Aleatoric Music

Chance music gets its name from the Latin word for dice. Some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work is left to the discretion of its performer(s).

My interest in this subject dates back to childhood, when I read about Domenico Scarlatti’s “Cat Fugue” in a book called Strange and Amazing Facts. In 1739, the composer published the piece, based on a motif he got from the sound of his cat walking on the keyboard of his harpsichord.

This project captures natural events on video, and renders the spatial and time relationships between selected elements into music.

“Cattailigraphy For Solo Trombone”

A bent over cattail blade gracefully arcs into the water to a depth of 1/2 inch. The wind blows the blade around, inscribing patterns on the water surface, which are captured on video from directly above by a camera mounted on a boom crane, then transcribed onto a large sheet of wide-spaced music paper in the form of one continuous line zigging and spiraling to represent the path of the blade through the water. The trombonist represents at his or her discretion the course of the line on the sheet.

NOTE: The stamina required to sit and wait for the wind to blow would greatly benefit from premium sushi from Miyaki on Fore St. in Portland, Maine. Don’t miss your chance to support the arts by calling Miyaki, and giving them my usual order with your credit card number. Or just send a generous donation!

“Flock-tuations for Five”

The relative positions of individual birds can be represented with music. Superimpose a graph over a video of flock murmuration, with the x-axis representing pitch and the y-axis representing duration, select 5 birds from remote points, transcribe their paths to music notation. I’ll go over it and lightly edit it into a song sheet, remove any obvious clunker notes as needed, but only in drastic cases. The goal is to test whether flock behavior can be as thrilling to hear as it can be to see.

NOTE: Optimal location for this project is Tregole (pop. 21), near Castellina in Chianti, Province of Siena, Italy with my wife, Cheryl during the month of April. Don’t miss your chance to support this artistically valid and extremely worthy project. Or just send a generous donation!

“Raindo”

Music staff drawn in chalk on flat rock. Raindrops land randomly on music staff, captured on video, and transcribed to manuscript paper. Increasing rate of rainfall is expressed by speeding up tempo.

This project is closest to the “Cat Fugue” mentioned above. The main musical motif is transcribed directly from a random act of nature, without any animating intelligence, although many cat owners strenuously disagree.

NOTE: Concentration while sitting waiting for it to rain would benefit from a yoga weekend for me and my wife Cheryl, at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, plus a really nice dinner on the way home. Or just send a generous donation!