#learninggenerativemusic

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β

What role does chance play in generative music, and are there different types of chance, and if so, how do I generate them with modular synthesizers?

[rofilm1]

υ

What are the specific problems that I meet when producing generative patches? Get the answer here:

[rofilm1]

Every real understanding begins with asking the right questions. Here are mine (concerning generative music,):

α

Generative Music transfers some of the responsibility for a musical composition to a “machine” (a system). How? How much? Which ones? Why?

β

What role does chance play in generative music, and are there different types of chance, and if so, how do I generate them with modular synthesizers?

γ

What are the ingredients for generative music, and how do the “kitchen tools” work, the tools I process these ingredients with?

δ

Why are modular synthesizer systems so useful for producing generative music, and how do I get the most out of them?

ε

Does generative music always have to be ambient music? Or slow music? Or comfortable? Or dulcet?

ζ

Do I really need special modules that are suitable for making generative music?

η

What is so special about Voltage Modular that it deserves a whole e-book trilogy only about making generative music with this modular system?

θ

Why is it that generative music helps us understanding Albert Einstein?

ι

How many modules do I need to make generative Music with modular synths?

κ

Does a generative patch always have to run unattendedly?

λ

Can generative music be more or less generative? Is there a kind of degree?

μ

Do “real world” goings on play a role in generative music? Which one?

ν

Is generative music the most or the least human form of music?

ξ

Isn´t every modular synthesizer system potentially or even mainly a machine for creating generative music?

ο

Is generative music a genre, a style, a marketing term or simply a method of producing music?

π

How to prevent John from falling asleep when he is listening to generative music?

ρ

What do I really need to know when I want to make generative music with modular synths?

ς

Why is Voltage Modular one of the best modular synth systems when it comes to making generative music?

σ

Is there such a thing like “pseudo generative music”, and what and how could it possibly be?

τ

Does the term “composing generative music” make any sense?

υ

What are the specific problems that I meet when producing generative patches?

φ

Is producing generative music an alternative to learning music theory?

χ

Is it possible to produce generative dance music (EDM)?

ψ

What are the advantages that Voltage Modular has over other modular synth systems, and are there also disadvantages (which ones)?

ω

Is there an especially close relationship between generative music and modular synths?

ϊ

Where is my own creativity (is there any at all?) when I “provoke” a modular synth to make generative music?

ϋ

Is generative music of any commercial use (or is the invention of the term “generative music” a merely commercial act itself)?

ό

Does it make any sense to perform generative music live (and how may that possibly be done in an interesting way)?

ύ

Is generative music nothing else than musical pseudo-dadaismus?

ώ

What do have generative music and minimal music in common (if there is anything common at all)?

Read the whole article on https://www.dev.rofilm-media.net/node/622

Cheers and peace!

Enjoy your day!

Rolf

[rofilm1]

ς

Why is Voltage Modular one of the best modular synth systems when it comes to making generative music?

[rofilm1]

ρ

What do I really need to know when I want to make generative music with modular synths?

[rofilm1]

δ

Why are modular synthesizer systems so useful for producing generative music, and how do I get the most out of them?

[rofilm1]

ν

Is generative music the most or the least human form of music?

[rofilm1]

α

Generative Music transfers some of the responsibility for a musical composition to a “machine” (a system). How? How much? Which ones? Why?

[rofilm1]

It´s done! The book is available on

(you can even read the first chapter of the book there).

Without a lot of words about “how great” or “how important” this book is, here´s what it contents. Decide yourself!

Cheers and peace!

Rolf

Chapter 0: Some Words About Generative Music And About This Book 006

Chapter 1: Pseudo Randomness And Its Advantages and Disadvantages 008

Chapter 1.1: Using LFOs To Generate Pseudo Randomness 009

Chapter 1.2: Special LFOs And Other Cycle Generating Modules 028

Chapter 1.2.1: R_ware´s “LFO-inator” 028

Chapter 1.2.2: R_ware´s “SplineCurve” 034

Chapter 1.2.3: Looping Envelopes 041

Chapter 1.2.3.1: Mini Envelope VCA Plus by Andrew Macaulay 041

Chapter 1.2.3.2: Super Envelope Generator (Cherry Audio) 050

Chapter 1.2.3.3: AHR Generator (Adroit) 058

Chapter 1.2.3.4: Playertron´s Membrane Function Generator 065

Chapter 1.2.3.5: Benard´s Stochastic SR Envelope 075

Chapter 1.2.3.6: Voltage Modular And the Music Of the Krell 079

Chapter 1.2.3.6.1: Step 1 - Patching a Krell Engine 080

Chapter 1.2.3.6.2: Step 2 – Adding Breakpoints And Modulations 083

Chapter 1.2.3.6.3: Step 3 – The Role Of Sequencers In Krell Patches 091

Chapter 1.2.3.6.4: Step 4 – A Cascade of Krell Engines 093

Chapter 1.2.3.6.5: Step 5 – Modulating Minima And Maxima 095

Chapter 1.2.3.6.6: Step 6 – Polyphonic Krell 099

Chapter 1.2.4: Sequencers 102

Chapter 1.2.4.1: Stochastic CV Sequencers 108

Chapter 1.2.4.1a: Playertron´s Stochastic Note & CV Sequencer 114

Chapter 1.2.4.2: Stochastic Trigger Sequencers 121

Chapter 1.2.5: Shift Registers 125

Chapter 1.2.5.1: DMT´s Shift Register 131

Chapter 1.2.5.1.a: Parrot Machine 132

Chapter 1.2.5.2: Micro Feedback Shift Register

(Synthetic Future x R_Ware) 134

Chapter 1.2.6: Sequential Switches 138

Chapter 1.2.6.1: CHASER by Borkman 146

Chapter 1.2.7: Gray Code Modules 150

Chapter 1.2.8: Samples And Recordings 156

Chapter 1.2.9: Euclidean Sequencers 159

INTERLUDE 1: Randomness, Probability, Stochastic 164

Chapter 2: Different Kinds Of “Real” Randomness 169

Chapter 2.1: Sample & Hold Modules 169

Chapter 2.1.a: Andrew Macaulay´s “Sample/Track And Hold” 172

Chapter 2.1.b: Micro¨Sample And Hold (Synthetic Future x R_Ware) 174

Chapter 2.1.1: Sample Sources for Sample & Hold Modules 175

Chapter 2.1.1.1: Sampling From Regular Wave Shapes 176

Chapter 2.1.1.2: Sampling from Audio 179

Chapter 2.1.1.3: Sampling from Anything 182

Chapter 2.2: Turing Machines 184

Chapter 2.2.1: DMT´s “Turing Universe” 185

Chapter 2.2.2: Playertron´s Turing Algorithm Tape Splicer 191

INTERLUDE 2: Gates And Switches 203

Chapter 2.3: Probability Gates And Random Gates 210

Chapter 2.3.1: HetrickCV´s “Random Gates” 210

Chapter 2.3.2: “Stochastic Trigger Distributor” (Playertron) 212

Chapter 2.3.3: “scrambler” (sys.6 / planet.6) 213

Chapter 2.3.4: “Pulse Train” (Centripidity) 215

Chapter 2.3.5: Bernoulli Gates 227

Chapter 2.3.6: Probability Router 125 (Insomniac Music) 238

Chapter 2.3.7: Real World Triggers And Gates 230

Chapter 2.3.7.1: Triggers And Gates From Field Recordings 230

Chapter 2.3.7.2: Triggers And Gates From Observations 233

Chapter 2.3.7.3: “The Rhythm Of a Day” 234

INTERLUDE 3: Nature´s Paradigm 236

Chapter 3: Modulation Targets And Trigger Targets 248

Chapter 3.1: Pitch 249

Chapter 3.2: Timbre 252

Chapter 3.3: Filters and Equalisers 260

Chapter 3.4: Wave Shapers And Wave Folders 263

Chapter 3.5: Additive Techniques (Partials And More) 271

Chapter 3.6: Voices 281

Chapter 3.7: Rhythm 284

Chapter 3.8: Effects 291

Chapter 3.9: Envelopes 295

Chapter 3.10: Quantizers 297

Chapter 3.11: Grains 299

Chapter 3.12: Sample Player 307

Chapter 3.13: Slew Processors / Limiters 311

Chapter 3.14: Comparators 313

Chapter 4: Compositional Aspects Of Generative Music 316

Chapter 4.1: Basic Compositional Decisions 316

Chapter 4.2: Basic Compositional Techniques 327

Chapter 4.2.1: Contrasting 327

Chapter 4.2.2: Repeating, Modifying And Inverting Relations 330

Chapter 4.2.3: Basic But Exclusively Generative Techniques 335

Chapter 4.3: Specific Compositional Techniques 339

Chapter 4.3.1: Pitch Dependency 339

Chapter 4.3.2: Rhythm 340

Chapter 4.3.3: Tension And Layers 345

Chapter 4.4: Certain Patch Techniques And Examples 347

Chapter 4.4.1: Switching Voices And Layer Parts Of the Patch 347

Chapter 4.4.2: Sculpture Randomness And Setting Borders 353

Chapter 4.4.3: Mixing Regular And Random Elements 356

Chapter 5: Building Blocks Of Generative Patching 363

Chapter 5.1: The Instrumentation Of Envelopes 363

Chapter 5.2: 5 Faces Of Randomness 370

Chapter 5.3: Random Harmonies 381

Chapter 5.3.1: Basic Random Arpeggio Set-Ups 381

Chapter 5.3.2: Certain Modules To Work With Harmonies 384

Chapter 6: Generative Principles In Nature And Society

And Their Musical Reproduction 391

Chapter 6.1: The Physicist´s Tunes 391

Chapter 6.1.1: Heisenberg´s General Pings 391

Chapter 6.1.2: Einstein´s Melody Of the Spheres 393

Chapter 6.1.3: de Broglie´s Electron Concert 393

Chapter 6.1.4: Heisenberg´s Cosmic Pings (plus a fun patch) 398

Chapter 6.1.5: Feynman´s Dance Of the Quarks 403

Chapter 6.2: The Biologist´s Tunes 407

Chapter 6.2.1: The Symphony Of Photosynthesis 407

Chapter 6.2.2: Enzymatic Choirs 410

Chapter 6.3: Society´s Tunes 414

Chapter 6.3.1: The Wailing Shopping Mall 414

Chapter 6.3.2: City Death Tune 417

Chapter 7: Modules Which Are Especially Useful

When Making Generative Music 421

Chapter 7.1: Quadrature VLFO by Cyberwerks Heavy Industries 421

Chapter 7.1.1: Functionality 421

Chapter 7.1.2: Applications 424

Chapter 7.2: “Feigen” by Vult 428

Chapter 7.2.1: Functionality 428

Chapter 7.2.2: Applications 430

Chapter 7.3: “Distributor” by Vulpus Labs 433

Chapter 7.3.1: Functionality 433

Chapter 7.3.2: Applications 434

Chapter 7.4: Jadwiga Single Pole Filter (Playertron) 437

Chapter 7.4.1: Functionality 437

Chapter 7.4.2: Applications 443

Chapter 8: The Bridge to Volume 2:

Certain Patch Ideas And Their Musical Meaning 447

Chapter 8.1: Competing Melodies And the Turn Of the Tide 447

Chapter 8.2: Stream Of Life 449

Chapter 8.3: Immanent Threat 451

Epilogue 453

Appendix A: Your Personal Advantages As a Buyer Of this Book 454

Appendix B: Contact And Social Media 455

Appendix C: Copyright 456

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How to Make generative music, what generative music really is, and what it´s all about anyway...

More about working with sound and making music on https://dev.rofilm-media.net

You want to learn everything about making GENERATIVE MUSIC? Here´s the link: https://www.dev.rofilm-media.net/node/331

Or do rather want to dive deep into granular synthesis and sonic grains? Well, here´s the link for you:

Or are you interested in how electronic music was made in the 1950s, and how and why this is important for making music today? OK, here´s the link that shows you everything: https://www.dev.rofilm-media.net/node/537

And if you are planning to buy some gear for your studio and music production, please follow my affiliate link to Perfect Circuits and have a look at their latest special offers: https://yazing.com/deals/perfectcircuit/rofilm

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(there´s even a video about it:

Epiloque

And here it ends. These are the last sentences of my trilogy about making generative music with modular synths.

And these are the last few minutes of more than three years of working about this topic, of writing, of trying out patch techniques, of making graphics and all kinds of illustrations ... and of making hundreds and hundreds of video clips and embed them in these books.

If you have followed me through all three volumes of “A Systematic Introduction To Making Generative Music With Modular Synths” I´d like to say:

“Thank you for following me! Thank you very much indeed for reading and practising and working yourself through legions of pages and exercises. Thank you for following me through 1095 days (it ended up being even a few more), for telling me your opinion in emails, in your comments on social media and in Skype calls – and of course thank you for buying my e-books and for giving me all kind of support.”

You have worked yourself through a lot of stuff, really a lot, and you can rightly call yourself a master of generative music now.

Where should you – or we - go from here? How should you - or we – continue? What are the nearest related subject areas?

Well, it´s not only modular synths we can generate music with. Producing generative music by coding is one of these neighbouring fields of creativity.

And being a neighbour to both (modular and program code) there is the wide field of algorithmic composition.

And looking into another direction we see a group of “generative music generating” techniques marching under the flag of “Artificial Intelligence”.

And understanding yourself as a part of the generative system you may even want to explore the world of music and psychology, of how musical phenomena are experienced.

Alright then! There´s a lot to do, there are a lot of journeys waiting to be made.

Enjoy your day!

Rolf Kasten