mGen Sample 1

Well, here it is (the clip should be playing when you load the blog).

Eighty-nine hundred lines worth of code, embodied in a single audio clip. Yes, I know it's bad, probably pretty much intolerable by the standards of any of you guys. So am I wasting my time? Thousands of lines and all you get is an overly simplistic, predictable drum beat and uninspiring arpeggiations layered on top of overly simplistic chord progressions? No, not at all. Most of the coding so far has been dedicated to creating the framework for mGen, not the actual generative modules. The real work so far was getting a progression, getting arpeggiations, getting a drum beat, and pulling them all together into the same mp3 file and rendering them all automatically (everything in this sample was done automatically, I was literally one button click away from my rendered mp3 file).

I'd say I'm pretty much on target for my goal. For starters I've already achieved the one-click philosophy cited in my proposal. My system has now effectively demonstrated its ability to go from nothing to a finished mp3 file in only a single button click. Also, when one considers briefly the complexity of computer music, the fact that mGen's first sample sounds even remotely close to rhythmically and harmonically sound is quite an impressive feat. There are no chords that sound bad, most of the progressions actually sound good. The arpeggiations sound relatively good too. Both of those items were non-deterministic, meaning mGen completely determined each chord in the progression and each note in the arpeggios (actually it also individually determined the notes in each chord of the progression).

So, in defense of my somewhat-lacking first sample, I have clearly shown that what I am wanting to do is possible. I have not spend too much time coding the actual generative part of my program, so I didn't expect a diamond on my first try. I poured in a lot of effort, and I think I reaped a fair reward.

From here, onward to better-sounding samples.