Strategies and Methods to Control Complexity

In this Opusmodus score, the compositional process is structured around several key algorithmic techniques, designed to generate material for a large ensemble. Central to the coherence and complexity of this work are three significant elements: (1) the use of a shared pitch material (*gpmat*), (2) the manipulation of this pitch material through the pitch-rotate-vary-segment function, and (3) the rhythmic complexification achieved via the quantum function. These elements combine to produce a composition that balances harmonic unity with dynamic variation and rhythmic intricacy. Common Pitch Material: *gpmat* The foundation of the composition is a common pitch material (*…

Hello, I am Marco. With this score and description, I aim to contribute to the emerging form within 'Strategies and Methods to Control Complexity.' Description: OP-28-VAR This piece for trio (flute, B flat clarinet, cello) proposes a parametric elaboration of the well-known twelve-tone row used by Anton Webern in his string quartet Op. 28. In the design, I aimed to give ample space to stochastic algorithms which, on a probabilistic basis, allow the orientation of the composition’s possible developments across a wide range of solutions, depending on the values assigned to different parameters. On this premise, the code-text produced by Opusmodus ends up identifying not…

John Cage established that complexity can arise from the simple and direct actions of chance operations. Likewise, Witold Lutosławski developed a simple and direct method for the development of evolving textures in instrumental music. He called this technique “aleatoric counterpoint” or “controlled aleatorism.” While simple to conceive in the abstract for the interaction of lines in the unfolding of the contrapuntal texture, it is essential for composers to be able to sonify such procedures and to have a straight-forward methodology to work with them and their refinement in the musical context at hand. Opusmodus provides an elaborate and robust context for experiment…

Hi friends, I've just posted a new video in video section, illustrating my way to use OM. Here's the link: And here's the scores attached to this post. Best wishes to all and happy Opusmodusing ! Etude1Edit2.pdf Etude1.opmo Remap-velocity.lisp rea-mark.lisp

simulation.mov Opusmodus / A musical reflection tool At the beginning it should be noted that this is not a piece of music! I often try out new material in Opusmodus, test ideas, almost improvise with it. It is a good tool for me to check my idea, to reflect it, to change rules/ideas. A musical reflection tool. Basic idea: I would like to build a texture (based on a Pitchfield/Chord), which is structured by scales/arpeggia, should be played by a fender rhodes and two sine players. Each gesture should have a new pace (1/20 1/12 etc.) and a new dynamic, so that this texture has homogeneity on the side (through the chord), but is ver…

I've recently been overhauling and re-organising my entire VI collection after acquiring a larger SSD. A useful exercise! I've had to give a lot of thought to how I use all forms of templates when working with OM. It might be useful to collect various template use options together. By 'template', we could mean any of the following: a) DAW or VI host templates b) instrument-set and sound-set templates in OM c) OM code templates I'm interested to find out what other users are doing. I think a) is well discussed in many contexts. There are hundreds of posts on VI Control forum about this and Stephane has also posted o…

Kicking off a few topic areas that might be useful for collecting together some related methods for building up these threads. I think it will be helpful to have things in easily searchable form under threads as far as possible. Happy for other suggestions though. One thing that I have found especially helpful for quick working with LISP code so that I can focus on creative ideas rather than technical issues, is to develop a series of utility functions that I can employ for very frequently used tasks when writing scripts. The idea for this comes from Paul Graham's book 'On Lisp' (bit of a classic text - highly recommended!) in which he presents the…

Greetings! The notion of using this topic to provide insights into individual working methods will be really valuable to the community! Such a great idea! As a modest and simple example I offer this experiment in micropolyphony. ;; Experiement in micropolyphony - inspired by Ligeti ;; Robert Scott Thompson - July 28, 2024 - Roswell (80 deg F, Rain) ;; ;; DEFINE UNIQUE FUNCTIONS ;; ;; A Stepped Function for a line vector - ;; not used in this example (defun stepped-function (start end num-points) (let ((step (/ (float (- end start)) (1- num-points)))) (loop for i from 0 to (1- num-points) collect (+ start (* i step))))) (defun create-stepp…

Kicking off a few topic areas that might be useful for collecting together some related methods for building up these threads. I think it will be helpful to have things in easily searchable form under threads as far as possible. Happy for other suggestions though. Workspace and file management is a bit prosaic to start out with but from my perspective is absolutely essential for organising creative activity. Back in my early days of working in computer music, I worked initially --as luck would have it -- mainly on a Fairlight CMI Series 1 using MCL (Music Composition Language). File management on the CMI was an absolute nightmare. I still have reams of paper …

This addition to the online community will be of immense value. As I have been working with Opusmodus for several years now, the tools and techniques are becoming more natural in their application with my compositional work. However, as I dig into deeper and more complex concerns, I am often thinking that the manual and documentation could over time become more complete, more detailed and as a result more useful. Some current entries are quite good, while others are rather short and terse and not as illuminating. When I think of high quality examples of software documentation, I often refer to the Max manual (even from the early days) as a model for exc…

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while now - and it might be a good time to initiate it alongside the potential of ChatGPT integration with OM documentation - as the two may be related. In addition to the specifics of functions/libraries and learning 'the language' - be it OM specific or CL more generally - I think that one of the biggest hurdles in using OM creatively is in developing a creative workflow that makes best use of the power of OM within each composer's needs and approach. I have given this a lot of thought because coming from a highly SuperCollider based approach to OM required a major rethinking of my system set-up, working …