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Probability

TODO

  • Probability/Chance/Dice/Choices
  • Markov Models/Chains, State Machines
  • Apply to: notes, phrase choice

Probability​

By applying probability, we can still employ randomness, but weigh the odds to favour specific outcomes. Adjusting the weights, we can influence how our program behaves.

An easy way to think about this is by visualizing a pie chart. The more pieces of the pie we assign a given outcome, the more chance that outcome will occur.

navigator.requestMIDIAccess().then((midi) => {
const outputs = midi.outputs.values()
let output = outputs.next().value
function random(min, max) {
return Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min + 1)) + min
}
function playNote(note, length, velocity = 127) {
let noteOn = 144 // channel 1 note on
let noteOff = 128 // channel 1 note off
output.send([noteOn, note, velocity])
output.send([noteOff, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + length)
}
let startNote = random(21, 108)
let length = 250
function play(note) {
let prob = 0.4
let num = Math.random()
let nextNote
if (num < prob) {
// 40% chance of going down 7 steps
nextNote = Math.max(note - 7, 21)
} else {
// 60% chance of going up 5 steps
nextNote = Math.min(note + 5, 108)
}
let timer = setTimeout(() => {
playNote(nextNote, length)
clearTimeout(timer)
play(nextNote)
}, length)
}
play(startNote)
})

Here, we've weighed the odds to favour going up the scale. We'll sometimes dip downwards, but the results will always trend upwards over time.

Markov chains​

TODO

The resulting stochastic system is called a Markov chain. The number of previous values observed is called the order of the Markov chain.

Normal distribution​

Probability is one way to reign in randomness. Another way is to emulate a common pattern found in nature, where values tend to cluster around a certain range, otherwise known as normal (or Gaussian) distribution (in contrast to pure randomness, which aims for uniform distribution). This maps well to music, where melodies tend to use a narrow range of notes and steps.

import random from 'random'
import clamp from 'lodash'
import { instrument, metronome, midi } from 'tuplet'
midi().then((output) => {
function playNote(note, length, velocity) {
let noteOn = 144
let noteOff = 128
output.send([noteOn, note, velocity])
output.send([noteOff, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + length)
}
// A mean of middle C with a small deviation
let noteGen = random.normal(60, 3)
// A mean of half velocity with a large deviation
let velGen = random.normal(64, 20)
let length = 200
setInterval(() => {
// We need to 'clamp' these values to prevent them straying out of range
let note = clamp(Math.round(noteGen()), 21, 108)
let velocity = clamp(Math.round(velGen()), 0, 127)
playNote(note, length, velocity)
}, length)
})

Here, the notes cluster around middle C and medium velocity. By increasing the deviation from the mean we can introduce more variation.

Perlin noise​

Describe what Perlin noise is.

import rangeMap from 'range-map'
import tumult from 'tumult'
import { inst, midi } from 'tuplet'
midi().then((output) => {
const perlin = new tumult.Perlin1(Math.random())
const length = 100
let xoff = 0.0
setInterval(() => {
xoff = xoff + 0.01
const note = rangeMap(perlin.gen(xoff), -1, 1, 21, 108)
const velocity = rangeMap(perlin.gen(xoff), -1, 1, 0, 127)
inst(output, note, velocity, length)
}, length)
})

The point so far is that there are many ways to generate streams of notes. What's lacking is any musical order.

Scales​

Instead of choosing from all notes, we can instead limit our choices to a particular scale. In fact, we've already been using a scale, the chromatic one. This is valid, see Twelve-tone technique, but lacks 'musicality' (part of what those composers were getting away from).

For our purposes we can say that a scale is a pattern of white and black keys. This pattern can be described in terms of intervals. See the Music chapter for details. These notes sound like they 'belong together'.

C Major scale is just all the white notes, starting at C to next C.

All notes:

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

C Major notes:

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
60 - 62 - 64 65 - 67 - 69 - 71 72

If we express that as intervals:

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
1 - 2 - 2 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 1

If we express that as indexes:

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
0 - 2 - 4 5 - 7 - 9 - 11 12

How can we pick that pattern?

import {
chain,
range,
drop,
dropRight,
chunk,
filter,
includes,
random,
sample,
} from 'lodash'
import { inst, midi } from 'tuplet'
const allNotes = range(21, 109)
const cmaj = [0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11]
const octaves = chain(allNotes)
.drop(3) // start at first C
.dropRight(1) // drop last C
.chunk(12) // split into octaves
.value()
const notes = chain(octaves)
.map((o) => {
// select only the notes in the scale
return filter(o, (n, idx) => {
return includes(cmaj, idx)
})
})
.flatten() // flatten the octaves
.value()
navigator.requestMIDIAccess().then((midi) => {
const outputs = midi.outputs.values()
const output = outputs.next().value
const length = 300
setInterval(() => {
const note = sample(notes)
const velocity = random(64, 96)
output.send([0x90, note, velocity])
output.send([0x80, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + length)
}, length)
})

Now all the notes are in the same scale so things sound a little less random / more cohesive. Given a single stream of notes this is less jarring than total randomness.

Polyphony​

Now that we can play in key, we can introduce a second voice and know it will harmonize with the first.

import { metro, limit2, scale } from 'tuplet'
import { flow, sample, random, partition, identity } from 'lodash/fp'
const [low, high] = flow(
scale('cmaj'),
limit2('piano'),
partition((n) => n < 64)
)([])
navigator.requestMIDIAccess().then((midi) => {
const outputs = midi.outputs.values()
const output = outputs.next().value
setInterval(() => {
const note = sample(high)
const velocity = random(64, 96)
output.send([0x90, note, velocity])
output.send([0x80, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + 400)
}, 400)
setInterval(() => {
const note = sample(low)
const velocity = random(32, 64)
output.send([0x91, note, velocity])
output.send([0x81, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + 1200)
}, 1200)
})

Here we're dividing the notes and sending the high notes to one channel, and the low notes to a second channel. We're sampling from the same set of notes so we can be sure they will harmonise. The results are more interesting as hearing how the two voices interact adds a layer of depth to our music.

## Learning

We covered two main topics in this chapter: 1) we can use various methods to generate sequences of numbers with different characteristics that we can use as the input to our programs; and 2) we can apply music theory to coerce that data into something that makes more musical sense.

With that in mind, we can encapsulate our learning into two new utilities:

  • Generative: Functions for generating data we can use in our programs, either algorithms we write ourselves, or ones we might use from other libraries → TODO.

  • Music: A place to wrap up our musical knowledge and handle the details of mapping that to midi → TODO.

With these in our toolbelt, we could rewrite our last example as follows:

import { midi, send, metro, limit, scale } from 'tuplet'
import { flow, sample, random, partition } from 'lodash/fp'
midi.then((output) => {
const ch1 = send(output, 0x90)
const ch2 = send(output, 0x91)
const [low, high] = flow(
scale('cmaj'),
limit('piano'),
partition((n) => n < 64)
)([])
loop(() => ch1(sample(high), random(64, 96)), 400)
loop(() => ch2(sample(low), random(32, 64)), 1200)
})

Right now our music is basically just streams of notes. To take it further, we need a way to generate cohesive patterns of notes, and sequence them with other patterns. As it happens, that's just the goal of the next chapter!

### Notes

import {
chain,
range,
drop,
dropRight,
chunk,
filter,
includes,
random,
sample,
} from 'lodash'
import { inst, midi } from 'tuplet'
const allNotes = range(21, 109)
const cmaj = [0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11]
const octaves = chain(allNotes)
.drop(3) // start at first C
.dropRight(1) // drop last C
.chunk(12) // split into octaves
.value()
const notes = chain(octaves)
.map((o) => {
// select only the notes in the scale
return filter(o, (n, idx) => {
return includes(cmaj, idx)
})
})
.flatten() // flatten the octaves
.value()
navigator.requestMIDIAccess().then((midi) => {
const outputs = midi.outputs.values()
const output = outputs.next().value
const length = 300
setInterval(() => {
const note = sample(notes)
const velocity = random(64, 96)
output.send([0x90, note, velocity])
output.send([0x80, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + length)
}, length)
})
import { output } from 'midi'
import { Piano } from 'inst/piano'
import random from 'random'
export default class {
constructor() {
console.log('Walker')
}
async walk() {
const midi = await output()
const piano = new Piano(midi)
const length = 200
const mean = 0
const sd = 1
const normal = random.normal(mean, sd)
console.log(normal())
function play(note) {
let nextNote = normal()
const timer = setTimeout(() => {
piano.play(nextNote, length)
clearTimeout(timer)
play(nextNote)
}, length)
}
// play(normal());
}
}
navigator.requestMIDIAccess().then((midi) => {
const outputs = midi.outputs.values()
let output = outputs.next().value
function random(min, max) {
min = Math.ceil(min)
max = Math.floor(max)
return Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min + 1)) + min
}
function playNote(note, length, velocity = random(0, 127)) {
let noteOn = 144 // channel 1 note on
let noteOff = 128 // channel 1 note off
output.send([noteOn, note, velocity])
output.send([noteOff, note, velocity], window.performance.now() + length)
}
let startNote = random(21, 108)
let length = 250
function play(note) {
let prob = 0.4
let num = Math.random()
let nextNote
if (num < prob) {
// 40% chance of going down 7 steps
nextNote = Math.max(note - 7, 21)
} else {
// 60% chance of going up 5 steps
nextNote = Math.min(note + 5, 108)
}
let timer = setTimeout(() => {
playNote(nextNote, length)
clearTimeout(timer)
play(nextNote)
}, length)
}
// play(startNote);
})