Morpheus >> sixteen tracks that remix themselves each time they're played

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John Eacott talks about Morpheaus on Radio 3's Mixing It (mp3)

Order Morpheus for only £3 to cover postage and packing

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Morpheus is a mac only cd-rom of dance music programmed in supercollider, each song is a mini computer programme that contains the 'seed' for that track, every time it's played it will alter characteristics - melody - synth sounds - rythmns - arrangements - to produce a new version of itself, though remaining recognisible as a particular piece of music.

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// in 1979 I was sent to interview a man who had invented an instrument made from magnetic tape and plastic guttering called the kaleidotron, sitting amongst banks of electronic equipment in a windowless room he told me of the work he had with a swiss academic using the cern computer. they had calculated all the possible pop songs using the twelve notes of the chromatic scale, and had reached the conclusion that all possible songs would have been written by the mid nineties. they were wrong.

// somehow I am reminded of a quote by eno that I cant remember along the lines of most modern pop songs can be recognised within a bar not because of the melody but due to their sound. the emphasis had slipped from standards to definitive recordings.

// later came the akai 900 and afrika bambaataa and the definitive recording slipped from being the whole story to becoming a word. samplers killed the stage star and today glamour airport lounges are filled with djs not guitarists. deck culture - remix culture - a pat ending would be to say that the definitive has become a standard again with its many interpretations. but its not that simple is it.

// there are people who are creating music that has escaped the boundaries of linear recording, where remix means play, or play means remake, remodel. emergent music. when I was told of the work these musicians were producing using the software programme supercollider I knew that mushimushi must publish it. end of story.

// julian baker, london, now

// made with financial assistance from the university of westminster
// respect to james mccartney > supercollider > www.audiosynth.com
// press www.savageandsavidge.com
// executive producer - john eacott
// copyright, published 2001 mushimushi ltd
// { morpheus }.play