Re: Rhythmic Randomness vs. Melodic Randomness

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

Quoting Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>:
>
> So,  I get a little frustrated.      As a drummer (and budding   
> melodist as a multi-instrumentalist)  I am
> always trying to learn more about harmony and melody.   I feel   
> lonely sometimes when it seems that
> the bulk of harmonic/melodic players don't seem nearly as interested  
>  in rhythm.   It's hard for me to
> accept the limited roll that rhythm has been assigned in western   
> music (with the exception of a lot
> of later avant garde classical composition in the latter half of the  
>  20th century)
>
Nearly twenty years ago, I became frustrated with my composition  
efforts and, upon reflection, my disatisfaction was with my approach  
to rhythmn.

My organist training hasn't helped... most hymns are designed to be  
easily singable by a congregation so there is little syncopation and  
little that isn't easily predictable.

I decided that to learn to play drums would be an antidote.

Well, I never learned to play drums -- I got a drum machine and messed  
with it, and I may learn to play drums yet!

I was inspired by much at the Y2K8 Loopfest.  And I found myself drawn  
to the "non-tonal" offerings -- Matt Davignon's set comes to mind.   
What occurs to me is the desire to stretch artistically -- in my case  
(being a harmony/counterpoint kind of person) -- to work more with  
non-pitched sounds and rhythm as the primary "driver" of the music.

(and now I wander off-topic)

As of late, I have been watching some very cool on-line videos:

http://www.dimensions-math.org/Dim_E.htm

The videos feature projections of four-dimensional geometric objects  
into 3-D space  (of course, a 3-D rendition on a two-dimensional space).

And I've wondered, what the echo/reverb would sound like in a four  
dimensional space.  The fourth chapter, in particular, has a lot of  
the four-dimensional projections.  Chapters 1 thru 3 explain the  
concept (starting with the notion of projecting the globe onto a  
two-dimensional surface.  What would it be like to loop in the higher  
dimensions?

Perhaps some mathematician can answer this.  If nothing else, I found  
the videos to be inspiring.

OK, enough rambling for now...

-- Kevin