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The Circle of Entropy

Made by Amanda Marano, Kristen Smith, Amber Jones and Amal Sahay

For our mixes, we decided to change the level of indeterminacy of the final mix not by changing the algorithm for mixing the songs, but by changing the original compositional choice of what songs we were going to play, with increasing levels of chance for each mix. For the first mix, we all chose the same song, for the second we all chose songs in prescribed tempo ranges, and for the third each person chose a song of their own choosing without the other’s knowledge. For the first, there is a low level of change and low level of indeterminacy. For the second there is a slightly higher level of chance, as we could pick any song within that tempo range, and a slightly higher but still low level of indeterminacy. For the third there was the highest level of indeterminacy, as it was more random for the final group mix, and a slightly higher level of chance than the first mix, as there were no prescribed tempo ranges, but still pretty low as it was our own choice. There was additional entropy in our recording sessions due to ambient noise from people and echo from CFA where we were sitting and recording, along with a laptop issue which affected one of the recordings.

Created: September 21st, 2014

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For our first composition, we all used the song “The Circle of Life” from the popular Disney Movie, “The Lion King”. In this composition, we all started at the same time. However, due to the entropy created by our random number generators, we were able to all play at varying times. This composition has low indeterminacy due to the fact that it’s the same song - our tempo and key signature of our songs is the same. This piece has zero chance due to the fact that we all chose the same song. And because we chose the same song, entropy is decreased. For the most part, all of our parts sound good together. The only variance in the piece was due to the changes in rhythm based on each other’s start/stop times.  

For our second composition, we decided to use songs with different tempos. We made this decision in order to see if it would create a slightly less chaotic sound than if we picked different songs completely (like we have in composition three.) One person chose a song with a slow tempo (under 60 beats per minute), two people chose pieces with a medium tempos (between 60 beats per minute and 100 beats per minute), and one person chose a piece with a high tempo (over 120 beats per minute). The chance in this composition was lower than if the song choice was completely random, because we had a smaller range of songs from which we could choose. Additionally, we agreed upon who would choose what tempo prior to the performance taking place, which lowered the chance as well. The chance was eliminated that all group members would end up picking songs with the same range of tempos. The indeterminacy was lower than the random composition but higher than when we all chose the same song. Because each songs have different tempos, we recognized that songs would fit relatively well together, lowering the entropy from when the pieces were chosen randomly.

For our final composition, we created the most chance by allowing each group member to pick a song of their own choosing. This also lead to increased indeterminacy and entropy as there was no inherent coordination in the selection of each song. In addition, the increased entropy from our location features in the middle of the song. The pieces we used were “We Will Rock You”, “Nil Se’n La”, Everything Moves” and “I Would Like”. There was a distinct beat provided by the first song, but the instrumentation of each song made the high chance clear in the resultant composition. The indeterminacy and entropy feature again in the timing - some of the songs were too short for the given time and thus had to be repeated. The exact procedure used for this repetition was left to each performer’s discretion, resulting in an increased chance as well. This mix is perhaps the most “random” in this sense. 

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7 comments · Latest by Eric Wang

Your composition 1 is really creative and did what you intended it to do. Though through the progression, perhaps you should of made your composition 3 even higher entropy/change/indeterminacy like each picking your music by random and generating some random places to stop playing.

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For our mixes, we decided to change the level of indeterminacy of the final mix not by changing the algorithm for mixing the songs, but by changing the original compositional choice of what songs we were going to play, with increasing levels of chance for each mix. For the first mix, we all chose the same song, for the second we all chose songs in prescribed tempo ranges, and for the third each person chose a song of their own choosing without the other’s knowledge. For the first, there is a low level of change and low level of indeterminacy. For the second there is a slightly higher level of chance, as we could pick any song within that tempo range, and a slightly higher but still low level of indeterminacy. For the third there was the highest level of indeterminacy, as it was more random for the final group mix, and a slightly higher level of chance than the first mix, as there were no prescribed tempo ranges, but still pretty low as it was our own choice. There was additional entropy in our recording sessions due to ambient noise from people and echo from CFA where we were sitting and recording, along with a laptop issue which affected one of the recordings.