Adaptive Timbre

As some of you know, I (and others) have explored adaptive tunings --
where the tuning of the notes changes depending on the context. Some
of the schemes are the Hermode tuning (which adjusts the tunings
towards a set of nearest JI intervals), John deLaubenfels physical
analogy of connecting notes with "springs" connected to a JI lattice
that can then move the pitches around, and my own work minimizing the
sensory dissonance by adjusting the pitches.

Recently, I've been looking into the idea of adapting the complete
spectrum of the sound (rather than just the pitches). This is a kind
of adaptive timbre. There are some tricky issues, but the gist of it
is to suppose that there is a (momentarily fixed) field against which
the overtones of the notes will adapt and to use the same idea (that
of minimizing the sensory dissonance) to guide the motion of the
partials.

For these examples, I decided to use some multiphonics from a clarinet
as the "field." Then, the "melody" is a solo clarinet played over this
field, and adapted. Already there are some interesting sounds. Perhaps
most obviously, the "clarinetness" of the melody is compromised --
sometimes there is a hint of it, but often it is annihilated. Why is
this? The essence of clarinet-sound is the alternation between large
and small harmonics -- the large being the odd harmonics and the small
being the even. In the mapped sounds, the large-small pattern is
retained, but they no longer occur on the harmonic series (rather,
they are moved towards the partials of the multiphonics, which are
inharmonic). Apparently, this is enough to compromise the
"clarinet-nature" of the melody in most cases. On the other hand, it
still has the character of some kind of melody.

Anyway, here are some preliminary results:

http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/clari/clariphonicsgroup2.mp3

http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/clari/clariphonicsgroup2b.mp3

http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/clari/clariphonicsgroup4.mp3

All three are the exact same melody, adapted to three different
sets of multiphonics.

I would be happy for any feedback, criticism, or thoughts...

Bill Sethares

Bill,
This is fun stuff! I enjoyed all three.

MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> For these examples, I decided to use some multiphonics from a clarinet
> as the "field." Then, the "melody" is a solo clarinet played over this
> field, and adapted. Already there are some interesting sounds. Perhaps
> most obviously, the "clarinetness" of the melody is compromised --
> sometimes there is a hint of it, but often it is annihilated. Why is
> this? The essence of clarinet-sound is the alternation between large
> and small harmonics -- the large being the odd harmonics and the small
> being the even. In the mapped sounds, the large-small pattern is
> retained, but they no longer occur on the harmonic series (rather,
> they are moved towards the partials of the multiphonics, which are
> inharmonic). Apparently, this is enough to compromise the
> "clarinet-nature" of the melody in most cases. On the other hand, it
> still has the character of some kind of melody.
> > Anyway, here are some preliminary results:
> > http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/clari/clariphonicsgroup2.mp3
> > http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/clari/clariphonicsgroup2b.mp3
> > http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/clari/clariphonicsgroup4.mp3
> > > Bill Sethares

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