5 Conclusions
Whilst Nancarrow often laboured for up to a year
stamping his piano rolls, the computerised system
described here takes seconds to calculate new tempo
canons and synthesises them comfortably in realtime
on a 400MHz Powerbook G4. That is certainly no
claim for greater worth than Nancarrow's superlative
compositions, but the advantages of such a system for
exploration and adventure are clear.
A lot of care has gone into testing and fine tuning
the system to produce canons in restricted classes
deemed to be interesting, and thereby cutting out a lot
of dross that the system would otherwise produce.
Yet the system is also customisable enough that the
user may modify it to their own exigencies. The
building and use of the system has allowed an
experimental attention to the nuances of tempo canon
as a form that has aided the author in their
appreciation of Nancarrow's pioneering work.
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