Although fractal art is best known as a spectrum of the visual arts, its algorithms are also converted to musical rhythms. In that case, fractal music generators analyze the patterns produced by the fractal formulas and interpret the output as sound based on user-defined parameters (pitch, duration, tonality, instruments, etc.).
The following samples are some of my early and only experiments with fractal music. I’m no musician, so take that into account before playing them. These pieces were created between 1999 and 2002 for the sole purpose of including that aspect of fractal art –beyond the visual– on this website. If anything, do not take them as true fractal music; I’m sure a five-year-old with a synthetizer could do a better job. I’ve uploaded them only to illustrate that fractals can produce melodies as well.
These basic attempts at fractal music were created using several freeware software packages, primarily MusiNum, Mandelbrot Music, and LMUSe (for more information on fractal music generators visit the Software section). The files are available in 128 kbps MP3 format, though the original files were recorded as MIDI files. If you really want to hear what fractal music sounds like, follow the links below instead.
Fractal music information and composers
- Ramiro Pérez
Aural - José Oscar Marques
The Music of José Oscar Marques - Phil Jackson
The Music of Phil Jackson - David Strohbeen
ArtSong/Fractal Music Lab (broken) - Don Archer
Museum of Computer Art
- Phil Thompson
Omegaville - Angel Rada
Soundcloud page - David Beckwith
MrWondrous - FractalEYEzed
SoundClick page