Found ratios as compositional objects

I had an idea like this some time ago:

I counted the teeth on the rear sprocket of my bike gears. There are seven
cogs, and went something like this 13:15:17:19:21:23:24. (a guess really). I
any case The front set were another three which I cannot remember at all. In
effect I had 21 ratios from front to rear. I could then possibly use these
as materials like Partch does. The composition never got past the sketch
stage. But I still look for ratio possibilities: UK lottery numbers of the
winning sequences for example. Six numbers in the range 1 to 49, so quite a
lot of possibilities.

> From: tuning@yahoogroups.com
> Reply-To: tuning@yahoogroups.com
> Date: 26 Oct 2002 03:33:29 -0000
> To: tuning@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [tuning] Digest Number 2279
>
> From one perspective, I might consider integer ratios as "found
> numbers" than can be used in a musical composition -- not _the_
> approach to beautiful music, but simply one alternative, itself with
> many branches.

Mark Gould wrote:

> I had an idea like this some time ago:
>
> I counted the teeth on the rear sprocket of my bike gears. There are seven
> cogs, and went something like this 13:15:17:19:21:23:24. (a guess really). I
> any case The front set were another three which I cannot remember at all. In
> effect I had 21 ratios from front to rear. I could then possibly use these
> as materials like Partch does. The composition never got past the sketch
> stage. But I still look for ratio possibilities: UK lottery numbers of the
> winning sequences for example. Six numbers in the range 1 to 49, so quite a
> lot of possibilities.
>

Ever tried bar codes? Not only do you get numbers but also different thicknesses of lines for,
say, textural ideas. I wrote a piece called "breakfast music" using the bar codes from cornflakes,
milk, bread and butter. Very Cageian.

Best wishes