The organized chaos of fractal music

November 25, 2019 at 13:32 hrs.
Fractals are geometric structures characterized by the repetition of a pattern at different scales.
Fractals are geometric structures characterized by the repetition of a pattern at different scales.


The organized chaos of fractal music


La fractal music exists between mathematical equations and chaos theory. Although there are theories that identify fractality in musical forms for centuries, this is one characteristic musical form of the twentieth century. interest in chaos theory, algorithmic mathematics and technology development, contributed to the explosion of fractal music as we know it. This first explosion occurred around the 1990s.  

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Patterns in fractal music

  Fractals are geometric structures characterized by repetition of a pattern on different scales. The key in fractal music are the self-similarity patterns. We can distinguish between identical similarities and nonlinear fractals, which are from which fractal music is usually built. Benoît Mandelbrot, a Polish mathematician, is key to understanding the fractal geometry that would apply to music. Well, through the use of computers he detected the fractal patterns present in nature. composers like Harlan J. Brothers They have used the Mandelbrot Ensemble and applied it to fractal music.  

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Composers in fractal music

  Within fractal music we can find composers who use these mathematical principles to create. For example the Brazilian Dmitry Kormann, that through synthesizers and programs, "Transcribe" visual patterns to sounds. Another important composer was the Spanish Francisco Guerrero Marín. He experimented with the fractal music in orchestral compositions in the 1990s. On the creative path, these composers have had to develop programs to generate their musical pieces, work with algorithms, let the sequences take them to unexpected places. So was the case with Phil Thompson and his Organized ChaosWho developed the Gingerbread program, with which fractal compositions are generated. Thus, many of the musicians who work in the field of fractal music approach to the process as to a discovery. And his process balances the work of a scientist with that of an artist.  

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