In the 25th Anniversary of the CIMAT (Math Research Center) in Guanajuato, Mexico, I was asked to "perform" at the entrance of the Teatro Principal (Main Theater) in order to attract the general public to a presentation and a movie about Topology and the Moebius strip (oh yeah!). The idea was to show how it is possible to make music based on algorithms and mathematics.
I decided to use my own Fractal Music Generator program to build some short (2 to 8 bars long) looping sequences, run them through a couple of synths, and just tweak the synths to fade and morph the sounds. It was a fun and interesting thing to do, and it was also the first time I performed electronic music in a live manner.
The equipment used was this:
- Compaq Presario laptop running the
Fractal Music Generator and Acon Acoustica audio editor
- Roland UA-30 audio interface (used to record the main output into the computer)
- Evolution MK-225C MIDI keyboard (used only as a MIDI-OUT interface - no keys were played)
- Korg MS2000R Analog Modelling Synthesizer
- Yamaha DX200 FM Synthesizer and drum machine
- Peavey KB/15 keyboard amplifier
It was a very minimalist setup with three percussion parts (from the DX200) and three melodic parts (two from the MS2000R and one from the DX200). All sequences were generated by algorithms, even the rhythmic parts.
I recorded most of the performance and then applied some reverb and mastering processes to obtain the audio files presented here:
Fractalive1.mp3 (6.22 Mb)
Fractalive2.mp3 (6.17 Mb)
Fractalive3.mp3 (4.91 Mb)
There's also a short video (16.3 Mb) taken by my wife.
I selected the wrong MS2000R program for the second song so it didn't sound exactly like it was supposed to (ie.- the strings should have been a bass, etc.). Still, it came out right and it's probably my favorite.
Hope you enjoy them.
.Alfonso Alba. (fac)