Listen to this midi - it was created with the same algorithm that generates the mandelbrot set – not bad for something you can do with ~7 lines of code. I’ve been thinking about the relationship of self-similarity to music hedonics not just in a particular piece, but in music as a whole
Do fractal pattern in some sense direct the development of music within a tradition – i.e. are minor innovations just as important as major ones, or conversely, are major shifts not really that surprising? I think that the answer to this question relates to the balance of diversity and stability in music as a complex system. If this is the case, another important question to consider is whether music is multiply or infinitely connected.
Indeed, is the (potentially) fractal nature of music what we value about it – that we hear all of “our” other music in each new song? In this case it would be our interaction with music that creates what might be termed a meta-fractal whose structure drives our fascination with arranged noise.
Basically… is music fractal (on a discipline level), fractured (Chris, this attempt is sophomoric), freckled (hybrid listener/music fractal) or all of the above?