Process - Your Unpredictable Bandmate
Using probability, randomness and modulation to create generative parts or ideas can create parts that inspire new ideas or can accompany you, the producer, in ways that are less likely to stray into tropes and well-trodden paths. You can think of these generative parts as an unpredictable bandmate. One who occasionally throws in an unexpected chord change, an interesting phrase, or a drum fill you weren’t expecting. Being able to react to those unexpected moments can help inspire you in new directions, keeping you and the listener engaged. They can be used as “song starters” which provide a moment of inspiration to get you away from the blank page towards a new idea. These ideas don’t have to be kept in the final production, that’s your choice as The Lazy Producer…
Unpredictable in a good way
When I say “unpredictable bandmate,” I don’t mean someone who shows up late or forgets about the gig. More like a bandmate who is inspiring and occasionally plays an interesting phrase or takes the melody or harmony somewhere new. The beauty of playing with others is that you never know what they’re going to do, and being able to react to that, play along and improvise to that new idea is the essence of ensemble playing.
So setting up a little randomness and probability in your music can help break out of parts that are predictable, linear and that always follow the same path. The methods we’ve discussed in this book should give you some ideas of how to set up parts that introduce unpredictability, but in a way that is interesting and inspiring rather than chaotic.
Unpredictable in a predictable way.
Again, we don’t want a virtual bandmate to suddenly change key, tempo or pulse so it’s important to constrain the amount of probability and randomness to something that sounds good to you and use scale quantisers, pre-written phrases (but where which specific one is going to play is somewhat random) and modulation that breathes movement and life into parts without being too random (see Process - Balancing the unexpected and the predictable ). So, like writing a melody, picking chord changes that inspire and rhythmic parts that provide energy and drive, you The non-Lazy Producer should be listening carefully and diailing in your unpredictable parts to provide just the right amount of uncertainty.
Unpredictable like improvisation
Improvisation is the art of reacting to what you hear others playing, but that doesn’t mean you go into it unprepared. In fact, the better the preparation, the better the improvisation. So you can set up your randomness and probability to generate phrases, fills, weird rhythms, change chords, throw in some interesting notes in melodies. But maybe the best way to work with that is to improvise alongside it. If you’re able.
Unpredictable shouldn’t mean unpleasant.
Don’t forget that you are in control of your unpredictable bandmate. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, change it. Try again. Bin it. Sack them and find a replacement. Seriously, don’t feel obliged to stick with an idea just because the system generated it. It may not work for you in this context. But it might in the next.