(2009)
Generative electronic music based on the Lorenz dynamical system
Construction in Self is a generative work based on the Lorenz dynamical system. It has sensitive dependence on initial conditions, giving rise to what is commonly known as the “butterfly effect”. Its generative form is suggested by this property and the work takes an input prior to performance as initial conditions from which a different piece is produced each time. A diverse variety of behaviours are observed ranging from periodicity to chaos that yield interesting results as signal, control and meta data, suggesting a self-similar microcosm that is complex yet deterministic which can be replicated from the same initial input. The title is a reference to John Cage’s Construction in Metal series (1939-42) in which simple sequences of numbers – referred to as “rhythmic structures” – are used as a basis for structures at different time-scales.
Construction in Self has been performed at noise=noise the Basement Series 2009, London, ICMC 2010, New York, CONTEMPORANEA 2011 ‘Japan 2011′ Festival di Nuova Musica, Udine and 希/日 GR/JP at Het Nutshuis, Den Haag.
For more details, see: “Audification and non-standard synthesis in Construction in Self.” Organised Sound 19(1). 2014.