Chance encounter
The idea of using chance, probability and generative systems in music making is nothing new, but tools to accomplish these things have certainly become more common of late. Just look at some recent gear highlights – Novation Launchpad Pro, Arturia KeyStep Pro, Elektron Model Cycles, Korg opsix and Wavestate all come equipped with some kind of randomiser or probabilitydriven feature. It seems these tools that have long been popular in the modular realm are making their way into mainstream music gear. But why should we care?