"random" | xltronic messageboard
 
You are not logged in!

F.A.Q
Log in

Register
  
 
  
 
(nobody)
...and 400 guests

Last 5 registered
Oplandisks
nothingstar
N_loop
yipe
foxtrotromeo

Browse members...
  
 
Members 8025
Messages 2614128
Today 0
Topics 127542
  
 
Messageboard index
"random"
 

offline cygnus from nowhere and everyplace on 2003-08-21 15:21 [#00831669]
Points: 11920 Status: Regular



no elements of a recorded track can be "random"

discuss.


 

offline Key_Secret from Sverige (Sweden) on 2003-08-21 15:23 [#00831670]
Points: 9325 Status: Regular | Followup to cygnus: #00831669



yeah they can... e.g. if you use buzz there's a command
where you can make the program put "random" notes or
machinesettings into the track...
However I do not believe in coincidence... if that's what
you mean.


 

offline BlatantEcho from All over (United States) on 2003-08-21 15:26 [#00831674]
Points: 7210 Status: Lurker | Followup to cygnus: #00831669



of course they can, not being random would imply there is a
pattern or structured format.

random is the absence of that, and I don't see how that's
not possible?


 

offline chapman from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 15:27 [#00831675]
Points: 1134 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



haphazard maybe, but not random


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 15:27 [#00831678]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



cos your computer is doing the 'random' thing.

how random is a computer


 

offline DJ Xammax from not America on 2003-08-21 15:28 [#00831679]
Points: 11512 Status: Lurker



Hey cygnus where you been?


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 15:29 [#00831680]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



iT depends on how one defines random. It's generally defined
as something thats impossible to predict, so nothing on a
recorded track can ever be random, since you can predict how
its going to sound by listening to it previously.


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 15:29 [#00831682]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



i think your full of shit


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 15:30 [#00831685]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



i don't really like that definition of random. use a
different one. you blatantly have about 50 in your head
right now.


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 15:33 [#00831687]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



Reply to blrr #1: very, if its Johnnys computer.

It doesn't practically matter if a computer is "random" or
not - a few truely are and work by sensing random thermal
noise in the chip. Most just use a psudo-random number
generator which produces numbers that are only non-random in
very limited ways, and very random in almost all useful
ways.

Reply to blrr #2:
I'm not sure I'm at liberty to have more than one
definition, if we're going to remain self-consistant. I
don't know of any other definition of random that's as good
as the one I quoted earlier.


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 15:37 [#00831695]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



Ah, an interesting development from
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RandomNumber.html : "It is
impossible to produce an arbitrarily long string of random
digits and prove it is random" - thus even if you're at a
live performance, its totally impossible to tell if
something is random or not, even though it may be.


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 15:38 [#00831698]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



at last, someone other than me can kill the thread.


 

offline uzim on 2003-08-21 15:39 [#00831699]
Points: 17716 Status: Lurker



after all, isn't what we call "random" something driven by
forces/elements/stuff/etc. we cannot (or at least not ALL)
predict/analyse, sometimes a LOT of little
forces/elementsetc. and all?

i don't think "true" randomness, i mean total randomness out
of nothing, exists anyway.

now... at a more general level and to discuss randomness in
recorded tracks... you can make a track randomly generated i
think, with some stuffs and bleeps you do not have control
over... (for example, this wonderful track, based on an idea by me
and made/recorded by dariusgriffin - lots of musical stuff
on websites launched randomly at the same time ; ))
i'd go further and say ALL elements when recording have a
little part of random. because we're humans and have
imperfections when playing things, even when we make the
tracks out of machines. and even machines have imperfections
anyway. even if the randomness can be very very little, it's
always there.

but, of course, once it is recorded, it is not random
anymore; no elements of the recording still "move", they're
fixated...
at least, not what's ON the record support - if it's not
damaged (scratches or etc.). but you can hear different
things in playing the same track twice, depending on your
mood, your attention, the player, the listening environment,
etc... lots of elements can influencate your listening, and
this whole changing conditions are pretty random!

so... in conclusion, i'd say that i want scottish empire
biscuits and a glass of iced strawberry sparkling water.


 

offline Q4Z2X on 2003-08-21 15:42 [#00831705]
Points: 5264 Status: Lurker



what if you choose the notes by rolling a die?


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 15:42 [#00831708]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



"randomly at the same time"

thats sort of not making sense much me to.


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 15:48 [#00831716]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



Rolling a die isn't random - computer programs exist that
will analyse a video of the die as it leaves your hand and
tell you want number it will land on before it hits the
table. Similar devices also have been made for roulette
wheels, which is financially interesting since you can still
place bets once the ball has been thrown.


 

offline handoverthecart on 2003-08-21 15:54 [#00831725]
Points: 2017 Status: Lurker



i don't believe in random


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 16:11 [#00831746]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



what do you mean?


 

offline Fuckwagon from Dallas (United States) on 2003-08-21 16:12 [#00831748]
Points: 1304 Status: Lurker



fucking determinists. die!!


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2003-08-21 16:13 [#00831749]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker



a transcendental sequence of numbers like pi
(3.1415926....etc) is 'random', but again, it is
derived from the ration of the circumference to the
diameter...


 

offline Anus_Presley on 2003-08-21 16:13 [#00831752]
Points: 23472 Status: Lurker | Followup to cygnus: #00831669



I know what you mean but I don't want to discuss since I
can't be arrsed, I'm going to bed soon.


 

offline handoverthecart on 2003-08-21 16:28 [#00831769]
Points: 2017 Status: Lurker



i mean i don't think TRUE randomness can ever occur. you
can generate "random" numbers from a computer, but they
really just come from a random number seed or something. (i
don't think i know enough about this to be talking about it)


 

offline uzim on 2003-08-21 16:30 [#00831771]
Points: 17716 Status: Lurker



maybe i'm not sure whether i heard this or not but maybe
random numbers would come from, like, the 10000th of seconds
of the present time...


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 16:31 [#00831772]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



re mappatazee:

The sequence of digits of pi are _not_ random, since they,
as you say, are derived from something known. They are
however (to the best of our knowledge) 'normal' (and I think
also 'absolutely normal'). This is an important property
which a random number sequence must also have, but not every
normal number is random.

A 'normal' number is one in which every digit occurs with
equal frequency in the long run, as does every combination
of 2 consecutive digits, of 3 digits, of 4 digits etc. etc.
An 'absolutely normal' number is one where this is true for
any base (binary, base 3, base 4...base 10,... etc)


 

offline Jedi Chris on 2003-08-21 16:32 [#00831773]
Points: 11496 Status: Lurker



fnxncvdvnnvfxnvxfdsd

Are these really random characters that I have just typed.
Because as a typist, I know which keys are on each side of
the keyboard?!?


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 16:34 [#00831776]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



they're not random


 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2003-08-21 16:34 [#00831777]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



life is random becoz at the end (talking of computers) the
humans use them, and humans are random too...the most random
creatures on earth
its the same for a track, it can it is random, could be by
instinct or not, but random yeah


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 16:34 [#00831778]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



what?


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2003-08-21 16:35 [#00831779]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker | Followup to boffboy: #00831772



re boffboy:

yeah, the decimals of pi are normal. I was reading about
transcendental numbers recently.


 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2003-08-21 16:40 [#00831782]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



for blrr :

life is random becoz at the end (talking of computers) the
humans use them, and humans are random too...the most random

creatures on earth
its the same for a track, it can it is random, could be by
instinct or not, but random yeah



 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 16:40 [#00831783]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



re handsoverthecart:

Yes, you're right about random number seeds in computers -
most applications don't need really random numbers, and so a
mathematical algorithm will do. This will look fairly
random, but will not be - it will be predictable if you have
the algorithm, and may also exhibit a few flaws (perhaps the
digit 9 may come up 0.1% too frequently, or someting).

Where the randomness is important, the random number seed is
initialised with the number of milliseconds since the system
booted up, or some similar figure, but still are generated
by an algorithm that is predictable.

Where randomness really does matter is in cryptography - PGP
gets you to 'scribble' your mouse around to generate some
numbers that couldn't possibly be predicted by looking at
the PGP random number generating algorithm. The most often
cited example of real random numbers is radioactive decay
timings, which are impossible to predict (and would require
a major leap forward in the understanding of physics to do
so, if it ever can be done).

For encodings such as communications links between major
political powers, boxes which have a lump of radioactive
material, a geiger-counter, and a computer in them generate
truely random numbers for the encryption process.


 

offline Anus_Presley on 2003-08-21 16:42 [#00831785]
Points: 23472 Status: Lurker | Followup to boffboy: #00831783



ahh I see, I see...


 

offline blrr from the block on 2003-08-21 16:44 [#00831787]
Points: 585 Status: Lurker



thanks for repeating the same post again. that was good of
you

"its the same for a track, it can it is random, could be by

instinct or not, but random yeah"

what does that mean?


 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2003-08-21 16:44 [#00831788]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



Nelson from the simpsons : Haaa !!


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 16:46 [#00831792]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



Nelson is a dickhead.

Anyway, on to more interesting things than eating glass: the
normality of pi:

Has pi actually been proved normal? If it has it must have
been quite recent?


 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2003-08-21 16:47 [#00831793]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



ok i ment its kinda always random, coz the music even if it
comes from a machine is manipulate by people. they can do
their music with (by was not good) their instinct, it makes
good music in general, at least interesting, or not, but the
random is always there, we can change our mind so easily,
etc...


 

offline uzim on 2003-08-21 16:49 [#00831795]
Points: 17716 Status: Lurker



why are so many people here into math? ' _ '


 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2003-08-21 16:50 [#00831796]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



i dunno but boffboy you kinda scare me..no offense tho


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 16:55 [#00831800]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



I commonly scare lots of things, including but not limited
to small children and garden gnomes. No offense taken....


 

offline boffboy from United Kingdom on 2003-08-21 17:01 [#00831806]
Points: 34 Status: Regular



The point glass_eater makes a few posts up is an interesting
one - its very difficult to see why an artist does a
particular track. The influences (in my case at least) are
often 'by chance' - a tune I've heard in the street, or an
idea from a meandering conversation. So in a strange kind of
way, even some very predictable music using no computer
random numbers at all in its creation, is almost random on a
larger scale, because the train of thoughts and actions that
lead to the track being created is so complex.


 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2003-08-22 04:57 [#00832404]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



hey you get it :D
thx btw!


 


Messageboard index