Progress Report #4

This week, although I worked hard on my program each day, I did not preview any sources. At least I'm honest, right? I had decided that the week would be dedicated to the programming/creative aspect of my thesis. Next week I will shift my focus back to research. I think alternating this way will help me, since I can research methods one week and then spend the next week trying to implement them. So, in short, no sources this week, but expect many next week.

Reflecting on the Week
In my last report, I set three goals, two of which I have partially met this week. First, I said I would like to finish the Variating Drummer plugin. I should have known that 'finish' is simply too strong of a word to ever use in setting goals. Nonetheless, I 'finished' giving the plugin some basic functionality this week. In other words, it now works on a very basic level. I doubt that any single component will truly be 'finished' until the end. But it now works, so I consider that goal fulfilled.

My second goal was to develop a method for generating melody. In this goal I failed. I did not even attempt to develop such a method this week. It's a very, very difficult problem to tackle, and to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure how I'll approach it. Eventually I'm going to have to face the problem, but I think for now I should stick to the basics rather than try tackling something this difficult.

Finally, I said I wished to have a basic trance song outputted by the program by the end of the week. In theory I met the goal, but it wasn't really what I had in mind. There's still not much creativity in the output, so it hardly counts as a song...all the elements are very simple. Nonetheless, I think it still counts.

Overall, I think things are going well. My only concern is losing my creative steam. Right now I'm pushing full force ahead...but it's very easy to get sucked into the routine of grinding out lines of code without really thinking about the innovation it takes to 'synthesize' creativity. I need to be inspired in order to make an inspiring program. That means I just need to keep my creative juices flowing.

Goals for This Week
I'm going to try to be more specific and more realistic about my goals this week. Hopefully I'll be able to meet them all.

• Research a New Method
It's about time I researched a new method of algorithmic composition. This week I will aim to find and extensively research a new method which I will implement next week if all goes well.
• Finish the VDrummer Variation Algorithm Editor
I was too vague last week when I said complete the Variating Drummer plugin. This week I'll focus on trying to get the variation algorithm editor working since it's the last piece of the plugin that's not working yet. Variation algorithms basically provide the instructions for making drum style random and interesting; they comprise the heart of the VDrummer (Variating Drummer) system.

• Make a Sound Demo
Last week I said I would try to make a basic trance song. Since I wasn't really impressed with my attempts to do so, I'm going to be more general this time. For the next status seminar (that is, in a week, not this coming one) I would like to have something to show for my work. Whether it's just a short clip of the VDrummer groovin' or a fully fleshed-out song demo, I want something tangible.