"Baby Steps" Extension

So I hear that you want a challenge?

Bree van Reyk's 'Light for the First Time' features use of aleatoric music which is where elements of the composition or performance is left up to chance.

Take a look at this snapshot at section E1 of her piece.

The performance instructions given for this section are to:

Play any of these ad lib, or improvise something similar in full register. Every flavour.

Although it is composed, every time this section is performed, it may sound different which I personally feel is a very interesting and unique compositional process.

Using this example as inspiration, we can create our own aleatoric section in our composition.

Take up to 10 little sections from your composition. They can be as small as two semiquavers or up to one bar in length. Name each of your sections using numbers (ie. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

Using this website: https://www.random.org/lists/

Put the numbers into the box provided.

Then click 'Randomize' at the bottom left of the page to reveal your random order.

A new order will be created. This is the order that you will put your chosen sections into!

The possibilities are endless and always different. This section of your composition was left entirely up to chance! You can choose to overlap the small sections you chose or to play them one after another. You could even continue to 'randomize' your sections for a longer aleatoric section.

Here is a video tutorial showing how I followed these steps to create a new section composed purely by chance! Follow along for you own composition.