Ok Al, I'll rise to the bait. And lots of chum has indeed been thrown in. Because I am right at the beginning of my busy season, I will not be able to reply with the detail that I would like, so for the moment I will not address the real question: whether your creations are even fractal or not. Do they sound fractal? I guess that's in the ear of the listener. To me, fractals are not boring.

As you point out, mapping images to sound is not at all a new concept. It has been done since the '90's if I recall. And "shifting melodies" is a technique that has been used in electronic music for some time as well. Have you tried mapping your music to a non-fractal image? I have a feeling that the results would be indistinguishable as to which was from a fractal image and which was from an image of, say, the Eiffel Tower (assuming you run both images through the exact same process). I'm not saying they would sound the same, but I think one might be hard pressed to say which is which (fractal vs. non-fractal).

I remember when we emailed back and forth a few times about a year ago when you were already doing your project. However, I am wondering just where you get the idea that yours is the only fractal music project worthy of the name? And you actually post that assertion here - on the fractint list? That takes a bit of chutzpah in my opinion, and was obviously intended to provoke a comment or two. I suppose you weren't around the Fractint environment back in the late 80's and through the 90's. Did you ever hear of Tim Wegner? Jonathan Osuch? Robin Bussell? Sylvie Gallet? Of course, Tim started it all, with his dream of introducing the beauty and complexity of fractals to the visually impaired. And in my mind, he succeeded. IMO, your creations, at least those that I have heard, don't come close to that success, and in that respect, Tim deserves credit for the the greatest Fractal Music Project of all time. Just my opinion of course, but it was Tim who saw the potential of using fractal formulae (not pretty - or otherwise - pictures) to create sound. That is what his project was about. Apparently, you have chosen a different path.That is fine, but beware inviting comparisons.

So...ignoring my own caution, today I created an Audio Fractals site on google sites and uploaded an mp3 I originally recorded in '94 or thereabouts. Taiko drums and cowbell are the instruments. The original midi file was created using raw Fractint data output, which was converted to midi format by me. "MOVMNT14" has since been renamed, but this is the original. All the timings were generated within fractint. There are three notes added at the end as a tribute to Fractint. If anyone cares to listen to it here is the url:

http://tinyurl.com/pv9ns4w

Cheers,

Bill Jemison

On 9/13/2013 3:30 AM, Albrecht Niekamp wrote:

HI,
:
after a long time of silence I´m back again with a new project.
After my Multifractal Project which has remained unique as it
still is the only software creating fractals using up to five
formulas simultaneously here is my Fractal Music project, possibly
the only one which deserves that name, there are some details
they have in common:
:
It uses a single algorithm to automatically create music of
theoretically indefinite size which never repeats itself.
The rhythm is my own definition of an endless shifting rhythm
originally inspired by Steve Reich ("Drumming") and Terry
Riley ("In C") and on their side by African native music for
instance by the pygmies.
:
The melodies- of course being the other half of the structure
"shifting melodies" - are created using pixels of a Bitmap (BMP)
fractal, which is scanned using the dots and lines of a freely
designed IFS fractal.
:
The basic software - in and out and conversion of a pixel
into musical parameters of a single note - originates in
the nineties, author David Strohbeen and is not
available anymore.
:
In addition to the image the music is influenced to a high
degree by the IFS fractal used, a pyramid for instance creates
a harder rhythmic structure, a spiral a softer melodic
structure. Listening closely and relaxed you may well find
that the general atmosphere of the music is that of the
originating fractal.
:
I converted Jim´s "End of the World" image, FOTD Aug27,
loved it at first glance. Thanks for that, Jim.
Including links of the WAV files - mp3 is not satisfactory -
and the original MID files. Be careful when using Midi:
The sound depends on the fonts used and therefore maybe
disapointing.The soundfont used is WeedsGM3, google for it.
Use only a player that does not change the parameters.
The creative player destroys the music, Winamp is ok.
:
Albrecht Niekamp]
:
SPIRAL1.IFS {
0.788 -0.424 0.242 0.860 1.649 5.431 0.896
-0.121 0.258 0.152 0.053 -6.722 1.377 0.052
0.182 -0.136 0.091 0.182 6.086 1.568 0.052
}
:
http://www.crosscanpuzzles.com/Aug13/082713.html
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1c7bl26vc44lqy6/120913D3.MID
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kvastwz6oopb900/120913D3.wav
https://www.dropbox.com/s/odhd6582zzu6cy1/11091301.MID
https://www.dropbox.com/s/94mlkbmmdwvydlp/11091301.wav

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