Experiments 14
Play That Thing
Trade four-bar solos over a twelve-bar blues with models built from transcribed 1925–1928 recordings of Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, and Kid Ory. The circular chart tracks the band and shows which recording each phrase comes from.
TypeScript · Web Audio · Markov model · Mini-notationView source
“One, two, one two three four!”
Press the red disc. Armstrong plays four bars first, then it’s your turn to answer him on the keys.
Where his notes came from
Everything Armstrong plays comes from 8 solos he recorded, 1,096 notes in all. Each piece will be labeled here with its record.
Lead the band120 · swing · four to the bar · trading with Armstrong
Tempo
Feel
Rhythm
Who plays
Extras
“One, two, one two three four!” Press the red disc. Armstrong plays four bars first, then it’s your turn to answer him on the keys.
The chartEvery part, bar by bar, ready to change
Tap any bar to change it, or tap a shape on the clock.
The records
Notes
The solo models
The corpus comprises eight Louis Armstrong solos, six Johnny Dodds solos, and five Kid Ory solos recorded between 1925 and 1928 (~2,000 notes from the Weimar Jazz Database), transposed to B-flat with rhythms and harmonic context preserved. Following François Pachet’s Continuator, a variable-order Markov model matches the end of your phrase and extends it note by note while weighting chord tones. Memory sets the context length: Stitch (1 note), Mix, or Quote (5 notes).
The chart and synthesizer
The twelve-bar chart uses a TidalCycles/Strudel-inspired mini-notation where steps divide a bar evenly. All instruments are synthesized in Web Audio: sawtooth brass with pitch-bend attack, odd-harmonic clarinet, and Karplus–Strong plucked strings for banjo and upright piano.
d5- Note name and octave (
bflat,#sharp; middle C isc4). ~- Rest for one step.
[a b]- Subdivide one step evenly.
<a b c>- Alternate across bars.
a@3- Hold for three steps (equivalent to
a _ _). a!3- Repeat a step three times.
a*2- Play twice within one step.
[a, b]- Play simultaneously.
db5>d5- Slide between pitches.
Bb7 / x / 1 3 5- Set the chord, strum it, or play root/third/fifth in the bass.
Sources
- The Jazzomat Research Project, Weimar Jazz Database v2.1 (2017), Open Database License ↗.
- François Pachet, “The Continuator: Musical interaction with style,” Journal of New Music Research 32, no. 3 (2003): 333–341.
- Alain de Cheveigné and Hideki Kawahara, “YIN, a fundamental frequency estimator for speech and music,” JASA 111, no. 4 (2002): 1917–1930.
- Anders Friberg and Andreas Sundström, “Swing ratios and ensemble timing in jazz performance,” Music Perception 19, no. 3 (2002): 333–349.
- Kevin Karplus and Alex Strong, “Digital synthesis of plucked-string and drum timbres,” Computer Music Journal 7, no. 2 (1983): 43–55.
- Alex McLean, “Making programming languages to dance to: live coding with Tidal,” FARM ’14 (ACM, 2014).