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Rotochrosite

from Foundations by Thom Blum

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Rotochrosite, for 12 instruments (1972), is a stochastic composition. The note data – meaning the pitches, durations, and dynamics – for each instrument were generated using a multiple probability simulator, running on a Data General “Nova” minicomputer that I programmed in BASIC while a student at California Institute of the Arts. In hindsight it was an homage to Iannis Xenakis and was inspired by his book "Formalized Music" which I was studying at the time. The composition posits relationships between specific sonic variables. For example, the average range between pitches will decrease as the density of voices (number of simultaneous instruments) increases, expressing a constraining of the pitch as the field becomes more crowded. Different parametric relationships were set up, some controlling pitch and rhythm, others controlling rhythm and dynamics, and so on. After many trial runs of the simulator I hand-transcribed a subset of the output note data into music notation. The performance in this collection was recorded in May 1973 at California Institute of the Arts.

© 1972 Thom Blum (ASCAP)

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from Foundations, released January 2, 2021

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Thom Blum San Francisco, California

Thom Blum has been composing electroacoustic music since 1974.

Recent performances and installations include "[You Are [Here] You [Are] You Here]", a sound installation established in 2022 in the Prelinger Library in San Francisco, and "Telescopic 1 (zoom out)" at the San Francisco Tape Music Festival 2024. ... more

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