Rifts (2017)

 

Solo piano improvisations in the Lydian mode for all 12 keys, following the circle of fifths, and a play on "riffs", then using a geological metaphor as a concept.

The purpose of the exercise was to see what I could do manually as an improvisation using a constraint (the Lydian Mode), then create an algorithm to do the same thing.

Musical improvisation is one of the highest forms of free will. It will show what is pure free will, simply playing anything on the piano for example. Someone who knows how to play will make some kind of coherent music. Someone who has hardly touched one may play on the black keys. The acid test is whether it has musical value. AI could be used to do the same thing and would sound like music, as it was created with a set of basic instructions.

The programming to do the same thing was completely unrewarding for me. Even though my piano skills were terrible, and my implicit knowledge of music well-developed, the music the human made was good enough for me. If a non-musician (or machine) can do it better, touche. 

Exploring the Lydian mode:

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From the excellent book, Reading The Rocks, and the use of musical metaphors. I did the reverse--geological metaphors. 

"The Earth orchestra might obligingly increase the tempo of the dance in response to our activities, but since there is no conductor, communicating this to all players and sections could take many human lifetimes. The Earth might also take the opportunity, as it has in the past, to experiment unpredictably with other cadences for a few millennia before settling into a new riff, which we may or may not find to our taste (if we are still around to try it). The uncertainties are immense, but if we wish to preserve our social, political, and economic structures, which don't weather surprises well, we need to understand the range of possible outcomes. Fortunately, Earth has kept a good record of what has happened in the past when biogeochemical upheavals have occurred. To read it, we need to speak the language of rocks."