Heuristic Music

A simple phasing piece consisting of a 12 beat phrase that repeats in two channels. The phrase in the right channel is a quarter of a beat longer than the phrase in the left channel, so they gradually drift out of sync, then come back into sync after 48 repeats. The result is a series of unpredictable rhythmic and melodic variations.

Light timing and velocity randomization was applied to the final sequence to keep the piece from feeling stiff. Both channels are played through a percussive synth patch designed in Native Instruments Massive, with EQ and reverb from Logic Pro.

Electric chimes created by mounting piezo transducers on metal tubes suspended from a microphone stand. Spring reverb courtesy of a Roland RE-201 Space Echo. Tiny clicking sounds are microphonic artifacts from the piezo leads rubbing against each other. Trimming and noise reduction processing performed in Logic Pro 9.