My track for Pi Day, simply named “Pi”, is derived from the number Pi in several ways.
The first 109 digits are pulsed by the rhythm instruments (3 pulses for the digit 3, 9 pulses for the digit 9, etc.).
The first 10 digits of Pi are used to determine the pitches of the pulses and chords. The pitch is based on a chromatic scale of 10 semi-tones (0 through 9). The duration of each pitch is also determined by the first 10 digits of Pi. The higher the digit, the higher the pitch and the longer the duration. For example, the digit 9 has the highest pitch and longest duration, which lasts for 9 measures, the digit 3 is six semi-tones lower than 9 and only lasts for 3 measures, etc.
The result is a pleasant ambient track, with a slowly changing “melody” marking the first 10 digits over the full length of the track, created from the faster pulses of the first 109 digits.
The cover art is a photograph I created several years ago. How did they stuff all the digits of Pi into that fortune cookie?