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Hi everybody!
Last night I've done a quite fun experiment: an 8-bit music generator. Almost everything is randomized: notes, rythms, harmonic progression... It could potentially play forever and never be the same.
Funny, isn't it?
https://youtu.be/N9sbOjrC9sM
EDIT: now it has it's one webpage http://chiptunegenerator.com/
Last edited by Alcibiade (Mar 3, 2021 2:27 pm)
I've updated the generator since yesterday. I've edited the link above!
I've updated the concept and created a little webpage where the chiptune is generated in real time! http://chiptunegenerator.com/
Don't hesitate to make some suggestions for improvement, or tell what doesn't work well. At the moment, the "build-up" is buggy, I'm waiting for the FMOD devs to check the bug. Enjoy!
It's cute! I had fun pressing the button for a bass solo.
That's quite a neat experiment. Any plans for publishing the source code, perhaps?
I'm not sure I want to publish the source code at the moment (though I may change my mind in the future), but if someone wants to reuse the built bank in a project (with a little credit line), it's ok for me!
However, my algorithm isn't complicated (after all, FMOD is a high level program, not a real programming langage).
Last edited by Alcibiade (Mar 4, 2021 1:02 am)
Yeah, I'm mostly interested in the algorithm behind it. Basically just collecting ideas for this tracker... thing I'm building. You could probably run that kind of algorithm on it, though not in realtime (yet). At the moment support is very low-level, so I'm thinking about possible high-level abstractions.
My algorithm is fairly simple.
My random pools, for a given chord:
bass: 16th notes and 16th silence, fundamentals and fifths, with a fixed first note
percussion: fixed kick and snare, random treble 16th hits and 16th silences
arpeggios: only 16th in random order
high counter-melody: fixed notes (one per chord)
lead: 16th, 8th and dotted 8th notes, generally fundamental, second, third, sometimes fifth, and 16th silences
I wish I had access to a more powerful programming language to refine the lead algorithm.
Concerning harmonic pattern, there's a lot of possibilities, I used my musical knowledge and instinct to decide which are the correct ones. In any cases, it's an 8 bars pattern that starts with Cm and finishes with G (exept the bridge, which starts with Ab). You will see the possible patterns on the video.
Last edited by Alcibiade (Mar 4, 2021 9:02 pm)
Thanks, very clear. Can you skew/weigh probabilities in FMOD?
I wish I had access to a more powerful programming language to refine the lead algorithm.
Bintracker is literally a Scheme interpreter, so you can pretty much do anything with it. It's very much unfinished at the moment, but source is available if you're feeling lucky 
Interesting project, though I never used a tracker in my life :-)
Yes, probabilities can be set. For instance, we get the 16th silences 30% of the time, in each instrument part (regardless of the pool size).
Last edited by Alcibiade (Mar 5, 2021 7:48 am)