Compositions Utilizing Fractal Flame Algorithms

“Music, by its very abstract nature, is the first of the arts to have attempted reconciliation of artistic creation with scientific thought” – Xenakis, 1992 This portfolio explores how the iterative and recursive processes employed within fractal flame algorithms can be used to create new and aesthetically pleasing micro and macro sounds from which coherent compositions can be created. A variety of existing electronic compositional procedures, including wave-set substitution and granular synthesis, as well as a number of classical compositional practices, such as hocketing, are deployed to generate a complex and diverse set of compositions. The portfolio shows how marrying these sound manipulating techniques and compositional processes with the sonic events produced by the unexplored field of fractal flame algorithms has allowed me to generate – in the words of Iannis Xenakis – ‘sounds that have never existed before’. The portfolio shows the creative potential fractal flame programs have for electronic music generation and how they offer a terra nova (new earth) upon which computergenerated music can lay down solid foundations and expand in new directions to harvest exciting results.