L-Systems, Melodies and Musical Structure
Stephanie A. Mason, Michael Saffle · Leonardo Music Journal · 1994
Among musical symmetries and self-similarities are those that can be produced using Lindenmayer-system (L-system) curves to generate melodies and rhythmic patterns. In 1986, Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz introduced a simple method of producing relatively complex musical scores that incorporate a legible internal structure. Using a scheme called edge-rewriting, one of the authors, Stephanie Mason, has extended Prusinkiewicz’s methods to generate melodies and polyphonic structures that conform to traditional Western expectations. By stretching certain L-system curves, she has also duplicated melodic phrases associated with hundreds of pre-existing works by classical and popular Western composers. The authors discuss the possible link between the perception of musical beauty and the fractal or quasi-fractal character of music associated with L-system curves.