. I use a lot more [makenote] midi objects. The jury is still out on whether it is required that multiple [makenote] objects are required or all you need is one per channel??? In the future I want to expand the drum kit performed in the patch to include more of a full jazz rock kit. Currently I layer analog & digital drums to create my final drum kit sound. In all of my final patch performances I add a instrument that is a generated sequence apart from the primary instruments; drums, bass & keys. This sequence track will be heard in these next uploads (heard on island) & play a big part in the composition. Sequence tracks help to create instruments. The bass guitar instrument is a generated sequence confined to midi notes 35-45. Creating that bass guitar sound in your mix is all about the gear, synths, PCMs, VSTs and more that you employee in your home studio. I am striving to develop a very unique sounding bass guitar & will elaborate on this in some blog entree in the future once I feel I have succeeded.
Presented in this patch & YouTube video are three different ways I am generating midi notes.
The Kick & Hi Hat are identical in their construction. The Snare, once its own instrument on midi channel 10, but I found it became played too much in the performance. I wanted the snare's performance reduced further than the conditional percentages of the instrument's generation. I branched the Snare off of the Hi-hat. Which if you think about it, when the two hands of a drummer are in rhythm, the Hi-hat is always dominant, and the Snare becomes more of an accent. Considering how the two hands of the percussionist move through out a performance will be very important as we consider expanding the drum kit to include more percussion sounds.
The Keyboard Chords. There are two ways to generate chords within a fixed scale; there are some great websites, software apps & VSTs on the net that can generate for you all the chords in a particular scale, or you can take all the notes of a scale and predetermine how many 3-5 note combinations there are using those notes. Both directions show their differences in the final performance. What I have found with the latter of the two is having to spend more time chasing down dis harmony in the final performance. Whereas using known scale produces a much more pleasant result. That is when it comes to being harmonious. My final patch uses double the chords available for the key in this patch. If you were to see my final performance patch it's obvious my chord patch is twice as large. The single conditional object after the randomization in this patch determines the outcome of whether a chord is triggered or not. I greatly expand on this single point in my final patches that not only increase the trigger to play 2-3 chords in routine but also allows me to turn the chords on or off in the performance & last alter the length of time a chord is played. This chord control will be demonstrated in my next Soundcloud upload. Where I will control the chord's playing in the first half of the track & then let it loose in the second half of the performance. I'll point this out once I have uploaded the tracks to SoundCloud.
The Bass Guitar. The bass guitar instrument as I patch is always growing & changing. What used to be a 8 step instrument like the other percussion instruments is now a group of midi notes that are triggered through the rhythm of the performance. In the patch you can see that the bass notes are triggered off the kick and receiving [r ] objects; seven, nine & fourteen. Founding all bass movements off the kick drum. I have found that changing the receiving [r ] objects you can create numerous different bass patterns. This patch idea produces a more real feel to the Bass guitars final performance over the Band Theory Bass, which is standard 8 step conditional determined sequencer type. I'll will add more to the bass in the future as I get a grip of how I'm constructing the generating bass guitar within these pure data patches moving forward.
KicKRaTT Island Midi Score can be purchased here!
Island is a totally generated composition. The midi notes for all the instruments of the track were generated from a pure data patch. The performance of the patch always produces a different score. Island employs a polyrhythmic core, different to the Band Theory tracks which use a more linear 8 step sequencer for the performances rhythm.
* KicKRaTT; MUSIC, ALGORITHMS, DOCUMENTS, GRAPHICS & LOGOS: ISNI# 0000000514284662 *
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