a better beard for christmas

I’ve just pushed a new version of Freebeard to the Play Store. It should be ready in a few hours–hopefully just in time for everyone getting a new Android tablet or phone in their stockings tomorrow.

I’ve completely rewritten the melody/rhythm generator algorithms. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I built a “chain of chains”, using a Markov chain to index an array of Markov chains in an effort to create recurring patterns. While I like some of what it did, I found it a little too unpredictable and prone to noodling. So, I had to come up with something new.

My solution was our old friend, Perlin noise. I created some one-dimensional discrete noise functions and found they worked nicely, especially for melodies. Using a small seed array gives a sort of “modulation” effect, like picking a four note riff and moving it up and down the scale.

Time for a little holiday cheer. Peace!