"Crystals": Recursive Structures in Automated Composition

Author(s): Charles Ames

Source: Computer Music Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Autumn, 1982), pp. 46-64
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3680198
Accessed: 21-06-2016 17:19 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Computer Music
Journal

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Charles Ames
Department of Music
State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York 14214
Background
Crystals is a microtonal, computer-assisted com-
position scored for 16 strings. It lasts approximately
17 min and is the first in a series of explorations of
large-scale, intrinsic forms scored for live perform-
ers. (Other works in this series, all computer-
assisted, include Hockets for 9 trombones, 1980
[approximately 35 min]; Protocol for solo piano,
1981 [approximately 17 min]; and a work in
progress.)
I have long held the conviction that music should
be able to stand on its own merits as sound, and in
recent years I have also formed the opinion that the
critical test of a compositional approach is its abil-
ity to sustain a work esthetically over an extended
duration. This attitude has caused me to focus
much attention on the linkage between the struc-
ture of a composition as it exists on paper and the
way listeners perceive that structure. If listeners
cannot hear the structure or at least learn to hear it,
it might as well not be there.
My first inspirations for Crystals date back to the
spring of 1979. James Tenney traveled to Buffalo
from Toronto several times to lecture on a variety
of people and topics: Charles Ives, Harry Partch, his
(Tenney's) experiences at Bell Laboratories, his cur-
rent interests, and his model of how we perceive
musical structures. My own concerns made me es-
pecially receptive to this last topic.
Tenney had derived his model from Gestalt psy-
chology, particularly its fundamental assertion that
we perceive structure only in relation to context.
Gestalt psychology was first advocated during the
1920s by such figures as M. Wertheimer, K. Koffka,
and W. K6hler. It was Wertheimer (1938) who dem-
onstrated two transcendent factors in the formation
Copyright C 1982 Charles Ames.
All musical examples are also copyrighted by Charles Ames.
46 Computer Music
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Crystals: Recursive
Structures in Automated
Composition
of perceptual aggregates: (1) that of relative prox-
imity in one or more perceptual dimensions and
(2) that of relative similarity in one or more aspects
of shape. Tenney applied these factors to the di-
mensions and shapes of music. He pointed out how
proximities in dimensions such as time and register
and similarities in aspects of shape such as rhythm
and intervallic contour link not only local details
but even global forms into larger structures. Con-
versely, distance in these dimensions and contrast
in these aspects of shape work to isolate the various
components of a musical aggregate. When we listen
to a musical work, the most dramatic changes pro-
vide our landmarks-an emphatic cadence upon a
new tonic in tonal music, a great shift in texture or
color in all music-these are the cues we depend
on to discern when one section of a form gives way
to another. The forces of relative cohesion and seg-
regation thus establish a perceptual hierarchy of
which the total experience of the composition
forms the apex. Moving down this hierarchy, the
composition divides and redivides into progres-
sively smaller units until the most elementary
sounds, typically the individual notes, are isolated.
Tenney provided important models for Crystals
in a series of early works including Phases, written
in 1963, one of the first compositions both "com-
posed" and realized using the digital computers at
Bell Laboratories, and Music for Player Piano, com-
posed in 1964 (Tenney 1969). (What sets Crystals
apart from these works is more a matter of method
than of concept. Tenney's implementation was not
recursive, although his model clearly is. I have re-
placed his system of averages with the various sys-
tems of nested constraints described in this article,
allowing more coordination among simultaneous
aggregates and greater isolation among distantly
related ones. I have also exploited harmony as an
independent perceptual domain; harmonic relation-
ships in Phases and Music for Player Piano arose
only coincidentally from Tenney's registral proce-
Journal
dures. He evidently did not discover Harry Partch
until later.)
Esthetic sympathy was not the only reason I was
attracted to Tenney's ideas. While designing a digi-
tal sound synthesis package for our university, I be-
came familiar with recursion. For the programmer,
this technique involves routines that can "call"
themselves, and it has proved extremely powerful
in diverse applications such as compiling algebraic
expressions, sorting large amounts of data, and
playing chess. It immediately occurred to me that
recursive procedures were also exactly what a com-
puter would need in order to generate the kind of
musical hierarchies Tenney's model suggests, since
the forces of perceptual cohesion and segregation
governing relationships at each level of these hier-
archies are often very similar.
Overview
The recursive strategies described in this article
generated the entire content of Crystals. These
strategies implemented a branching process, analo-
gous in its effect to the process of molecular com-
bination in crystalline formations. Its genesis,
however, is closer to reproduction in living cells,
and it is this resemblance that enables us to apply
genealogical nomenclature to the hierarchical rela-
tionships in the work. We begin by considering the
entire work as an abstract entity, defined only by a
handful of general limits: the total duration, the
gamut of a small string orchestra, the size of that
orchestra, and the dynamic and coloristic resources
of the instruments. This entity is our primordial
germ. It begets a number of offspring, passing down
refinements of its characteristic attributes to each
one. The generative process binds these new sib-
lings to one another as common elements of a
greater whole. However, to ensure the perceptual
integrity of each sibling, the process strongly con-
trasts these refined attributes. Because the process
is recursive, each offspring becomes a parent in its
own right and itself begets offspring. At other than
the highest and lowest levels of the hierarchy, a
given entity will be an offspring of some entity at
the next higher level, a sibling of that higher-level
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
entity's other offspring, and a parent to a number of
entities at the next lower level. No entity will have
structural precedence over any other entity at the
same level, since such precedence would contradict
the hierarchical organization. The process termi-
nates along each of its multitudinous paths when it
has refined the total aggregate into a description of
an individual tone.
Recursive Levels
There is a total of 10 recursive levels in Crystals;
in describing operations as specific levels, I will
adopt higher numbers for levels approaching the
top of the hierarchy. Thus, the most dramatic struc-
tural division in the work occurs at level 10, while
the operations giving rise to individual notes occur
at level 1.
The six refinements from level 10 down to level
5 are global in scope. Deterministic strategies gen-
erally control how offspring inherit attributes at
these levels to ensure an orderly design for the
work as a whole. These six refinements partition
the work into 64 sectional aggregates, or successive
portions of the score (Fig. 1). Refinements on these
global levels are exclusively horizontal, so that
there will be no simultaneous crystals. I desired
that each crystal in the temporal sequence confront
the listener as a new experience, structurally simi-
lar to its predecessors but unpredictable in its un-
folding detail (intervallic relationships, durational
successions, etc.). Therefore, random procedures
generally control how offspring inherit their at-
tributes at the four local levels. I will discuss the
local strategies first, because they motivate several
of the global ones.
Structure of Individual Crystals
The strategy for generating a crystal originated with
an image of a musical texture in which each of sev-
eral simultaneous parts, with the passage of time,
had the potential either to join with other parts into
a concerted entity or to split into a new collection
of independent parts. This process of joining and
Ames 47
Fig. 1. Measures 453-484
of the score, illustrating
crystals 47-49. Silences
articulate adjacent crys-
tals; apostrophes also ap-
pear as cues at each of
these places in the score.
The pronounced contrast that its hierarchical rela- t sixth-tone flat
between crystal 49 and its tionship to crystals 47 and natural
predecessors, most appar- 48 is remote. The notation 4sixth-tone sharp
ently in duration and uses the following system 4-third-tone sharp
thickness of texture but of accidentals: # semitone sharp
also with regard to several
b semitone flat
other attributes, indicates
-, third-tone flat

Crystal 47
STRICTLY J =72 455 460

ff mp p

f mf f ff mp p

vn

S f ff

va
va

f
I _ - - f 6-
m fmp

nmfP

v a f fm

*tit

mf ? mp

48 Computer Music Journal

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 1 (con't.)

Crystal 48
465

Mf mp f
I"I I: t !

mmp

pmp f

mmp f f ff

. " I II
U 0 n.-l I
a mp f

m f pmf "

Ames 49

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 1 (con't.)

470 475

mp

mf mp

L'I i

m mpm

50 Computer Music Journal

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 1 (con't.)

Crystal 49
480

4 _p

Vn

mp

--

----------- "- -L--

pp im

pp mt

mp
JP

mp _ _

pp mp

Sp

va

p p

12 L?9 ,, " psosm i tFo

Ames 51

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
splitting would remain in equilibrium so that the
overall number of parts stayed fairly consistent
while the internal network of alliances between
parts evolved in continual flux. As this image ma-
tured, it became apparent that the process need not
apply simply to parts of one voice, but could also
apply to collections of several voices, and that these
collections could join and split on progressively
larger scales, expanding in a hierarchy. Figure 2
illustrates the final distillation of this image, as im-
plemented in Crystals. The strategy first defines
limiting regions for aggregates on the broadest
scale, then takes these regions as constraints for
subsidiary aggregates in the hierarchy.
Five Stages of Generation
In the local process of generation, a parent begets
offspring in five stages.
1. Its duration divides into two subdurations
to create two temporal segments.
2. For each of the two segments generated in
stage 1, the computer randomly decides
whether or not to branch into two simul-
taneous aggregates. Thus, any parent may
beget two (branches in neither segment),
three (a branch in only one segment), or
four (branches in both segments) offspring.
3. Each of the offspring generated in stage 2
inherits a portion of its parent's registral
span. There are three cases:
a. If branches occur in neither segment, the
two sequential offspring inherit registral
spans in opposite extremes of their par-
ent's span.
b. If a branch occurs in only one segment,
then the parent's registral span divides
equally between the two simultaneous
offspring generated in that segment,
while the single offspring generated in
the remaining segment inherits a regis-
tral span in the middle of its parent's
span.
c. If branches occur in both segments, then
the parent's registral span divides
52 Computer Music
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
equally between the two simultaneous
offspring in each segment.
4. The computer constructs a cell of four dis-
tinct but mutually consonant tones on the
parent's harmonic root. These tones, dis-
tributed among the offspring generated in
stage 2, become roots in their own right at
the next lower level. (Within the context of
this article, I consider two pitches to be in
"harmony" if their frequency ratio closely
approximates a quotient of two small inte-
gers. Also within this context, I consider
the root of a harmonic interval or sonority
as the pitch corresponding to unity in this
integer representation. The motivation for
this approach to harmony is H. Partch's
duality between otonality and utonality
[Partch 1974, pp. 86-94]).
5. Each of the two segments generated in
stage 2 inherits a portion of the parent's dy-
namic range. The program places these new
ranges in opposite extremes of the parent's
range.
Stages 1 and 2 clearly play dominant roles in de-
termining a crystal's horizontal and vertical com-
plexity, respectively. Any one offspring is either
simultaneous with or directly adjacent to each of
its siblings; this proximity in time emphasizes the
close relationship between offspring of a common
parent. Beyond this, the combination of aggregates
in vertical and horizontal pairs allows a greater
number of superimposed levels to be cultivated
than larger combinations would permit. (The max-
imum number of levels is ultimately bounded by
the number of parts in the orchestra.) The con-
vergence of attacks and releases at nodal points in
the crystalline framework also strongly articulates
the hierarchical scheme. Stages 3-5 are ancillary to
the preceding stages in that they reinforce the hori-
zontal and vertical structure generated so far from
the registral, harmonic, and dynamic perspectives;
yet, their contribution plays an essential role in
projecting this structure. As each stage corresponds
to an independent perceptual domain and brings up
compositional problems unique to that domain, it
will be instructive to examine the individual stages
in greater detail.
Journal
Fig. 2. Evolution of a crys-
tal. The vertical scale indi-
cates register, while the
horizontal scale shows
time. The pitch notations
inside the various rec-
tangles indicate harmonic
roots. (Dynamics are not
included.)

cI

r--------------------------------------------

----------------------

A+I

G E A*

E C G
A

---------------------------------------- ------

-------------------------------
D+

Bk C F
A, G D E O DI
CDB B E A* G+
A EE Ab
E fD1 c B E C '
E6
A
---------------------------~---------------------- j

G+ -----------------------------

G# Et D$ Et E G+A* G4 Et A
At G E* G A E F D E G DI
BE D B FI A B DNNB
E AC A#
D# G+EB
A#
A* A C A+t 0

LH
C E I A9 G EBB DAt B E C
...... . .. . . ... ...... ..... . ..... ...... .----

Ames 53

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Durations Within Crystals
In stage 1, the program chooses the temporal divid-
ing point, using probabilities so as to cultivate
rhythmic variety between crystals and between
subsidiary aggregates of a crystal. It is important to
avoid points at durational extremes. It would not
have served the structural organization of this work
if, for example, I had permitted a 20-sec duration at
level 4 to divide into a 19.75-sec segment and a
0.25-sec segment. The latter segment would be
heard only as an ornament, rather than an impor-
tant unit. In order to preclude the worst situations,
I fixed the minimum duration of any individual
note, that is, of any offspring generated at level 1, at
a sixteenth note, the smallest rhythmic division
used in Crystals. Consequently, the minimum du-
ration for all offspring at level 2 is an eighth note,
the minimum at level 3 is a quarter note, and so on.
The range of possible dividing points is therefore
the span of time remaining after the computer sub-
tracts the minimum duration of both segments
from the parent's duration. It then randomly selects
a point from this interval according to a distri-
bution that is peaked at the midpoint, thus sup-
pressing the likelihood of extremes of duration. The
probability density of a point t in this distribution
is
L+ 1
PL(t) = 2 (2y)L,
where
t/T if 0 !t t T/2
y portion between the number of simultaneous
(T- t)IT if T/2 t t T.
Simultaneous Aggregates
While in stage 1 the major concern was to keep the
two segments of a parent in reasonable balance, the
major concern in stage 2 is to balance the number
of simultaneous voices in each segment. Some
thought must be given to this problem, since a sim-
plistic means of determining when to branch could
lead to undesirable results. (If the decision were
statistically independent at each level of recursion,
for example, it would allow the possibility of two
54 Computer Music
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
segments at level 4, one containing a path down
through the hierarchy with no branches at all, the
other containing a path with a branch at each level.
The result would be two textures of equal struc-
tural importance, but the vertical density of one
would give it greater emphasis than the other.) In
order to keep the vertical density of a crystal con-
sistent, I adopted the following strategy: let B be
the expected number of branches assigned to the
current crystal. Then the probability of a branch in
either segment at level 4 is the quotient of this ex-
pected number of branches and the total number of
opportunities to branch, B/4. Consider the first seg-
ment and suppose that the program decided not to
branch at level 4. Moving down to level 3, it must
accomplish the same number of branches, but the
number of opportunities to branch has dropped to
three. The probability of branching should then be
B/3. If, on the other hand, the computer did decide
to branch at level 4, then there remain only B - 1
branches to accomplish in three more opportuni-
ties, so the probability is (B - 1)/3. For an arbitrary
segment at level L, the probability of branching
should thus be B'/L, where B' is the expected num-
ber of branches from this current level down. If the
program decides to branch, both simultaneous off-
spring in the segment inherit B' - 1; otherwise,
the single offspring will inherit B'. This strategy
ensures that the number of branches leading from
level 4 down to any individual note can deviate by
no more than 1 from the expected number assigned
to the crystal. It also ensures that for any pair of
segments generated from the same parent, the pro-
voices will be in the range from V2 to 2.
Register
The foremost concern in stage 3 is to isolate the
registers of simultaneous offspring, so whenever
the program decides to branch in any segment, the
parent's registral span divides equally in that seg-
ment. One offspring among the resultant parts then
inherits the lower half of this span, while the re-
maining offspring inherits the upper half.
Register becomes a resource for horizontal con-
trast only when a decision against a branch leaves
Journal
Fig. 3. Major and minor
harmonic cells.
1:3:5:7 1 ? Vs: V7
the parent's entire span to a single offspring. Since
this span characterizes a higher-level unit, passing
all of it down to a single offspring would give that
single aggregate undue prominence in the hierarchi-
cal scheme. The single offspring therefore inherits
only a portion of its parent's registral span. If the
program decides to branch in the opposite segment,
then it places this portion randomly within the
parent's span, with a bias toward the center. Rela-
tive to the parent's span, we then have a single,
medium-register aggregate contrasted horizontally
with two simultaneous aggregates, one in the high
register and one in the low register. In the remain-
ing case, in which the program decides not to
branch in either segment, it places the registral
spans of the two sequential offspring in opposite ex-
tremes of the parent's span, with equal probability
of ordering. Again relative to the parent's span, we
have a horizontal jump either from high register to
low register or from low to high.
Harmony
Harmony ranks among the most powerful means of
linking musical events, so it was desirable to rein-
force both the contrast between offspring and their
common relationship harmonically. Since each par-
ent may beget up to four offspring, it was necessary
to provide four distinct but harmonically linked
roots. Four-note cells with this property are not
available in standard temperament, but the sixth-
tone temperament used in Crystals enables close
approximations to two such cells: the harmonic se-
quence 1 :3:5:7 and its inversion 1: 1/3: 1/5: 1/7.
Figure 3 illustrates these two cells, while Table 1
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
gives the deviations of their various consonances
from just intonation. We shall refer to these two
cells as major and minor in honor of the classic
triads each contains.
During stage 4, the program selects one cell or
the other (major or minor) probabilistically. It then
transposes its selection to match the parent's har-
monic root, yielding four possible roots for off-
spring. Recursive applications of this procedure
establish a harmonic field consisting of the root it-
self and all of the harmonic degrees derived from it.
The root assigned to the crystal as a whole thus de-
fines a field encompassing all the harmonic degrees
that the crystal may possibly exploit, and each
recursion successively refines this field until only
the single degree assigned to an individual note
remains.
Placing the Root
Special care in placing the parent's root helps clar-
ify the harmonic relationship between the parent
and its immediate environment. The parent must
have an adjacent horizontal sibling or pair of hori-
zontal siblings from the next higher level, and by
placing the parent's root in whichever of its seg-
ments lies closest to this sibling or pair of siblings,
the program acts to support this familial relation-
ship. The algorithm for this procedure works as fol-
lows. Any aggregate generated at a given level has a
horizontal index; if this aggregate occupies its par-
ent's first segment, its index will be 1, otherwise, it
will be 2. When the aggregate in turn becomes a
parent and divides into subsections, the program
consults this index. If it is 1, then the program
Ames 55
Table 1. Harmonic intervals in 36-tone temperament
36-tone
Interval Just Just Interval Approximation Deviation
Name Ratio (cents) (cents) (cents)
Perfect
3:2 702 700 2
fifth

Major 5:4 386 400 14

third

Small
minor 7:4 969 967 2
seventh

Minor
6:5 316 300 16
third

Small
minor 7:6 267 267 0
third

Small
7:5 583 567 16
tritone

places the root in the aggregate's second segment. If
it is 2, then the program places the root in the first
segment.
The parent may also have a vertical sibling from
the next higher level; if it does not, it will very
likely have a vertical cousin resulting from a
branch at an even higher level. In order to clarify
this vertical relationship, each aggregate also has a
vertical index. Whenever a branch occurs in some
segment at some level, the program sets the vertical
indices of the resulting offspring to 1 (low) and 2
(high). When no branch occurs, it simply passes the
parent's vertical index to the single resulting off-
spring. Now, if a branch occurs in the segment
where the parent's root is to reside, the program
passes the root to the offspring closest in register to
the parent's vertical sibling or, if no such sibling
exists, to the vertical cousin with the closest com-
mon ancestor. It accomplishes this end by assign-
ing the root to the lower offspring if the parent's
vertical index is 2, or to the higher offspring, other-
wise. In this manner, the temporal and registral
proximities of harmonic roots work to emphasize
the horizontal and vertical relationships between
siblings (and cousins). After the program has deter-
mined where to place the root, it then distributes
the other harmonic elements at random among the
remaining offspring, since none of these remaining
offspring has any structural precedence over any of
its siblings. When a parent begets fewer than four
offspring, the program discards the excess harmonic
elements. We can see how the C, E, and G in Fig.
2b appear close together in Fig. 2c.
Register
At the bottom level, the program subjects the regis-
ter determined for an individual note in stage 3 to
the logarithmic transformation illustrated in Fig. 4.
A uniform distribution of registers would mean fre-
quent closely spaced intervals in the bass, where
they are difficult to hear; an increase in the density
of high registers at the expense of low ones effects a
transformation that helps clarify relationships. The
program determines the final pitch of a note by
placing the harmonic degree produced by stage 4 in
the octave closest to this transformed register. For
example, the Db at the left of Fig. 2e has a register

56 Computer Music Journal

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 4. The distribution of scale in Fig. 2e, with 0 rep-
registers. The horizontal resenting the minimum
scale in this figure corre- register and 1 representing
sponds to the vertical the maximum register.

F7
I

I I

I I

F6I
I I

I I
I I I
I I I

SI II I
I
I
I i I
I
I

Iii III
I I I

I I I I

F4i I II I I I
I I I I
I I I I

F5- I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I

I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I

I I I I I
I I f I I
I I I I I
I I I I I
I I I I I
FI
II II I
I I
I
_ _ I
_ I
_ I
_ III I

" 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Ames 57

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
of approximately 0.5, placing it just below the fifth-
line F on the treble clef.
Dynamics
Dynamics in Crystals not only contrast small-scale
aggregates, but also articulate relationships between
groups of crystals. Global refinements leave only
half of the full dynamic range (from ppp to fff) for
stage 5 to exploit. From level 4 down, the dynamic
range contracts by one-half each time a parent
passes it to offspring. Since an attempt to con-
trast simultaneous offspring with different dy-
namic ranges would result in severe dynamic im-
balances-obscuring relationships in other do-
mains- simultaneous offspring receive identical
dynamic ranges. Offspring in distinct segments,
however, inherit dynamic ranges in opposite ex-
tremes of their parent's range, for maximum con-
trast. Orderings of dynamics within simultaneous
offspring remain statistically independent; some di-
vergence between simultaneous dynamics is there-
fore likely at lower levels, but since a single crystal
exploits no more than four dynamic levels, such di-
vergence is not extreme.
Timbre
The coloristic palette of Crystals is restricted to
normal bowed sounds played with a minimum of
vibrato and, when practical considerations of range
and dynamics permit, to bowed artificial harmon-
ics. The contrapuntal image discussed earlier sug-
gested to me that all timbres should be sustained in
order to link the release of each tone to the attack
of its successor in an aggregate. The choice of sus-
tained timbres was problematic because the tones
need (1) enough "presence" to counter the type of
fatigue that often occurs with synthetic timbres
and (2) a fair degree of anonymity so as not to dis-
tract from the combined entities. Bowed string tim-
bres seemed most suited to these requirements.
An expected proportion of normal sounds to har-
monics assigned to the crystal controls the choice
of one sound over the other. This choice affects
first-level aggregates (combinations of from two to
four individual notes) when
58 Computer Music
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1. None of the notes in the aggregate falls be-
low middle C#, the lower limit for artificial
harmonics on the cello using the node a
fourth higher than the stopped pitch.
2. The maximum dynamic in the aggregate
does not exceed mezzo forte, as a prac-
tical dynamic limit on medium-range
harmonics.
Global Structure
In designing the overall form of Crystals, it was ap-
parent that some kinds of deterministic strategies
were necessary to ensure clear evolutions in such
domains as the durations of crystals, dynamics, and
the various random expectations. In the case of har-
monic relationships, however, I felt that too great a
degree of predictability would lessen the impact of
the work. Consider the monotony that would result
if, for example, the same progression of harmonic
roots always linked formal aggregates of common
parentage. Such roots therefore progress randomly,
according to the strategy to be described later (See
Harmonic Roots of Crystals).
Beginning at level 10, the total sequence of 64
crystals divides into two smaller sequences of 32
crystals each; at level 9, these sequences divide in
turn into four even smaller sequences of 16 crystals
apiece, and the process continues on in this manner
down to level 5, which isolates the single crystal.
As with the horizontal divisions inside a crystal,
binary divisions at each level from 10 down to 5
ensure maximum clarity of relationships and en-
able the greatest number of superimposed levels.
The easiest way to understand the deterministic
strategies controlling the form of Crystals is to re-
fer to the four strategies illustrated in Figs. 5a-d, so
I will defer discussing crystalline durations and har-
monies until later.
Vertical Density and Proportion of Major to Minor
Sonorities
In the strategies illustrated by Figs. 5a and 5b, the
relative order of extremes depends on the level. The
Journal
Fig. 5. Six successive re-
finements, moving down
from level 10 to level 5.
The vertical scale in an in-
dividual diagram repre-
sents values of the specific
attribute involved, while
the number of successive
crystals combined to form
a given aggregate de-
termines the distance
between horizontal divi-
sions. In each case, a
darkened rectangle indi-
cates the upper and lower
bounds constraining the
relevant attribute in all
subsidiary aggregates. In
order to maximize the con-
trast between the two sub-
sidiary aggregates at the
next lower level, all four
strategies place their re-
spective ranges at opposite
extremes relative to these
constraints. Evolution of
expected vertical densities
(a); evolution of expected
proportion between major
and minor harmonies (b);
evolution of dynamic in-
tervals (c); evolution of
values used to determine
expected proportion be-
tween normal bowed
sounds and harmonics (d).

IN

_ _ I i I

(a) (b)~

MN IIi

(C) ( d)

Ames 59

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
first of these strategies simply alternates orderings:
down/up at level 10, up/down at level 9, down/up
at level 8, and so on. Note that in the second dia-
gram of Fig. 5a, this strategy orients the two inner
rectangles at opposite extremes. This articulates
the division at the next higher level. This contrast
persists down through each subsequent refinement
to articulate the distant ancestral relationships be-
tween crystals 32 and 33. Note also that since the
process is recursive, similar articulations result
(though to a lesser extent) at each lower level.
I provided a mechanism for determining the ex-
pected number of branches in a crystal, in which
the bottom of the vertical scale in each diagram of
Fig. 5a signifies no branch at all, while the top sig-
nifies a branch at all four structural levels of a crys-
tal. This expectation of branches in turn directly
affects the expectation of the number of simul-
taneous voices. The relationship between the ex-
pected number of branches, B, and the expected
number of voices, N, is
N = (1 + B/4)4.
We can see from Fig. 5a that for two closely related
crystals in a dense area of the work, the change in
the expected number of voices is much greater than
it is for two closely related crystals in a sparse area.
My compositional experience has led me to observe
that we perceive the thickness of musical textures
on a proportional scale and that, in order to match
the perceptual effect of a doubling in the number of
simultaneous voices, that number must double
again.
In this strategy and in the other strategies deter-
mining statistical expectations (illustrated by Figs.
5b and d), the program chooses its value at level 5
deterministically within the final bounds generated
by the strategy, with a weighted bias toward the
closest extreme.
The strategy illustrated in Fig. 5b begins at level
10 with the order up/down and uses the alternative
order down/up only at every third level from the
top. We can see from Fig. 5b that this strategy is
less effective overall than the previous strategy,
since it only weakly articulates formal divisions at
levels 10 and 7. It proves useful, however, in deter-
mining the expected proportion of major to minor
60 Computer Music
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
sonorities. Here its clusters of eight values work to
counter the fairly large variance between this ex-
pected value and the actual proportion in a crystal.
The vertical scale in each diagram of Fig. 5b ranges
from total saturation by minor sonorities at the bot-
tom to total saturation by major sonorities at the top.
Dynamics and Expected Timbre
The relative order of extremes in the strategies il-
lustrated in Figs. 5c and d differs from the preceding
strategies in that the ones in 5c and d depend on
the relative order at the next higher level. The first
of these new strategies uses the relationship
(up/down) = (down/up)/(up/down)
(down/up) # (up/down)/(down/up)
between orders at successive levels, while the re-
maining strategy uses the opposite relationships.
Comparison of Figs. 5c and d shows that the results
of these strategies are mutually retrograde inver-
sions. Further comparison, with Fig. 5a, shows
them to be even more effective at isolating dis-
tantly related aggregates than this first strategy. The
strategy illustrated in Fig. 5c controls the dynamic
range assigned to each crystal; the vertical scale in
each diagram of Fig. 5c extends from very soft (ppp)
at the bottom to very loud (fff) at the top. Half the
total dynamic range will remain at level 5 to pass
down to the crystal. The strategy illustrated in Fig.
5d partially determines the expected proportion of
bowed artificial harmonics to bowed sounds. Practi-
cal considerations forced me to reduce this propor-
tion as the number of simultaneous voices rises,
however, so I had the program multiply the result of
this strategy by (1 - B/4) to reduce the probability
of harmonics in thick textures. Figure 6b illustrates
the final result, where the vertical scale ranges
from no possibility of harmonics at 0 to total cer-
tainty of harmonics (a condition never reached) at 1.
Durations of Crystals
A method analogous to the strategies illustrated in
Figs. 5c and d determined the sequence of durations
Journal
Fig. 6. Expected vertical
densities over time (a). Ex-
pected proportion between
bowed sounds and har-
monics, given practical
constraints (b). Each bar is
a crystal.

16

12-

4-

(a)I0

1.0

0.5

0.0

(b)

for the 64 crystals. Figure 7 illustrates this method.
Here, the vertical scale represents the relative dura-
tion of each aggregate at a given level, while the
length between divisions on the horizontal scale
corresponds to the number of crystals involved. As
with other distinguishing attributes, the durational
relationships between successive crystals reinforce
their hierarchical connection. Two adjacent crystals
with common parentage (e.g., crystals 47 and 48)
will have similar durations, while two adjacent
crystals with distant ancestry (e.g., crystals 48 and
49) will have widely different durations. As a fur-
ther rhythmic articulation of the hierarchy, the
length of silence between formal aggregates grows
with the hierarchical level. Table 2 presents the si-
lence associated with each level. The pattern of
growth is approximately proportional (following the
Fibonacci series) so as to distribute the effect of the

Ames 61

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 7. Evolution of crys-
talline durations, starting
at the top and moving
downward.

I mII f mFkJ I l flnI -I

62 Computer Music Journal

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Table 2. Silent articulations between adjacent Table 3. Distribution of harmonic intervals relating
crystals, as determined from the level of their adjacent segments at levels 5-10
closest common ancestor
Interval
Level Articulation Small

10 Perfect Major Minor

9 Level Fifth Third Seventh
8
10 1.00 0.00 0.00
7 1. 9 0.87 0.12 0.01
6 1
8 0.73 0.22 0.05
5
7 0.60 0.28 0.12
6 0.47 0.32 0.21
5 0.34 0.33 0.33

silences evenly. The fact that silence articulates a

crystal on both sides means that duration itself is a
readily appreciable attribute, but the effect duration
has on the horizontal density of a crystal is even
more salient. While the duration of a crystal varies,
its generative process ensures that there will be ex-
actly 16 notes in any horizontal path we might
trace through it.
Harmonic Roots of Crystals
As previously stated, the strategy for selecting the
harmonic root of each crystal avoids monotonous
progressions by employing random selection. At
each level, the program selects the interval relating
a pair of aggregates generated from a common par-
ent from three fundamental harmonies: the perfect
fifth, major third, and small minor seventh. Table 3
gives the relative probabilities by which the pro-
gram makes its choice; these probabilities empha-
size the stronger harmonies at higher levels. There
is thus complete certainty that the program will
choose a perfect fifth at level 10, while at level 5 all
three intervals are equally likely. Following this
choice, the parent passes its root to the offspring
closest to the parent's sibling at the next higher
level. Either the ascending or descending version of
the chosen interval determines the root of the re-
maining offspring. The probability of one version
versus the other comes from the range of expected
major/minor proportions associated with the parent
(see Fig. 5b); it is an average value, weighted toward
the close extreme.
Implementation
Implementing these formalized compositional pro-
cedures as a computer program was a fairly simple
matter of determining all of the variables charac-
terizing an aggregate (upper and lower limits in
various domains, vertical and horizontal indices,
etc.) and arranging these variables in a stack. There
were two recursive routines, one to compute global
relationships and one to realize crystalline descrip-
tions as collections of notes. Taken together, these
two routines formed the first in a sequence of three
overlays, the other two being a routine to sort the
notes (a partition/exchange sort) and a routine to
assign notes to instruments and to create a mne-
monic listing.
Conclusion
In composing Crystals, I have taken the attitude
that all compositional expediencies and all esthetic
and philosophical principles not relevant to the
fundamental concerns in question should be recog-
nized as such and set aside. Any resource or com-
positional procedure used in Crystals had first to be
judged by its contribution to the work's structural
integrity. Other criteria could be considered only
when they did not conflict with this framework.
Not incidentally, this same attitude carries over
into the work's performance, whether by conven-

Ames 63

This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
tional or digitally synthesized instruments. Players
are expected to execute their parts with the greatest
possible precision and to avoid bringing anything
not explicitly indicated in the score into their real-
ization. Such common interpretive nuances as
rubato, swells, and related dynamic "shaping" of
notes have no place in this music because they
serve functional or esthetic principles that are irrel-
evant to or in direct contradiction to the structural
and perceptual goals of the work. Above all else,
the essence of Crystals lies in the translation of ob-
jective and abstract thought into immediate sub-
liminal terms of musical perception.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my appreciation to Paul Gal-
lagher, Lejaren Hiller, John Myhill, and Edna
Sugihara for their many helpful suggestions in the
preparation of this article.
64 Computer Music
This content downloaded from 128.104.46.196 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:19:11 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
References
Ligeti, G. 1960. "Pierre Boulez: Decision and Automa-
tism in Structure Ia." In Die Reihe 4: Young Compos-
ers, ed. H. Eimert and K. Stockhausen. Bryn Mawr,
Pennsylvania: Presser, pp. 36-62.
Mathews, M. 1969. The Technology of Computer Music.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Partch, H. 1974. Genesis of a Music, 2nd ed., enlarged.
New York: Da Capo Press.
Tenney, J. 1964. Meta + Hodos: A Phenomenology of
Twentieth Century Musical Materials and an Ap-
proach to the Study of Form. New Orleans: Inter-
American Institute for Musical Research, Tulane
University.
Tenney, J. 1969. "Computer Music Experiments, 1961-
1964." Electronic Music Reports 1(September):23-60.
Wertheimer, M. 1938. "Laws of Organization in Percep-
tual Forms." In A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology,
ed. Willis Ellis. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Xenakis, I. 1971. Formalized Music: Thought and Mathe-
matics in Composition. Bloomington: Indiana Univer-
sity Press.
Journal