It’s been one of those nights that completely justifies pouring my life into algorithmic composition. Tonight, after having developed some theory over the past week about creating yet more coherence in the fractal cutting engine, I finally augmented Fraccut a bit. The premise is very simple. The coherence is drawn from the fact that using the same seed for a pseudorandom number generator will produce the same sequence of numbers. Of course, the implementation is way more complex than this. It’s very neat how everything works. Unfortunately, I can’t give away such pivotal secrets in a blog!

Now about the composition. Once again, it was a duel Fraccut loadout accompanied by ChillZone Pianist for the background chords. The two Fraccut modules were loaded as-is (the settings automatically randomize on load, so the computer chose the behavior). Now to be honest, I wasn’t sure if the whole seed premise would work. I’ve not messed much with random seeds in the past and from a mathematical standpoint it’s a tricky thing to do. Changing the seed by a teeny amount completely alters the entire output. How do you get coherence form that? Well, there are ways. I ended up putting one of the Fraccut parts on a low cello and the other on a high flute. The harmony is beautiful. Best of all, it is quite clear than some motifs/phrases are repeated throughout the composition by each of the Fraccut modules, and yet the parts are far from static!

I’m getting closer and closer to the perfect creativity/coherence balance and I’m immensely pleased with Fraccut’s work. I am in love with the new composition and am proud to say that for once, I would actually listen to this output on a normal occasion. I could definitely see this playing in the car or while doing homework.

There really seems to be no limit to what fractal cutting can do. I’m intensely excited (to say the least) to continue pushing the envelope with this new method of melody generation.