Autonomous Fantasies for General MIDI (2006) by Ryan Tanaka

Notes from 2022:

There may be other MIDI animation renderers out there now, so don't feel obligated to follow the instructions below if there are other options out there. This version was created to make it compatible with existing platforms out there (like this video-fied version below), but the main content for this NFT is the MIDI file itself.

Autonomous Fantasies (Rendition) on YouTube

Instructions for live playing:

Goto http://www.musanim.com and download the latest "Music Animation Machine MIDI Player" from the website.

Run the MAMPlayer.exe program.

Go to File -> Open, then choose RyanTanaka_AutonomousFantasies.mid.

Go to View -> Display Type -> ...part Motion (BALLS)

[That display type tends to work the best for this particular piece.]

Hit spacebar to start the animation process. Total time is about 38 minutes.

There is panning work embedded into the piece, so a stereophonic output is recommended.

Program Notes:

"Autonomous Fantasies" investigates the relationship between communication and standardizations that exists in society.

A demo of an animated music score I wrote in 2007 in an attempt to visualize a few ideas used in contemporary compositional processes - metric modulation, rhythmic phasing, hockets, "sub-rhythms", process variation, etc. This piece is best listened to on headphones or wide stereo systems to get the most out of its panning effects.

Despite the 50 minute length, the whole file is only about 500-600kb (~150kb compressed), and being that the .mid format is pretty much universally accepted on most (if not all) home computers, it makes it a fairly ideal format mass distribution. Standardization is essentially what allows information to gain mobility from its original source -- an agreement between two or more parties to use a common medium in order to have a communicative exchange.

Strangely enough, since the resultant outcome will differ according to what kinds of MIDI drivers the audience (in this case, the computer user) might have, different interpretations can be generated even without the aid of human performers. Adherence to the General MIDI format is largely what makes this possible.

Last Update 01/08/06