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Computer generated random numbers are not random, by definition.
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Japanese classical music is constructed from a series of discreet musical idioms. One of the traditional scales is called "In Sen Pou," which translates into something like "Gloomy Melody Method."
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To generate anything, a digital device needs a set of operating instructions, of defined parameters and methods for arriving at a goal. Computers do only one thing: what they are told to do. A computer isn't capable of creating something from nothing, and thus needs somewhere to start.
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What gives the In Sen Pou scale most of its characteristically Japanese flavor is its flatted second note.
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In order to make it seem more random, a seed can be generated using the computer's internal clock, thus relieving the user from coming up with a different seed every time. Commands such as "RANDOM SEED" in Lingo, and "RANDOMIZE TIMER" in BASIC work towards picking a more arbitrary seed for generation of pseudo-random numbers.
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The scale is pentatonic, having five notes. Generally, pentatonic scales lend themselves better to harmonic counterpoint, or the creation of harmony by two or more independent melody lines. If you're randomly choosing scale notes, a pentatonic scale sounds less chaotic than if you were using, say, a seven tone scale (like the Western "do re mi" scale).
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You get closer to true random by getting your seeds from analog or natural phenomena; something that isn't so dependent on algorithmic architecture, like tides, molecular activity, surges in analog voltage, etc.
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It is interesting that this scale is categorized as minor, when it is missing what gives western scales a major or minor mood: it has no third. But, even without this element of western tonality, In Sen Pou retains a definitive minor feel. This speaks to emotional value in music being more arbitrarily and culturally determined than being a function of innate physical properties of sound, as is often said.
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The computer's generation of random numbers really needs to be looked at as pseudo-random; based on a given value, a computer will analyze this value and generate numbers that seem statistically random, but in fact are not.
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The notes in this scale, if we assume it to be in “C”, are C, D flat, F, G, B flat, C.
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The given value is known as a random "seed," and if you use the same seed every time, you'll get the same string of pseudo-random numbers.
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Actually, you could add on two notes to In Sen Pou, and get a western Phrygian mode, so it doesn't sound as odd as a lot of other "exotic" scales to Western ears.
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Most widely used random number generators have been statistically found to produce pseudo-random numbers that don't come adequately close to a true random sample.
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In Sen Pou retains, I think, the most recognizably "Japanese" sound out of all of the classical Japanese scales.
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Any generation process you go through is going to be just that, a process, and therefore will have an ultimately replicable structure, despite the fact that it may not be easily replicated. Therefore, "computer generated random number" becomes a non-sequitur.
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Are there any questions?
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