#68

long time reader, first time post.

does anyone have recommendations for note probability in ableton / a max for live device that will give me note probability for incoming midi note data?

i’m aware of the velocity probability within ableton, but i’m looking for purely skipped note probability that retains the original velocity of the midi note. i have elektron devices that achieve this, but i’m looking for a solution purely ITB.

cheers!

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#69

You should be able to do this with the ‘random’ midi device.
I am not near my computer so I can’t test, but this is how I would do it:
Put a random device on your chain and set the chance as you want it, choices to 1 and scale to max.
Wrap your instrument/vst/whatever in a group (instrument rack) and set the note range for the chain to include the midinotes you want but not the super high notes generated by random (should be several octaves above.
If you need per note probability you can automate the chance in the clips.

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#70

This M4L device should do what you’re after. I haven’t used it for a while but I’m pretty sure it preserves velocity data and just uses the usual Max approach to note probability.

http://www.maxforlive.com/library/device/4618/note-skipper

This is also my first post. Hello!

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#71

I’ve really been getting more mileage out of my random lately. So much so that despite owning a Wogglebug, I snagged a Ultra Random Analog when one came up used and I’m currently using almost every output whenever I patch which has me thinking, should I offload these two and buy a Sapel? Save some space and by the looks of it, increase function and number of random outputs? Any Sapel users able to push me over the edge? (won’t take much)

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#72

I was following several threads and video on the Krell patch. Fluctuating random voltage seems to be a key element. I have a S&H module(Tromso) a Turing machine (2HP TM) a Doepfer 149-1, Maths…
The deeper although a model after the Buchla SOC does not have fluctuating random. Is there a way to use the Tromso S&H and my maths to slew and create a fluctuating random? What exactly is the voltage like from fluctuating random?

#73

simply put, the analog noise is S+H’d by randomly timed pulses and then slewed. the average timing of the random sampling is voltage controlled, and the same control also affects the slew rate proportionally.

yes, you can approximate this with your modules.

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#74

Amazing topic, thanks a lot! Learned a lot with the attenuator technique for random modules.

Variable degrees of randomness are central in my process.

A friend is building semi-modulars synths for us and we designed a very wild, random-based/generative unit. There´s a random module (with non-linear variation and velocity) with cool intermodulations, a weird sample & hold (“hample & sold”) and a dedicated bass osc variation for further randomness. A photo of it:

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I´m using it basically for drones - the 3+1+1+1 oscillators (some of them transistor based :)) through El Capistan have a eerie, mantric sound. It´s based in MFOS circuits (if i´m not wrong) and is operating with a slightly below the recommended battery voltage, provoking further fluctuations.

Really nice, even if limited - there´s no external cv in/out, just inner modulations.

At the moment my favorite machine with random capabilities is the OP-Z, which I´m using for instrumental hop hop. It´s very, very fast to sequence a beat and turn it upside down with all the random and generative glory of the step components.

The trigger spark and component spark in random mode (“9”) are my basic generative structure which I usually combine with the random one. This combination is amazing for textures, percussive and small samples - even better now with the new sampling capabilities of the OP-Z, with the variable slice size per step + LFO in the Reverse parameter per step!.

For even more jazzy results I use the ramp up and down components and the velocity. When I´m looking for extreme glitch/retriggers I also use the pulse and pulse hold (both in random) and the jump components, sometimes variating in real time the sequence length.

The delay fx, although not sounding specially lush, is also nice for an extra groove.

Oh! And you can randomize all the parameters with a combo - an welcome addition to the Digitone, by the way.

And talking about it, I have a techno Digitone live full of conditional trigs and S&H LFO randomness. The degree of sound control that you have in the DN is impressive and the recent additions (specially the ratio offsets <3) made it even better - although to be honest, I´m using it´s random capabilities much more for my drums/percussive sounds.

I was using with some acid synths but now that I finally managed to find an acid sweet spot in some patches (and the new portamento/glide capabilities of the DN) I´m using it alone, which will free me to do the MIDI feedback tricks to have even more LFOs modulating everything - my next investigation! :slight_smile:

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#75

I just listened to the most recent Art, Music and Technology podcast featuring Chris Meyer, and they were discussing randomness, and specifically the difference between random and chaos. I found it extremely fascinating; Chris mentioned Brian Eno speaking about randomness, saying something along the lines that fully random music can be quite boring, as there’s never any tension or release. Chaos, which Eno and Chris Meyer embraced, if I’m remembering this correctly, has some level of predictability. It becomes up to the performer to pull out the bits that create these tensions or a narrative. I had never been able to put into words why fully generative music kinda bored me, but this explains it pretty well. I strive to achieve themes or motifs with semi-random elements but that try to get from point A to B to Z, to create interest along the way. One way I’ve found to do this is with Tempi, putting a S&H or random gate into the mod input. Also, another trick I’ve figured out recently is to use a quantizer with a trigger in, like the Penrose, into a Turing Machine. If you keep the trigger in as a steady pulse but change the clock speed of the turing machine, you will get rhythmic variations that are still in time. A third thing I discovered with Mutable Stages is to use it as a sequencer and send a s&h to one stage to randomize just one stage as the sequence moves. If you clock the s&h at different speeds than Stages you ’ ll get different patterns as well. Its really fun!

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#76

Here’s a clip of Brian Eno talking about generative and random elements in his music, he walks through his daw where he has his own parameters set up for it.

I love arpeggiators, but I still don’t like working with random elements as much. I do enjoy it in other people’s work.

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#77

Chance and accident in live performance and rehearsal:

I play in a 2-person band that uses mostly synthesizers and live processing. We’ve found it really productive to capture a recording of everything we do in every rehearsal. Even when neither of us is going out of their way to improvise, there have been a few magical moments where somebody does something spontaneous (whether by mistake, frustration, boredom, whim, distraction, or some other reason) which actually sounds a lot better than whatever we were trying to do. Listening and reflecting on the recording helps us incorporate the good mistakes back into the music.

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#78

I’m always on the lookout for new sources of randomness and was wondering what your favorites are? I have the Intellijel Noise Tools, which I love and I’m looking to add one more source of randomness to the mix.

#80

This distinction is something that resonates with the role chance plays in my own creative processes; I’ll have to listen to this episode!

I’ve struggled with the use of random and chance as elements of automated composition not because the results are unpleasant, but because I’ve felt a disconnect in having agency when responding to moments of tension or steering a narrative. Influencing the chance parameters of an automated process by interfacing with a keyboard or knobs or buttons allows agency in these areas but I haven’t been able to escape the feeling of being an “outsider” in these scenarios, like my interaction with these processes is a novelty that the system would be fine without. I don’t mean this as a dismissal of generative composition that employ these techniques, rather highlighting the disconnect I’ve felt when trying to employ them. I somehow suspect this disconnect may not feel the same if I were not attempting to make tonal music…

Despite this, accidents and chance have still figured prominently in my musical process as of late through the process of sampling/looping audio. My musical partner and I have been working with a system that allows us to capture audio of our instruments (two synths and sampler) that provides a lot of flexibility for signal routing and manipulation. By setting arbitrary loop points, recording each other’s playing without explicit intention, recording a different timbre than what’s heard in the main mix, etc. the resulting output often leads to a field of sound that was not made to sound a specific way, yet contains many facets of our musicality.

The chance element of this field is what drives my intuition of play; it’s what encourages the build and release tension, the construction of a narrative. There are plenty of opportunities in this system to make mistakes, to capture something unintentionally, to record a “wrong note”, but the system is full capable of incorporating or circumventing these moments in real time. The ability to interject intention within in this space by physical means of keys/knobs/switches/buttons has become key to my sense of agency when utilizing chance. It feels like a dialogue. Eventually I’d like to get to a place where the sampling and manipulation of this process can be focused on aspects of composition (i.e MIDI data) in conjunction with audio output.

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