Drift

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This one is about testing the crescendo and decrescendo technique, and also drifting up by the 53rd root of 2 (one step in 53 tone equal temperament). Actual from 0, to 1, to 2, to 1, back to 0 for each measure. So three steps.

Arpeggios in Opposite Directions

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I changed the finger piano envelope to something like that chart, and then fed each note of some opposite direction arpeggios through it.

More Variations in the Variability

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The piece offers each part a variety of measures to choose from. Sometimes I push one of the instruments to keep choosing the same measure, sometimes to try very hard not to choose the same one. Or it can sequence through them in a series. Variability is set for each instrument to a number from 0 (never pick the same thing again) to 32 (always pick the same thing again). The higher the number, the more likely it will pick the same measure twice in a row. In this section I vary the variability a bit.

Simplify the Repetitions

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Fixed an octave misplacement in the finger piano arpeggio

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The bridge

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At the end of the bridge, we hear G, then a 53rd tone step up, then another, and back down again. I can't even hear the change.

Fixed some wrong notes in the cello part - oops

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I had an error in the cello part, not reseting the key before going off into the distance. I regret the error.

Settling down

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Circling around the fourths in minor keys, then find the major key to state the theme. Still needs better dynamics. Later.

More Aimless Wandering about the Circle of Fourths

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How aimless? How's this:


17 39 08 30 52 21 43 12 34 03 25
47 16 38 07 29 51 20 42 11 33 02
24 46 15 37 06 28 50 19 41 10 32


Those are the keys in which it wanders, spending only a measure in each. In 53 tone equal temperament, those are all 22 steps, or a perfect fourth apart. You can see we get close to the start, when it hits 16, then 38, which is like the first two chords 17 & 39. After a short while the repetitive chord changes just leave one with a feeling of never ending change. Not a pleasant feeling in my mind.

Cycle of Fourths - Misses by One

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A cycle of fourths looks like the chart on the right.

In 53-tone to the octave equal temperament, 22 steps makes a perfect fourth. Start on E, and see what happens after 13 modulations. Instead of coming back to 17, you end up on 16. So what do you do when you don't come our right? I slide up by one and make up the difference. Otherwise I suppose I could go around again. How many would I have to cycle through? 54. Naturally.

Slow down a bit

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Lots more trills in the flute and cello. This is going round a circle of fifths, but keeps missing the destination by one out of 53.

Nice pause for the Flute break

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Fixed the move back to the primary melody.

Just a bit of calm for the flute

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Wrap around to the beginning flute melody.

Chords based on fourths

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Instead of triads based on the 4:5:6 and the 7:9:11, these are based on 5:7:9, 7:12:16, and other fourth based triads.

Crescendo and decrescendo

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I've finally added crescendo and decrescendo ability to my macro preprocessor to Csound. Now, after I've generated the wave file, I run it through Csound again to modulate the overall amplitude. I can't believe I relied on the volume of each note making the increase or decrease in loudness. How cumbersome it was! Every note had to be hand set to the desired volume, and the envelopes changed to implement an increase in sound.

Picture of the Dry Spring instrument

This is a picture of the Dry Spring instrument. It is a 12" piece of 1/4" Sitka Spruce wood, with lots of things glued to the surface: tooth brush, rocks, comb, rubber strips, plastic, steel, cork, & glass. There is a contact microphone on the back side. For my latest piece, I recorded short samples of some of the sounds to use as percussion instruments, controlled by Csound.

Better balance

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Remixed with speakers. Never mix with cans. Now you can hear the flute trills better, the finger piano arpeggios are quieter, and the percussion is audible. Much better.

Up and down again

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Today we hear from some new sections. Trills are handled by multiplying a note by a function table, like one shown on this page. The numbers represented by the graph are generated in csound with the following code:


f 421 0 256 -7 1 16 1 0 1.1249114 16 1.1249114 0 1 16 1 0 1.1249114 16 1.1249114
0 1 16 1 0 1.124911356 16 1.124911356 0 1 16 1 0 1.124911356 16 1.124911356
0 1 16 1 0 1.124911356 16 1.124911356 0 1 16 1 0 1.124911356 16 1.124911356
0 1 16 1 0 1.124911356 16 1.124911356 0 1 16 1 0 1.124911356 16 1.124911356 ; 9 : 8 120 up & down 9

I tell Csound what function table to multiply the note by, and then get a trill. In this piece, the C is tone 0, D a 9:8 above is tone 9, and E a 5:4 above C is tone 17. I multiply the C by the function number 421, and it trills from C to D. I create a triad with C, E, G, also known as 4:5:6 in just, and trill it to D, F+, A+, also known as 9:11:14. With a certain amount of randomness, it might play zero, one, two, or three notes at a time.

More flute

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In the major keys, the flute gets to play the cello parts.

Adjusting the variability more

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