In this example we use a code, very much in the same spirit as in the Combinatorics example of Guido d’Arezzo’s procedure, to generate rhythms. The Morse Code system assigns a combination of symbols (dots and dashes) to each letter of the alphabet:
So SOS becomes:
… — …
With this procedure a text can translate directly to a rhythmic pattern. Morse code symbols can be used to assign long and short durations (which need not be precisely metrical or proportional) in order to set a motto or lines of text; or they can be used to differentiate articulations, dynamics, pitches, melodic direction and so on.
Back to index of algorithms
