Here's one that took a while to make. I was able to build Csound v5 under Linux on an IBM mainframe Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL), thanks to an IBM developer program. Csound is back on the mainframe after not seeing such an architecture for probably 40 years. It runs pretty fast, but that's not the reason to build it on the platform. I just wanted to understand the challenges of moving to the s390x architecture, since I sell mainframes for a living, and most of my customers have Linux toda...
Aug 10, 2012
Here's a version made on a Linux implementation on Amazon's Web Services. Now that my preprocessor has been ported to open source Free Pascal , it was a snap to compile it on an Ubuntu Linux instance. Csound only needed a simple install. It's my first try at Linux. Next stop: RedHat under z/VM on an IBM IFL at their developer sandbox . Unfortunately, there's no port of Free Pascal that supports the z architecture or instruction set, and I'll have to build Csound myself. I think the latter will b...
Aug 02, 2012
Here is the last version of June Gloom I will post. Today's run through the algorithm is a milepost of sorts. I finally was able to generate the whole thing without having to run either the preprocessor or Csound in that dreadful XP box on my Windows 7 laptop. Today I finished the port of the preprocessor to Free Pascal from Turbo Pascal. Most of the problems along the way were due to failing to check for Nil pointers and out of bounds arrays. Apparently Turbo Pascal circa 1989 let me do some ba...
Jul 22, 2012
This is another final version. The eleventh time through the track shows off the idea of several different instruments playing the melody, and each one can choose to trill, slide up, slide down, play only one note instead of all three, and many other variations. The conflict between the instruments makes for an interesting sound. Download or Play it here. Subscribe here:...
Jul 02, 2012
This is a final version of the piece I've been working on lately. As with several recent works, this one takes six notes at a time out of a 10-note scale based on the undertone series. Here is a small chart that shows the pitches and ratios used and the order of the changes. The accidentals are in the Sagittal font. The six notes chosen are two triads. The first one in the first row is a just B flat major, played at the same time as a just C minor. This is a very consonant combinations, almost t...
Jun 30, 2012
This is a work in progress. Today I modified the amplitude, octaves, tempos, and added a cello and tuba to the mix. The point of my recent music is choosing from several six note combinations from a ten note undertone scale. Some are very easy on the ears, and some are challenging. See if you can tell which is which. Download or Play it here. Subscribe here:...
Jun 28, 2012
This is a work in progress. Noodling around with some different keys. Download or Play it here. Subscribe here:
Jun 28, 2012
This is a work in progress. Adding a few more options for the melody. Now he can either trill, slide up, slide down, or play stacatto. More to come. And a few more keys. Download or Play it here. Subscribe here:
Jun 23, 2012
This is a work in progress. Just the woodwinds for now. The title is what Seattle is like this time of year. Play it here Subscribe here:...
Jun 22, 2012
Play it here Here's a final version of the piece I've been working on lately. It's scored for bass finger piano and lots of Ernie Ball Super Slinky Guitar string samples. The tuning is taken from a mostly utonal scale, but only six notes at a time. Here's the 10 notes in the scale, from which six note modes are pulled. The numbers across the top are the scale degrees out of the 10 available (actually only 10 in this case), and the next row is the 72-EDO note numbers. And here are the six note ch...
May 02, 2012
This is a work in progress. Today's installment includes many more types of chords. Very slippery notes. The chord changes are derived from the undertone scale I've been working with lately. Play it here or download this link Subscribe here:
May 01, 2012
My entry for the Untwelve 60x60 Mix . Play it here or download this link Subscribe here:
Apr 29, 2012
This is a work in progress. I'm playing with the bridge changes. After a vamp on G minor to Ab major we have the following: Eb major Bb major F minor C minor B supermajor Bf major Then back to the G minor to Ab major. Of course they are not really those keys. They are taken from the scale pictured here: The title is taken from a picture I took Sunday evening on the deck looking up at the wonderful blue spring sky. It's been hidden above the clouds since about September of last fall, and the clou...
Apr 24, 2012
This is a work in progress. Just a set of up and down triads of two chords, gliding from one to the other. I'm using the Ernie Ball Super Slinky guitar string samples. Play it here or download this link Subscribe here:
Apr 22, 2012
This is a work in progress. Play it here or download this link Subscribe here:
Apr 15, 2012
This is a work in progress. Just some strings for now. Play it here or download this link Subscribe here:
Apr 14, 2012
I made a few more changes to the guitar and horn parts. Nothing major. I spent the past few days chasing a bug that would cause the pre-processor to request a sample that did not exist. I fixed it so that it no longer does that. Now I have much more freedom to allow a randomizer to pick a higher or lower sample than normal. This results in new timbres as it picks different samples at different times. It's a way to force " munchkinization ", named after the Munchkin voices in The Wizard of Oz. In...
Apr 11, 2012
This one is final for now. It's the 14th take through the algorithm. It uses the subharmonic series to the 15 limit, plus one more (36:19) beyond the 15-limit, and an additional note (27:20) which I added to be harmonious with the 9:5. 18:18 18:16 18:15 18:14 27:20 18:13 18:12 18:11 18:10 36:19 36:18 which can also be written as: 1:1 9:8 6:5 9:7 27:20 18:13 3:2 18:11 9:5 36:19 2:1 From that ten note scale, I pull six notes out at a time and play a set of chords and melodies. Or rather the comput...
Apr 07, 2012
This is the first of the evaluation copies. I generally make a few copies then go for a walk and listen to them. This is one. I may change some things before it goes final. It's scored for Ernie Ball Super Slinky String samples, finger pianos, trumpets, trombones, tube drums, and balloon drums. The scale is based on modes derived from the following undertone + one scale: I take six notes at a time from the ten notes in the scale. The order of the modes may change, but for now it's like this: 792...
Apr 06, 2012
This is a work in progress. I added some new modes in the scale. Some are more "challenging". The piece steps through nine modes of the 10 available notes in the a scale derived principally from the undertone series with numerators over the demoninator 18. Plus one more note at 27:20 as a 3:2 above the 9:5 (Bb). The whole scale is shown on the following chart: The modes take six notes from those ten and make a subset scale. For example, the first one is this: The 3rd notes is a very pleasant 6:5...
Apr 02, 2012
