Contrapunctus Variations
A Web-based musical generator allows users to create their own variations on a theme and save their compositions, for future inclusion in a live performance by the Third Angle New Music Ensemble.
Visitors to the Contrapunctus Variations Web site experience the challenge and delight of composing new music by using a gestural interface to modify the first movement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, arranged for strings in four parts. Upon selecting an accompaniment for their musical creation, visitors affect the frequency at which their instrument’s notes are played and the pitch of the notes by moving their mouse across the interface. Visitors can save their contributions to this sound garden and visit other saved compositions through easy chronological browsing. All saved variations become candidates for a future live performance, curated and played by Third Angle.