Gregory Reeves presents the “Gagaku” ambient music app

I recently received an e-mail from Gregory Reeves, a Los Angeles-based composer and musician, regarding Gagaku, his “realtime ambient generator app”.

“Gagaku” is a new ambient generative music work, in the form of a desktop app for your Mac. Based on classical Japanese music, “Gagaku” generates a constantly-changing, sparse and minimal soundscape in realtime. It will never repeat itself — at times it will be very sparse, with extended moments of silence, while at other times it will be more dense.

Reeves has posted a sample of the music generated by Gagaku. I found the eerie, otherworldly tones reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works, Volume II by way of Steve Roach’s more long-form, drone-oriented pieces. (Reeves’ 2010 album Photic is also available, and is also worth checking out if you’re a fan of minimal ambient music.)

Gagaku is currently available for Macs only (a Windows version is in the works) and costs $1. All proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society to help fund earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.