Brownian Motion

If you look at a small dust particle in a drop of water through a microscope you will see it move to and fro in irregular patterns - it almost seems alive! This is called the Brownian movement after the man who first described the phenomenon. But it was Albert Einstein who provided an accurate explanation. He proposed that the temperature in the water makes the water molecules vibrate, pushing the particles around in a random manner.

We can simulate this in a computer and make music from it. After we have played a note we can give it a random "push" up or down in order to get a new note. This means that the changes from one pitch to the next are determined by a random generator.

Click here to listen to an excerpt from La Légende d'Eer by composer Iannis Xenakis!