Tag Archives: twelve-tone

Ganymede: a song’s evolution



This song is based on the following 12-tone matrix.

B D# D F A G G# C F# C# E A#

The first incarnation of this piece was about a minute’s worth of multitracked improvisation using the matrix as seen below. I’ve colored the four parts used and bolded the notes that intersect.

B D# D F A G G# C F# C# E A#
G B A# C# F D# E G# D A C F#
G# C B D F# E F A D# A# C# G
F A G# B D# C# D F# C G A# E
C# F E G B A A# D G# D# F# C
D# G F# A C# B C E A# F G# D
D F# F G# C A# B D# A E G C#
A# D C# E G# F# G B F C D# A
E G# G A# D C C# F B F# A D#
A C# C D# G F F# A# E B D G#
F# A# A C E D D# G C# G# B F
C E D# F# A# G# A C# G D F B

After that, it gets a bit weird. I’ll leave the rest of the process to your imagination.

Thanks to Dan Cavanagh for the HTML matrix app on his site.