Corpus, figure selection from¶
>>> import random
Mozart’s dice game is a method for aleatorically generating sixteen-measure-long minuets. For each measure, two six-sided dice are rolled, and the sum of the dice used to look up a measure number in one of two tables. Each measure number locates a measure in a corpus of musical fragments. The fragments are then concatenated and “music” results.
Part of a pen-and-paper implementation from the 20th century.¶
Making the corpus. At the heart of the dice game is a corpus of musical fragments. Each fragment is a single measure consisting of a treble voice and a bass voice. Traditionally, these fragments are stored in a table of measures. Duplicate measures in the original corpus are common. Notably, the eighth measure — actually a pair of measures representing the first and second endings of the first half of the minuet — are always identical. There are likewise only two possibilities for the last measure of the piece. No matter how we do it, creating a corpus in a machine-readable format takes a lot of typing. We’ll structure the corpus attributed to Mozart like this:
>>> measure_1_choices = [
... ("c4 r8", "e''8 c''8 g'8"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g'8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g''8 ( e''8 c''8 )"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''16 b'16 c''16 e''16 g'16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c'''16 b''16 c'''16 g''16 e''16 c''16"),
... ("c4 r8", "e''16 d''16 e''16 g''16 c'''16 g''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g''8 f''16 e''16 d''16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "e''16 c''16 g''16 e''16 c'''16 g''16"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "c''8 g'8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g''8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<e' c''>8 <e' c''>8 <e' c''>8"),
... ]
>>> measure_2_choices = [
... ("c4 r8", "e''8 c''8 g'8"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g'8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g''8 e''8 c''8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''16 g'16 c''16 e''16 g'16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c'''16 b''16 c'''16 g''16 e''16 c''16"),
... ("c4 r8", "e''16 d''16 e''16 g''16 c'''16 g''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g''8 f''16 e''16 d''16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''16 g'16 e''16 c''16 g''16 e''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''8 g'8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>4 <c g>8", "g''8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<e' c''>8 <e' c''>8 <e' c''>8"),
... ]
>>> measure_3_choices = [
... ("<b, g>4 g,8", "d''16 e''16 f''16 d''16 c''16 b'16"),
... ("g,4 r8", "b'8 d''8 g''8"),
... ("g,4 r8", "b'8 d''16 b'16 a'16 g'16"),
... ("<g b>4 r8", "f''8 d''8 b'8"),
... ("<b, d>4 r8", "g''16 fs''16 g''16 d''16 b'16 g'16"),
... ("<g b>4 r8", "f''16 e''16 f''16 d''16 c''16 b'16"),
... ("<g, g>4 <b, g>8", "b'16 c''16 d''16 e''16 f''16 d''16"),
... ("g8 g8 g8", "<b' d''>8 <b' d''>8 <b' d''>8"),
... ("g,4 r8", "b'16 c''16 d''16 b'16 a'16 g'16"),
... ("b,4 r8", "d''8 ( b'8 g'8 )"),
... ("g4 r8", "b'16 a'16 b'16 c''16 d''16 b'16"),
... ]
>>> measure_4_choices = [
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''16 b'16 c''16 e''16 g'8"),
... ("c4 r8", "e''16 c''16 b'16 c''16 g'8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''8 ( g'8 e'8 )"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''8 e''8 g'8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''16 b'16 c''16 g'16 e'16 c'16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''8 c''16 d''16 e''8"),
... ("c4 r8", "<c'' e''>8 <c'' e''>16 <d'' f''>16 <e'' g''>8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''8 e''16 c''16 g'8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''16 g'16 e''16 c''16 g''8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''8 e''16 c''16 g''8"),
... ("<e g>4 r8", "c''16 e''16 c''16 g'16 e'8"),
... ]
>>> measure_5_choices = [
... ("c4 r8", "fs''8 a''16 fs''16 d''16 fs''16"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<fs' d''>8 <d'' fs''>8 <fs'' a''>8"),
... ("c4 r8", "d''16 a'16 fs''16 d''16 a''16 fs''16"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<fs' d''>8 <fs' d''>8 <fs' d''>8"),
... ("c4 r8", "d''8 a'8 ^\\turn fs''8"),
... ("c4 r8", "d''16 cs''16 d''16 fs''16 a''16 fs''16"),
... ("<c a>4 <c a>8", "fs''8 a''8 d''8"),
... ("<c fs>8 <c fs>8 <c a>8", "a'8 a'16 d''16 fs''8"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<d'' fs''>8 <d'' fs''>8 <d'' fs''>8"),
... ("<c d>8 <c d>8 <c d>8", "fs''8 fs''16 d''16 a''8"),
... ("<c a>4 r8", "fs''16 d''16 a'16 a''16 fs''16 d''16"),
... ]
>>> measure_6_choices = [
... ("<b, d>8 <b, d>8 <b, d>8", "g''16 fs''16 g''16 b''16 d''8"),
... ("<b, d>4 r8", "g''8 b''16 g''16 d''16 b'16"),
... ("<b, d>4 r8", "g''8 b''8 d''8"),
... ("<b, g>4 r8", "a'8 fs'16 g'16 b'16 g''16"),
... ("<b, d>4 <b, g>8", "g''16 fs''16 g''16 d''16 b'16 g'16"),
... ("b,4 r8", "g''8 b''16 g''16 d''16 g''16"),
... ("<b, g>4 r8", "d''8 g''16 d''16 b'16 d''16"),
... ("<b, g>4 r8", "d''8 d''16 g''16 b''8"),
... ("<b, d>8 <b, d>8 <b, g>8", "a''16 g''16 fs''16 g''16 d''8"),
... ("<b, d>4 r8", "g''8 g''16 d''16 b''8"),
... ("<b, d>4 r8", "g''16 b''16 g''16 d''16 b'8"),
... ]
>>> measure_7_choices = [
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "e''16 c''16 b'16 a'16 g'16 fs'16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "a'16 e''16 <b' d''>16 <a' c''>16 <g' b'>16 <fs' a'>16"),
... (
... "c8 d8 d,8",
... "<b' d''>16 ( <a' c''>16 ) <a' c''>16 ( <g' b'>16 ) <g' b'>16 ( <fs' a'>16 )",
... ),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "e''16 g''16 d''16 c''16 b'16 a'16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "a'16 e''16 d''16 g''16 fs''16 a''16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "e''16 a''16 g''16 b''16 fs''16 a''16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "c''16 e''16 g''16 d''16 a'16 fs''16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "e''16 g''16 d''16 g''16 a'16 fs''16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "e''16 c''16 b'16 g'16 a'16 fs'16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "e''16 c'''16 b''16 g''16 a''16 fs''16"),
... ("c8 d8 d,8", "a'8 d''16 c''16 b'16 a'16"),
... ]
>>> measure_8_choices = [
... ("g,8 g16 f16 e16 d16", "<g' b' d'' g''>4 r8"),
... ("g,8 b16 g16 fs16 e16", "<g' b' d'' g''>4 r8"),
... ]
>>> measure_9_choices = [
... ("d4 c8", "fs''8 a''16 fs''16 d''16 fs''16"),
... ("<d fs>4 r8", "d''16 a'16 d''16 fs''16 a''16 fs''16"),
... ("<d a>8 <d fs>8 <c d>8", "fs''8 a''8 fs''8"),
... ("<c a>4 <c a>8", "fs''16 a''16 d'''16 a''16 fs''16 a''16"),
... ("d4 c8", "d'16 fs'16 a'16 d''16 fs''16 a''16"),
... ("d,16 d16 cs16 d16 c16 d16", "<a' d'' fs''>8 fs''4 ^\\trill"),
... ("<d fs>4 <c fs>8", "a''8 ( fs''8 d''8 )"),
... ("<d fs>4 <c fs>8", "d'''8 a''16 fs''16 d''16 a'16"),
... ("<d fs>4 r8", "d''16 a'16 d''8 fs''8"),
... ("<c a>4 <c a>8", "fs''16 d''16 a'8 fs''8"),
... ("<d fs>4 <c a>8", "a'8 d''8 fs''8"),
... ]
>>> measure_10_choices = [
... ("<b, g>4 r8", "g''8 b''16 g''16 d''8"),
... ("b,16 d16 g16 d16 b,16 g,16", "g''8 g'8 g'8"),
... ("b,4 r8", "g''16 b''16 g''16 b''16 d''8"),
... ("<b, d>4 <b, d>8", "a''16 g''16 b''16 g''16 d''16 g''16"),
... ("<b, d>4 <b, d>8", "g''8 d''16 b'16 g'8"),
... ("<b, d>4 <b, d>8", "g''16 b''16 d'''16 b''16 g''8"),
... ("<b, d>4 r8", "g''16 b''16 g''16 d''16 b'16 g'16"),
... ("<b, d>4 <b, d>8", "g''16 d''16 g''16 b''16 g''16 d''16"),
... ("<b, d>4 <b, g>8", "g''16 b''16 g''8 d''8"),
... ("g,16 b,16 g8 b,8", "g''8 d''4 ^\\trill"),
... ("b,4 r8", "g''8 b''16 d'''16 d''8"),
... ]
>>> measure_11_choices = [
... ("c16 e16 g16 e16 c'16 c16", "<c'' e''>8 <c'' e''>8 <c'' e''>8"),
... ("e4 e16 c16", "c''16 g'16 c''16 e''16 g''16 <c'' e''>16"),
... ("<c g>4 <c e>8", "e''8 g''16 e''16 c''8"),
... ("<c g>4 r8", "e''16 c''16 e''16 g''16 c'''16 g''16"),
... ("<c g>4 <c g>8", "e''16 g''16 c'''16 g''16 e''16 c''16"),
... ("c16 b,16 c16 d16 e16 fs16", "<g' c'' e''>8 e''4 ^\\trill"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "e''8 c''8 g'8"),
... ("<c g>4 <c e>8", "e''8 c''16 e''16 g''16 c'''16"),
... ("<c g>4 <c e>8", "e''16 c''16 e''8 g''8"),
... ("<c g>4 <c g>8", "e''16 c''16 g'8 e''8"),
... ("<c g>4 <c e>8", "e''8 ( g''8 c'''8 )"),
... ]
>>> measure_12_choices = [
... ("g4 g,8", "<c'' e''>8 <b' d''>8 r8"),
... ("<g, g>4 g8", "d''16 b'16 g'8 r8"),
... ("g8 g,8 r8", "<c'' e''>8 <b' d''>16 <g' b'>16 g'8"),
... ("g4 r8", "e''16 c''16 d''16 b'16 g'8"),
... ("g8 g,8 r8", "g''16 e''16 d''16 b'16 g'8"),
... ("g4 g,8", "b'16 d''16 g''16 d''16 b'8"),
... ("g8 g,8 r8", "e''16 c''16 b'16 d''16 g''8"),
... ("<g b>4 r8", "d''16 b''16 g''16 d''16 b'8"),
... ("<b, g>4 <b, d>8", "d''16 b'16 g'8 g''8"),
... ("g16 fs16 g16 d16 b,16 g,16", "d''8 g'4"),
... ("g16 fs16 g16 d16 b,16 g,16", "d''8 g'4"),
... ]
>>> measure_13_choices = [
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "e''8 c''8 g'8"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "g'8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "g''8 e''8 c''8"),
... ("<c e>4 <e g>8", "c''16 b'16 c''16 e''16 g'16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 <c g>8", "c'''16 b''16 c'''16 g''16 e''16 c''16"),
... ("<c g>4 <c e>8", "e''16 d''16 e''16 g''16 c'''16 g''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "g''8 f''16 e''16 d''16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''16 g'16 e''16 c''16 g''16 e''16"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "c''8 g'8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "g''8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<e' c''>8 <e' c''>8 <e' c''>8"),
... ]
>>> measure_14_choices = [
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "e''8 ( c''8 g'8 )"),
... ("<c e>4 <c g>8", "g'8 ( c''8 e''8 )"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "g''8 e''8 c''8"),
... ("<c e>4 <c e>8", "c''16 b'16 c''16 e''16 g'16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c'''16 b''16 c'''16 g''16 e''16 c''16"),
... ("<c g>4 <c e>8", "e''16 d''16 e''16 g''16 c'''16 g''16"),
... ("<c e>4 <e g>8", "g''8 f''16 e''16 d''16 c''16"),
... ("<c e>4 r8", "c''16 g'16 e''16 c''16 g''16 e''16"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "c''8 g'8 e''8"),
... ("<c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16 <c e>16 g16", "g''8 c''8 e''8"),
... ("c8 c8 c8", "<e' c''>8 <e' c''>8 <e' c''>8"),
... ]
>>> measure_15_choices = [
... ("<f a>4 <g d'>8", "d''16 f''16 d''16 f''16 b'16 d''16"),
... ("f4 g8", "d''16 f''16 a''16 f''16 d''16 b'16"),
... ("f4 g8", "d''16 f''16 a'16 d''16 b'16 d''16"),
... ("f4 g8", "d''16 ( cs''16 ) d''16 f''16 g'16 b'16"),
... ("f8 d8 g8", "f''8 d''8 g''8"),
... ("f16 e16 d16 e16 f16 g16", "f''16 e''16 d''16 e''16 f''16 g''16"),
... ("f16 e16 d8 g8", "f''16 e''16 d''8 g''8"),
... ("f4 g8", "f''16 e''16 d''16 c''16 b'16 d''16"),
... ("f4 g8", "f''16 d''16 a'8 b'8"),
... ("f4 g8", "f''16 a''16 a'8 b'16 d''16"),
... ("f4 g8", "a'8 f''16 d''16 a'16 b'16"),
... ]
>>> measure_16_choices = [
... ("c8 g,8 c,8", "c''4 r8"),
... ("c4 c,8", "c''8 c'8 r8"),
... ]
>>> def make_corpus():
... measure_choice_lists = [
... measure_1_choices,
... measure_2_choices,
... measure_3_choices,
... measure_4_choices,
... measure_5_choices,
... measure_6_choices,
... measure_7_choices,
... measure_8_choices,
... measure_9_choices,
... measure_10_choices,
... measure_11_choices,
... measure_12_choices,
... measure_13_choices,
... measure_14_choices,
... measure_15_choices,
... measure_16_choices,
... ]
... choices = []
... for measure_choice_list in measure_choice_lists:
... dictionaries = []
... for bass_string, treble_string in measure_choice_list:
... dictionary = {"bass": bass_string, "treble": treble_string}
... dictionaries.append(dictionary)
... choices.append(dictionaries)
... return choices
...
Selecting from the corpus. Our corpus is a list comprising sixteen sublists, one for each measure in the minuet. The only catch is that the eighth measure of our minuet is actually the first-and-second-ending for the repeat of the first phrase. The sublist of the corpus for measure eight contains only the first and second ending definitions, and both of those measures should appear in the final piece, always in the same order. We’ll have to intercept that sublist while we iterate through the corpus and apply different logic. The easiest way to intercept measure eight is to use the Python builtin enumerate function, which allows you to iterate through a collection while also getting the index of each element in that collection. The result will be a seventeen-item-long list of measure definitions:
>>> corpus = make_corpus()
>>> counts = [len(_) for _ in corpus]
>>> counts
[11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 2, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 2]
>>> def choose_measures(choices):
... assert len(choices) == len(corpus)
... measure_number = 1
... measures = []
... for choice, measure_possibilities in zip(choices, corpus):
... if measure_number != 8:
... measure = measure_possibilities[choice - 1]
... measures.append(measure)
... else:
... measures.extend(measure_possibilities)
... measure_number += 1
... return measures
...
Making the score. Now that we have our raw materials, and a way to organize them, we can start building our score.
>>> def make_measure(dictionary):
... treble = abjad.Container(dictionary["treble"])
... bass = abjad.Container(dictionary["bass"])
... return treble, bass
...
>>> def make_empty_score():
... rh_voice = abjad.Voice(name="RH_Voice")
... rh_staff = abjad.Staff([rh_voice], name="RH_Staff")
... lh_voice = abjad.Voice(name="LH_Voice")
... lh_staff = abjad.Staff([lh_voice], name="LH_Staff")
... staff_group = abjad.StaffGroup(
... [rh_staff, lh_staff],
... lilypond_type="PianoStaff",
... name="Piano_Staff",
... )
... score = abjad.Score([staff_group], name="Score")
... return score
...
>>> def make_score(choices):
... score = make_empty_score()
... treble_volta_container = abjad.Container()
... literal = abjad.LilyPondLiteral(r"\repeat volta 2")
... abjad.attach(literal, treble_volta_container)
... score["RH_Voice"].append(treble_volta_container)
... bass_volta_container = abjad.Container()
... literal = abjad.LilyPondLiteral(r"\repeat volta 2")
... abjad.attach(literal, bass_volta_container)
... score["LH_Voice"].append(bass_volta_container)
... treble_alternative_ending_container = abjad.Container()
... literal = abjad.LilyPondLiteral(r"\alternative")
... abjad.attach(literal, treble_alternative_ending_container)
... score["RH_Voice"].append(treble_alternative_ending_container)
... bass_alternative_ending_container = abjad.Container()
... literal = abjad.LilyPondLiteral(r"\alternative")
... abjad.attach(literal, bass_alternative_ending_container)
... score["LH_Voice"].append(bass_alternative_ending_container)
... measures = choose_measures(choices)
... for measure in measures[:7]:
... treble, bass = make_measure(measure)
... treble_volta_container.append(treble)
... bass_volta_container.append(bass)
... for measure in measures[7:9]:
... treble, bass = make_measure(measure)
... treble_alternative_ending_container.append(treble)
... bass_alternative_ending_container.append(bass)
... for measure in measures[9:]:
... treble, bass = make_measure(measure)
... score["RH_Voice"].append(treble)
... score["LH_Voice"].append(bass)
... time_signature = abjad.TimeSignature((3, 8))
... leaf = abjad.select.leaf(score["RH_Voice"], 0)
... abjad.attach(time_signature, leaf)
... bar_line = abjad.BarLine("|.")
... leaf = abjad.select.leaf(score["LH_Voice"], -1)
... abjad.attach(bar_line, leaf)
... leaf = abjad.select.leaf(score["LH_Voice"], 0)
... clef = abjad.Clef("bass")
... abjad.attach(clef, leaf)
... leaves = abjad.select.leaves(score["RH_Voice"])
... groups = abjad.select.group_by_measure(leaves)
... strut = abjad.Markup(r"\markup A")
... bundle = abjad.bundle(
... strut,
... r"- \tweak staff-padding 10",
... r"- \tweak transparent ##t",
... )
... abjad.attach(bundle, groups[0][0], direction=abjad.UP)
... strut = abjad.Markup(r"\markup A")
... bundle = abjad.bundle(
... strut,
... r"- \tweak staff-padding 10",
... r"- \tweak transparent ##t",
... )
... abjad.attach(bundle, groups[-1][0], direction=abjad.UP)
... return score
...
>>> def make_subtitle(choices):
... string = [str(_) for _ in choices]
... string = "-".join(string)
... string = f"[{string}]"
... string = r'\header { subtitle = \markup "' + string + '" }'
... string += "\n"
... return string
...
>>> preamble = r"""#(set-global-staff-size 16)
...
... \layout { indent = #0 }
...
... \header { title = \markup "Ein Musikalisches Wuerfelspiel" }
... """
Example 1. Here’s the minuet resulting from a random seed of 1:
>>> random.seed(1)
>>> choices = [random.randint(1, _) for _ in counts]
>>> choices
[3, 10, 2, 5, 2, 8, 8, 2, 11, 7, 4, 2, 8, 1, 7, 2]
>>> score = make_score(choices)
>>> subtitle = make_subtitle(choices)
>>> lilypond_file = abjad.LilyPondFile([preamble, subtitle, score])
>>> abjad.show(lilypond_file)
Example 2. Here’s the minuet resulting from a random seed of 2:
>>> random.seed(2)
>>> choices = [random.randint(1, _) for _ in counts]
>>> choices
[1, 2, 2, 6, 3, 11, 5, 2, 10, 4, 10, 1, 10, 11, 3, 2]
>>> score = make_score(choices)
>>> subtitle = make_subtitle(choices)
>>> lilypond_file = abjad.LilyPondFile([preamble, subtitle, score])
>>> abjad.show(lilypond_file)
Example 3. And here’s a minuet resulting from measure choices made by hand:
>>> choices = [9, 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 9, 2, 9, 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 9, 2]
>>> score = make_score(choices)
>>> subtitle = make_subtitle(choices)
>>> lilypond_file = abjad.LilyPondFile([preamble, subtitle, score])
>>> abjad.show(lilypond_file)
