26 Sept 2026
MMOM 028 - Molecular Music Box
Originally posted on September 20, 2014
In this episode, I talk about Molecular Music Box, a music app that I wrote that creates algorithmic solo piano music, and two songs that I composed using the app.
I started by talking about my entry for the August 2014 Ludum Dare. I worked by myself but used clip art from MyCuteGraphics.com (https://mycutegraphics.com/). The theme was “Connected Worlds” and I made a game called The Circle Of Life. It is about the life cycle:
In the food chain, we are all connected. The butterflies eat from the flowers, but the birds eat the butterflies, but the foxes eat the birds.
In “The Circle Of Life” your place in the food chain keeps changing. You are the purple butterfly and have to eat from the flowers. But don’t get eaten by the birds. But then you are a blue bird and have to eat the butterflies. But don’t get eaten by the fox!
I had fun with the audio. When the animals eat the other animals, you here me or my son saying “Nom nom nom!” in the correct place in the stereo field. I got top 11% ratings in humor and top 34% in audio.
I originally saw a video for Molecular Music Box (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z8CuAC_-bg) by Dr. Duncan Lockerby, a professor in the UK. With an algorithm, you can create solo piano music using 2 numbers and a starting note, for example 4 E 3. 4 is the “initial length” and 3 is the “secondary length.” It's hard to explain in just audio, so I played a song first to demonstrate, 9 D 1 1/2 (https://on.soundcloud.com/chcSALT67PDtlBPXsO).
Start with a low D and hold it for 9 beats. Then play the next white key up, E, and hold that for 9 beats. You continue up the white keys. While this is happening, you use a “loop pedal” to record and repeat 4-measure loops. So, whatever sounded during the first 4 measures gets played again in the 5th measure while you add new notes. Each time you loop the 4 measures, there will be additional notes played.
You continue doing this until you are starting a new note at the same exact time an existing note is set to sound. In that case, you change from the initial length (9) to the secondary length (1 1/2), and play new notes for 1 1/2 beats each until you again have a note already starting at that time. When that happens you switch back to the initial length (9 beats).
If you’d like to try Molecular Music Box, you can play around at https://tomsnively.com/mmb/ (https://tomsnively.com/mmb/). The program has sliders for initial length and secondary length so you can make them go from 1/2 to 16, and the initial length can go from C2 (two octaves below middle C) to C4 (middle C). I also added three advanced features: adjust tempo from 60 to 300, a “key” slider so you can have the song use any key instead of all white keys, and you can change the loop length to go from 8 beats up to 32 beats.
The piano sounds come from Mildon Studios; he published a free library.
In 8 C 14 1/2, I am using the key of Eb making the song in natural minor. I also changed the loop length to 15, so the song has 3 measures of 4/4 followed by 1 measure of 3/4. I then played 8 C 14 1/2 (https://on.soundcloud.com/ToJ0zXrrxB0IFTtwje).
Composer Michael Chadwick (https://nebyoolae.bandcamp.com/) used Molecular Music Box as one part in a larger song called Chemical Music (https://nebyoolae.bandcamp.com/track/chemical-music).
