Text-to-Music (TTM)
Text-to-Music, "Text to Music", "Text to Melody" or even "Words to Music" (they all refer to the same thing) is a fast and powerful technique used in the WOTJA (wotja.com) generative music system.
Wotja Text to Music (TTM) takes the text or words that you input and then uses it to generate a "melodic seed" (melody).
This parameter-adjustable melody can be considered to be "imbued with meaning" as it originates from your text or words!
It is that direct linkage that makes Wotja Text to Music a key aspect of Reflective Music.
Use Wotja for free, as a player or creator, on: iOS, macOS, Windows & Android
Wotja is for: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, Laptop, Tablet, Mobile | Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV | Apple Watch
How to use Text to Music in Wotja
The easiest way to try out TTM in Wotja is with a Wotja app. Create a New Empty Mix i.e. Wotja Pro Documents Screen > Add New > Cut-up Text (Empty Mix).
Once created, open the mix, tap on the right side panel where it says "Tap here to browse Templates" and from the Templates list then select any of the templates in the "TTM 1 Players" or "TTM 1 Players 2" paks and tap "Load" to add it to the mix. Once you have done that you should see something like the following which shows the Generator Network panel with one Cell containg one Generator (shown in dark green, the colour of a TTM Generator):
To select the parameters for this Generator first tap on the "Text to Music" Group in the right hand panel, shown highlighted.
Tap the Cut-up Rule parameter and select Custom. Then tap the "TTM text" field where you can add your text, the characters of which are then used by the TTM generator to generate a seed melody. This melody, depending on the settings of the various "Text to Music" parameters (see below), can repeat forever or to play a certain number of times and then mutate. Experiment away!
Tip: If the mix is already playing then you should shortly hear the melody change; if not, just stop/start the mix.
The Text to Music parameters available to use in Wotja are as follows (details from the Wotja User Guide):
Generator - Text to Music (TTM)
Overview
"Text to Music" Generators are new Generator Type in V20. Text to Music Generators have their own special set of parameters and allow text in any language to generate a seed melody which, even though not visible, is in a Pattern syntax. Use English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, German, French - whatever language takes your fancy, you will always get a melody!
Parameter Group - Text to Music (TTM)
Cut-Up Rule^
The selection you make here determines what text is used for TTM. If you select one of the Cut-up options then text from your mix Cut-up will be displayed in the TTM Text field below and will overwrite any existing Custom text. Note that if there is no text available in a selected line of Cut-up then the TTM Generator will have no text to work with.
- Custom: Uses text that you enter in the TTM Text field.
- See the TTM Editor for details on how to do this.
- Cut-Up: Line#=Track# (Default): This setting is very powerful when it comes to mixes that feature TTM. It means you can harness the power of the Cut-up Editor to quickly generate text that can be used to populate the TTM for multiple Generators - all at once! It is easiest to understand by example: if you have this setting and are using a TTM Generator in say Track 1 then it will use line 1 of text in your mix Cut-Up. If you had a TTM Generator in Track 3 it would use line 3 of your mix cut-up, and so on.
- Cut-up: All Lines: Uses the text in all lines in your Cut-up for the purposes of TTM
- Cut-Up: Line# 1-11: Uses the text from Line# 1 to Line# 11 (as selected) of your Cut-up for the purposes of TTM. You can set up TTM generators all to use the same line if you want!
TTM Text^
This is the text in any language used to generate your TTM seed melody. In general it takes 2 characters to generate a note. Note that if your text is < 6 characters (e.g. Hello, which is 5 characters), we turn it into HelloHello ... which makes it sufficiently long to make at least 3 notes (that actually generates a few more). In Wotja, tap on this field to go to the TTM Text Editor screen.
Display?^
The Display? toggle determines if your TTM text will display in Fullscreen mode.
If this is toggled ON, and IF in Display Mode you have selected Text > Show Text from TTM Generators then the TTM Text above will display on screen when in Full Screen or in Display Mode. If it is OFF, then it will not display.
Repeats^
The total number of times the original melody or a variation of it is played. This also applies to improvised melodies (see Improvise toggle).
Repeat Range^
Sets the range above the minimum. Also applies to improvised melodies (see Improvise toggle).
Tune Start at Index^
From the notes composed, set the first note you want your tune to start playing at. Maximum value is Notes - 1.
Tune Length Override^
From the notes composed, set how many notes will play. Maximum value is Notes - Tune Start at Index.
Phrase Length^
Defines the minimum number of notes there are in a "phrase" (and you can see in the indicator above how many notes your text has generated - all of these notes get put into phrases to make the "tune").
Phrase Length Range^
Sets the range above the minimum.
Gaps^
Defines the minimum number of rests between each phrase (allows a tune to breathe). Rests are measured in terms of 16th notes.
Gaps Range^
Sets the range above the minimum.
Interval^
Defines the minimum number of rests between each play of the tune (allows a tune to breathe). Rests are measured in terms of 16th notes.
Interval Range^
Sets the range above the minimum.
Improvise after Tune^
Turn this on to let Wotja continuously generate tune variations after the FIRST complete play (and repeats) of the tune. When this is on, Wotja can "noodle" for ever (well, until you turn it off or the Sleep Timer kicks in, if set!).
Tip: If you have this set to ON and Variation (below) set to 0, then the TTM melody will continue to repeat for ever.
Variation^
Selects how much variation is applied to the previous melody when improvising.