I wrote a simple Python program that composes a new 12-tone row every time it is run. It spits out 12 note names, which a human musician must then arrange, interpret and perform in order for it to become music. The program makes its decisions by combining an element of randomness with a minimal amount of intelligence. It considers the interval of the previous two pitches while determining the next pitch, yet it never re-uses a pitch in the same row. The end result is a 12-tone row that sounds uncharacteristically melodious. Here are three rows composed by my program. As mentioned above, the program only determines the order of the pitches--all other elements of this rendition were created by me, a human (as far as I can tell, I am a human).

Three Computer-Composed Tone Rows

I got an Oberheim Matrix 6R, so I wanted to throw something together quickly to try it out in context. This came out. Only three sounds are used in this piece. The neat bass sound I discovered by accident while messing with patches on my Pittsburgh Foundation 3 (which is exactly why I invested in a modular--strange new sound discoveries!). The chippy warbling sound is the Matrix 6R. The percussive sound is from my ancient Korg rompler...well, actually it's newer than the Oberheim!

Don't Be Fooled By The Least Significant Bit

I was just mashing keys one night, and this came out. I left some slop in the playing because it just sounded better to me than quantizing it. This is raw, unchecked musical passion.

A Heart On Fire (Original Version)

8Dio instruments used:  Adagio Violins, Adagio Violas, Adagio Cellos, Adagio Basses, Claire Flute, Claire Oboe, Claire Clarinet

8Dio 2014 Stand Out Contest Submission: “A Heart On Fire” by “Chris Muggli-Miller”

The Church Basement ~ Secret Passage To Dracula's Castle

Whisked Into The Sky

Made with my Yamaha TX816 synth, which is an absolute beast of an instrument!  Recorded through a modified audio interface for exceptional sound quality!

It's The Weekend

Exactly as the title says, it's nothing but random popping noises for five minutes. Reminiscent of 1960s-70s musique concrete or experimental electronica. Great for surreal ambience or sound effects in games/films. Created on a Pittsburgh Modular Foundation 3 synth with some added reverb from the DAW.

This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Five Minutes of Modular Synth Popping (CC-BY)

This arrangement is commissioned by Jon Doty and dedicated to his fiance Maria Moenkedick for whom this song is a personal favorite.

Original song here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS5TYzSPpII

Forever And Ever, instrumental version - from Pooh's Grand Adventure

A very old orchestration I did of the fantastic submarine music from Final Fantasy 3. I gave this to Nobuo Uematsu on a CD when I met him at the 2005 concert in Chicago, "Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy". Obviously there are things I don't like about the recording, but I'm leaving it as-is because I hate revisiting old work.

Orchestration: "Deep Under The Water" by Nobuo Uematsu (from 2005)

REMIXERS: Are you making a Lunar tribute album? I would love to have this arrangement on it. Please contact me!

From Lunar: Eternal Blue, one of my very favorite games, here is my arrangement of Lucia's Theme. Orchestra + vocals. The title "Blue Star Prayer" comes from one of Lucia's spells that was deleted from the final game (still accessible by a glitch). True fans will notice other Lunar 2 themes hiding in the orchestration.

Art by https://catievg.deviantart.com/

Blue Star Prayer - "Lucia's Theme" by Noriyuki Iwadare arr. Chris Muggli-Miller

Mainly did this to get my feet...er, fingers...wet with Evolution Steel Strings.

"Epitaph", Final Fantasy VI, By Nobuo Uematsu (Simple Tribute)

Just goofing off. A 1990-ish composition rendered on glorious 1984 technology.

Final Fantasy Prelude on Yamaha TX816 (Simple Tribute)

Early attempt at making noises in Csound. The background pad is "additive granular synthesis" where each partial is created not by individual sine waves but random bursts of sine grains.

Csound Experiment 1

The Lunarians (NES / FamiTracker) by Nobuo Uematsu arr. Chris Muggli-Miller

Fun little game-inspired tracks, musical experiments, lots of synths and virtual instruments here. See my links for more music, including my officially-released albums!

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