[sdiy] What is chaos?

[John Mahoney]

At 10:37 AM 2/12/2007, fmg wrote:
>I've googled for hours and am more confused than before. I'm not
>searching for synth patches or module schematics, just an
>aproximate definition of such thing (in a musical context). I'm
>deeply in the dark in these matters.
>Personal opinions highly welcomed.

Fabio,
Look up "aleatoric music", which is sometimes called "chance music", 
and you'll find plenty of info.

In synthesis, a chaos/aleatoric/chance patch will usually employ some 
kind of noise generator(s) -- that could be analog and/or 
digitally-generated noise, also called random voltages. The Buchla 
term is "uncertainty".

Another way to create chaos is by mixing together a few LFOs that are 
not synchronized together in any way. Even better is to use at least 
one voltage-controlled LFO, and using noise (random voltages) or 
mixed LFOs to modulate the frequency of the VC LFO.

Feedback loops are often used in these patches. Like, signal 1 
modulates signal 2 which modulates signal 3 which modulates signal 1.

Some synthesists like to use a quantizer so that random voltages can 
be used to produce pitch voltages that are in tune.
--
john

(My wife says that all my music sounds like chaos! Just kidding. ;-)