Computer Music (G6610, Fall 2012) week 4

Stochastics, Markov Chains

The use of probabilities to control the larger-scale unfolding of music. Bryan talked a bit about Iannis Xenakis, the ur-Markov chain composer.

Links

A few older links with Markov chain examples, a few LISP resources, and links to the Xenakis Gendy stuff:

Markov Chains

old class with a Markov example -- very early, also shows the use of the Gaussian probability distribution (we talked briefly about different probability distros)
Wikipedia entry on Markov chains -- look, it has a graph just like mine in class!
Markov chain video -- kind of boring but with good info
math/probability chapter on Markov chains -- hard-core math fun

Lisp
older class link -- good links to Lisp resources, though
Lisp Reference Documentation -- the Common Lisp "hyperspec"
common-lisp.net -- good source of resources
lisp examples -- basic lisp examples from an earlier class
lisp performance model development -- initial stages, again from an earlier class
final lisp performance model
Armed Bear Common Lisp (abcl) -- the main page for the common lisp interpreter used in class
abcl older releases -- we actually used an older release, some the newer releases have some issues with our imbedded use
[maxlispj] -- the common lisp interpreter I embedded in Max/MSP

Gendy3
Stochastic Composition and Stochastic Timbre: GENDY3 by Iannis Xenakis -- good article about Xenakis' Gendy3 by Marie-Helene Serra from Perspectives of New Music
Gendy3 (1/2) -- first half of the piece
Gendy3 (2/2) -- second half of the piece

Class Downloads

markov-patches.zip -- the class Max/MSP patches we did developing a Markov-chain
lisp-stuff.zip -- the basic lisp code I (Brad) showed in class. The file "abcl.jar" is included, but you can also run these from within the [maxlispj] Max/MSP object. To run it 'standalone', start up a Terminal window and go to the directory where the "abcl.jar" file is located. Then type:
You will want to load the file "utils.lisp" -- it contains the definitions of a set of functions needed for the class examples. The "basic.lisp" file contains some very basic examples of lisp function definitions.
Gendy-example.rtf.zip -- the "Gendy" SuperCollider ugen examples Bryan showed in class
just added! babble.zip -- the "babble" (markov chain nonsense-word generator) lisp + [maxlispj] patch I showed in class. The "phonemes.aif" soundfile is also included in this archive