Composition Project – Recording Demo

This is a version I did after class, with the right progression of the visuals:

This version is the spontaneous version; I played lines by lines without a specific order, the overall music sounds a little bit unstructured compared to the first video I posted.

For this version, I put everything into cycles with the purpose of timing everything rather than playing patterns one by one, so that’s why it’s a bit faster.

Inspiration:

My inspiration came a little bit randomly. A few days before the composition progress update, I stumbled upon this song from the electronic band Cash Cash called “How To Love” and the song, especially the synth riff, was stuck in my head for a while. I thought to myself, this riff sounds really cool and nostalgic, so let me try to create a composition piece inside TidalCycle based on it. Figuring out the code for the RHYTHM of the riff inside TidalCycle was challenging — it is easy to hum but not to construct them in codes — so I had to ask professor Aaron on Tuesday.

The time signature is a 4 4 so putting all the elements together was not too challenging. I enjoyed the process of writing the elements. The mixing, arranging, adding filters and effects part took me a lot of time. I had to make sure at least everything fit together and nothing gets left behind.

Hydra code — I experimented mainly with the concept of painting the canvas, from line to color:

solid().out()

s0.initImage("https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Hieronymus_Bosch_-_The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_-_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_%28Ecclesia%27s_Paradise%29.jpg")
src(s0).out()

gradient(1)

.diff(src(s0),1)
.modulate(noise(()=>(cc[1])*4,.1))
.kaleid(2).kaleid(3)
.colorama (0.4)
.diff(noise(10,.10).thresh(.12,.12).rotate(()=>(cc[2])*14,.1))

.thresh(.2)

.out()

TidalCycles code — structured version:

hush
--40 80
--0 40 80 120
--0 20 40 60 80 100 127  

  d2 $ ccv "0 20 40 60 80 100 120 127" # ccn "1" # s "midi"
  d1 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ seqP [
  --verse
  (0,16, s "arpy" >| note ((scale "major" "<[2@3 2@3 2@3 2@2 2@1 4@4] [1@3 1@3 1@3 1@2 1@2 4@4] [0@3 0@3 0@3 0@2 0@2 4@4] [-2@3 -2@3 -2@3 -2@2 -2@2 4@4]>")) # room 0.8 #lpf 1500),
  (4,23, s "~ hand:15 ~ hand:15" # gain 2 #room 0.1 #lpf 5000),
  (8,24, slow 4 $ s "superpiano" <| note "c'maj g'maj a'min f'sus2" #room 0.5),
  (16,24, s "superpiano" <| note "<[f'maj*4] [a'min*4] [g'maj*4] [g'maj*4]>" #room 0.1 #gain 1 #lpf 1500),
  (16,24, slow 4 $ s"superpiano" <|note "c6 c6 d6 g5" #room 0.1 # gain 1.5),
  (12,24, s "bassdm:14*4" #gain 1.5),
  (12,24, slow 2 $ sound "bassdm*4" #gain 1.5),

  --build-up
  (24,32, s "superpiano" <| note "<[f'maj*4] [a'min*4] [g'maj*4] [c'maj*4]>" #lpf 150 #gain 3),

  --riser-
  (24,29, s "bassdm:14*4" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),
  (29,30, s "bassdm:14*8" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),
  (30,31, s "bassdm:14*16" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),
  (31,32, s "bassdm:14*32" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),

  --drop
  (32,48, s "arpy" >| note ((scale "major" "<[2@3 2@3 2@3 2@2 2@2 4@4] [1@3 1@3 1@2 1@2 1@2 4@4] [0@3 0@3 0@3 0@2 0@2 4@4] [-1@3 -1@3 -1@3 -1@2 -1@2 4@4] [-2@3 -2@3 -2@3 -2@2 -2@2 4@4] [-1@3 -1@3 -1@3 -1@2 -1@2 4@4] [0 1 2 4 5] [4 5 7 8 7 8]>")) # room 0.8 #lpf 2000),
  (32,48, sound "clubkick:5*4" # room 0.5),
  (40,48, struct "<t(4,8) t(4,8)>" $ s "[arpy]" # note "<[c'maj*4] [g'maj*4] [a'min*4] [f'sus2*4]>" # gain 1.2 # orbit 5),
  (40,48, struct "<t(4,8) t(4,8,3)>" $ s "[reverbkick]" # note "f'maj a'min g'maj g'maj" #krush 0.5 # orbit 6 #speed 0.5)
]

TidalCycles code — unstructured version:

hush

  d10 $ ccv "40 80" # ccn "1" # s "midi"

do
  d1 $ s "arpy" >| note ((scale "major" "<[2@3 2@3 2@3 2@2 2@1 4@4] [1@3 1@3 1@3 1@2 1@2 4@4] [0@3 0@3 0@3 0@2 0@2 4@4] [-2@3 -2@3 -2@3 -2@2 -2@2 4@4]>")) # room 0.8 #lpf 1500

  d2 $ s "~ hand:15 ~ hand:15" # gain 2 #room 0.1 #lpf 5000

  d3 $ slow 4 $ s "superpiano" <| note "c'maj g'maj a'min f'sus2" #room 0.5

  d4 $ s "bassdm:14*4" #gain 1.5

  d5 $ slow 2 $ sound "bassdm*4" #gain 1.5

  d6 $ s "superpiano" <| note "<[f'maj*4] [a'min*4] [g'maj*4] [g'maj*4]>" #room 0.1 #gain 1 #lpf 1500

  d7 $ slow 4 $ s"superpiano" <|note "c6 c6 d6 g5" #room 0.1 # gain 1.5

d1 silence
d2 silence
d3 silence
d4 silence
d5 silence
d6 silence
d7 silence

    d11 $ ccv "0 40 80 120" # ccn "1" # s "midi"

do
  d1 $ s "superpiano" <| note "<[f'maj*4] [a'min*4] [g'maj*4] [c'maj*4]>" #lpf 150 #gain 3

  d2 $ s "bassdm:14*4" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5

  --riser--
  d3 $ qtrigger $ filterWhen (>=0) $ seqP [
  (0,1, s "bassdm:14*4" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),
  (1,2, s "bassdm:14*8" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),
  (2,3, s "bassdm:14*16" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),
  (3,4, s "bassdm:14*32" # room 0.5 #gain 1.5),

  --buildup--
  (4,240, s "arpy" >| note ((scale "major" "<[2@3 2@3 2@3 2@2 2@2 4@4] [1@3 1@3 1@2 1@2 1@2 4@4] [0@3 0@3 0@3 0@2 0@2 4@4] [-1@3 -1@3 -1@3 -1@2 -1@2 4@4] [-2@3 -2@3 -2@3 -2@2 -2@2 4@4] [-1@3 -1@3 -1@3 -1@2 -1@2 4@4] [0 1 2 4 5] [4 5 7 8 7 8]>")) # room 0.8 #lpf 2000),
  (4,240, sound "clubkick:5*4" # room 0.5)]


    d12 $ ccv "0 20 40 60 80 100 127" # ccn "1" # s "midi"

  d4 $ struct "<t(4,8) t(4,8)>" $ s "[arpy]" # note "<[c'maj*4] [g'maj*4] [a'min*4] [f'sus2*4]>" # gain 1.2 # orbit 5

  d5 $ struct "<t(4,8) t(4,8,3)>" $ s "[reverbkick]" # note "f'maj a'min g'maj g'maj" #krush 0.5 # orbit 6 #speed 0.5

d1 silence
d2 silence
d3 silence
d4 silence
d5 silence

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