An adaptation of a Disklavier piano recording of György Ligeti’s Étude No. 13: L'escalier du diable / The Devil’s Staircase. The piece is noteworthy for, among other things, including possibly the most extreme dynamic marking ever intended to be taken seriously, an octuple forte, ffffffff
This is Experiment #2 in using BIAB to create new solo tracks for weird classical music. This violin solo is, I think, a lot more user-friendly than #1's electric slide guitar solo was.
Of course, it’s still life in Hell.
I took the MIDI performance and BIABerized it to create a chord sheet, then generated a band backing and a violin solo, keeping only the solo. But it didn’t hang together very well, so I had Logic make a MIDI track from the solo, then quantized piano and violin to a fixed rhythm and to Logic’s “Japanese” scale (C – Db – F – G – Ab). This completely violates the score of the original piece, of course, and I am well aware of what happened when Stanley Kubrick tried similar funny business with Mr. Ligeti’s music, but it works for this kind of crazy material and allows me to engage BIAB.
I added a few hot licks on Logic’s Heavy Metal Organ and Medieval Recorder, and made some manual tweaks to the solo, derived from RealTrack "Fid,Sol,CltReelAndy,Ev16,110 (3856)".
I love most of this... I'm also a huge fan of M.C. Escher's art... The middle of your piece was again, OMH... but then, so much of everything is.
Thanks. If I understand you, the part you didn't like was the "bells", which has the pianist chilling a bit and is (apart from instrumentation) the only part that's really true to the score/performance. Rhythm quantization added nothing, and I didn't need the scale quantization to glue it to the solo, so I hoped to provide some relief from the nail-gun-to-the-head effect and break the piece up. If you aren't a fan of the dissonance, you can blame that on György. =8^)
Very interesting, Mark. Your description shows the extent of your exertions in construction and arrangement. Accolades for your imagination, tenacity and verve! That said, it's not the sort of melody I could readily put on a loop while I'm writing my novel. It would, I feel, work well as background (or even foreground) music for a documentary or a film about a lunatic asylum. I am glad it was the first piece of music I listened to upon waking, rather than the last piece before bedtime.
Very interesting piece of music. The first thing I thought of a start was chaos and panic. When imagining it with the art work it fit perfectly. Very well done.
Hopefully I've been clear enough about who did what here. I know I did something, though I can't claim authorship, OTOH I'm sure György's Ghost would not appreciate having this attributed to him, what with changing the notes and all. (I guess I could tag it something like "A Devil's Staircase, after György Ligeti", and not specify any author, whatever that would mean...)
I wonder what Beck would've done with it... Frenetic it is and it'd be hard yakka to perform. I enjoyed the "bell" section - particularly the "fall" into it. Those percussive parts of the piano in the last minute or so are cool. I think a piano would need a holiday after a pounding like that. Good fun Mark, another cross training session for the brain.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
ffffff is a bit tiring to listen to after a while, but fortunately MIDI doesn't really go that high.
Ligeti must have been smiling when he wrote that. I imagine him saying, "This one goes to eleven!"
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With the violin on top, I didn't really notice the "climbing" effect that's in the original music. Weird.
I can explain, I think.
1) BIAB doesn't know its bass from its treble, in terms of which end of a piano is being played and what the soloist should do. I didn't want to transpose the violin to follow the piano range (I tried, yuck) so it doesn't climb the way the piano does. My conceptual solution: the piano is the staircase, the fiddle is the feet flying up it.
2) I couldn't find where (if anywhere) Apple says what Logic's "Japanese" scale is, so I experimented and found it to be, for the key of C:
C – Db – F – G – Ab
Some pretty big holes in there, considering we're coming from a chromatic composition, so this quantization makes for some jumpy jumping vs. smooth ascending.
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The middle section was so different, it didn't seem to fit at all.
That's fair. I think perhaps I will try not dropping the pitch quantization, for that part, just the rhythm.
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Cool experiment, nonetheless.
Thanks for listen + comment, always much appreciated.
I enjoyed the "bell" section - particularly the "fall" into it. Those percussive parts of the piano in the last minute or so are cool. I think a piano would need a holiday after a pounding like that.
Mixed feedback about the bell section, I think I'll make another pass without the excessive attempt to restore authenticity.
Indeed, about the pounding. I feel guilty thinking that a real person actually played this, and here I am opening a MIDI file and giving it to a computer. =8^(
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Good fun Mark, another cross training session for the brain.
OK, based on YOUR COMMENTS I have made the following significant change:
I applied the same pitch quantization to the "bell" section as to the rest of the piece, constraining it to the pentatonic scale described, while still sparing it rhythmic quantization.
This makes the listening a whole lot less difficult. I have decided to go for the easy listening and tolerate the guilt feelings.
The link up top is now to the revised piece. The changed part is from 2:43 – 3:28.
I don't quote understand all that you did to create this, but I like the results, nonetheless. The middle part that starts at 2:46 flowed well from the preceding movement and provided relief, a bit of catharsis, from the frenzied mayhem. I found your piece a bit of a treat.
OH MY! That's high powered exhilaration My BP is off the charts.
=8^D
Bear in mind, this is a chromatic piano piece pitch-quantized to a pentatonic scale, so that’s less than half the different notes that poor pianist originally had to play.
Wow, listening to your score is always a refreshing break from all the country songs that try to sound as much as country songs as possible. Although I don't much care about the theoretical things, the feeling is more important and in my ears your works try to stretch all possible rules, almost breaking them and going beyond impossible And that's what true art is all about. BIABerizing is a very imaginative concept and the picture describes it very well.
Wow, listening to your score is always a refreshing break from all the country songs that try to sound as much as country songs as possible. Although I don't much care about the theoretical things, the feeling is more important and in my ears your works try to stretch all possible rules, almost breaking them and going beyond impossible And that's what true art is all about. BIABerizing is a very imaginative concept and the picture describes it very well.
Thank you thank you thank you for these kind words, and in particular for noticing my invention of the term "BIABerize" to describe the process of justinization. =8^)
Much could be said about rules and rule breaking and the nature of art. I think of what I do in something like this as more experimental rule combining, mixing related and unrelated forms in such ways as technology invites. And of course BIAB is all about mixing forms, so it's just a playground for this sort of thing.
By the way, if you haven't listened to it, Ligeti's un-messed-with piano piece is way more out there than my unauthorized distortion of it here! I have made his totally dissonant piece much simpler and more accessible, both rhythmically and harmonically, turning it into kind of a pop, "lite" version (and for this I do accept I will burn in Hell...)
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 11 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
XPro Styles PAK 11 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 (and higher) is here with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 31 RealTracks/RealDrums!
Guess who’s back again? That’s right! It’s our XPro Styles PAK’s triumphant return with the 11th edition in this series! 100 new styles are coming your way spread across the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres. And this edition's wildcard genre explores the immense and far-reaching catalogue of electronic music! The included 31 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2026 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 22 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2026 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2026 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
It’s time to celebrate! Xtra Styles PAK 22 for Band-in-a-Box® is here, and we've got 200 brand-new styles coming your way!
No Xtra Styles PAK is complete without the classic rock & pop, jazz, and country volumes you know and love, and we’ve got plenty to share, with 150 styles spread across too many genres to list! Of course, it also wouldn’t be complete with our special wildcard volume to add a little spice and pizzazz to the mix. This year, because we loved it so much the first time, we’ve decided to make the second iteration of our SynthMaster volume, full of new sounds, interesting genres, and 50 engaging styles, all making use of the diverse SynthMaster plugin! Here you can find genres such as airy yacht rock, sultry electrotango, and even some synth soca funk. Don’t wait, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 22 today!
In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1-22 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 22 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
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And that's what true art is all about. BIABerizing is a very imaginative concept and the picture describes it very well.
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