Stochastic Cacophony

By Aaron Kemp
and Nikita Pavlov

Made possible in part by Graeme Bailey
and listeners like you

The goal of this project is to produce an applet that can automatically generate musical sequences.  We use stochastically generated values, based on optional input from the user, to construct a succession of notes.  These sequences are modified using a combination of approaches inspired by the work of Lou Harrison, an early 20th century composer:

• Rhythmicals
  Small elements of rhythmic patterns in which the notes can be varied.
• Melodicals
  Short tunes in which the rhythm can be varied.
• Restricted intervals
  Confining the notes to a particular octave or scale.

We will also have a user-friendly Java Swing visualizer to show the sequence of notes as it is being played.

So far, our output cannot even remotely be called music - hence the name of our project.  However, in the upcoming few weeks, this will evolve into, if not a masterpiece, then at least something that is not jarring to the average ear.  Considering that both of us are tone deaf, this is a great challenge.  But hey, Beethoven was deaf altogether, and that didn't stop him.  We also have very limited experience with music theory and terminology, so any technical terms used here may or may not correspond to their actual meaning.

We shall be posting periodic updates as our project matures.

Special thanks to:
- Professor Graeme Bailey, for introducing us to stochastic processes and elementary music theory.
- Tammy Yuen, for being the musical expert advisor for this project.