Listening to the relationships formed allows me to dissect, extract and manipulate. Through this the elements of the song begin to take shape. The process begins with a system of rules, the sounds are created, and then a second process of manipulation takes place.
To demonstrate, one of the chance formulas I used for my composition entitled Cubit, involved drawing notes from a hat to form random eight note sequences. I then assigned the random note sequences to the four central planets within an animation of our solar system. The concept behind using this animation was derived from asking myself a simple question: What systems can I use that are unique from other chance artists? I was also interested to see if the rhythms created by the different speeds of planetary orbits would influence the composition. Placing an eight line dividing grid over the animation determined when the notes where triggered. The triggering of the notes determined the time and pitch of each note. Creating a system that only influenced the two elements of time and pitch allowed me a vast playground of intentional techniques to be later incorporated.
The initial result of this experiment was a very jolty and unmelodious composition (video media 4).[2] Although I felt interesting relationships had been formed, I wanted to see how these initial relationships could be enhanced. The notes were then realigned into chords still following the chance layout of notes (audio media 4). The major switch from chance into intention happened when I began to choose the most harmonious chords. These choices lead to the main structure of the song (audio media 5). Now with the main structure I began further processes of layering, extracting and composing. Multiple levels of postproduction were then used to build the song into its final state (audio media 6).
