3D Fractal Animation Music Video Formula Triple Match-up: Mandelbulb v Quaternion v Hypercomplex

My audience for this fractal stuff is normally about 6 people in the world: the Polish programmer and artist Krzysztof Marczak who invented Mandelbulber and continues to lead the fractal software update team, and my good Kiwi friend from New Zealand, Graeme ("mclarekin"), who does a lot of work with converting formulas from smart mathy doctor types (mainly Germans!) from all over the world, and a couple of other cats who are on the Mandelbulber fractal software development team. And then there are other fractal art enthusiasts, who number in the dozens--perhaps even hundreds! And my Mom (biggest fan)! Most people have never even heard of fractals or know what they are.

It's a very analogous situation to our own Stick community, comprised of lots of people from all over the world that interact through our common interest, Stick, although separated by geography and languages. And which the larger world seems somewhat oblivious to.

Coincidentally, I discovered fractals shortly before discovering Stick, and thus have inserted myself into two different fringe, niche communities (as are most of us, as part of OTHER fringy, nichey communities--we're all interesting people!) So who better to share my fractal animations and Chapman Stick music mashups with than you fine fringey people!

Before mclarekin took pity on me and rescued with me with custom formulas he and others created, I only had about 4 of the stock formulas of Mandelbulber that I could use: the mandelbox, mandelbulb, IFS, and then a couple of other odd ones that did not look very interesting, like the quaternion and the hypercomplex. My challenge was to use both of those oddballs in the same keyframes of a fractal animation music video, which originally used a Julian Mandelbulb formula.

Just thought I'd share what the same keyframes can look like with a change in color schemes, backgrounds, and formulas. I also thought it interesting that when I went to check and see what song I had put with these scenes, I saw it was the original version of Spirit Chewality. So an evolution and variation on both fractals and music.

The original version is here, using a Julian "Mandelbulb," the most common and basic of the 3D fractal shapes, and also using an older version of Spirit Chewality that I did before hooking up with Scott Kerr (Jayesskerr) and doing collabs, a song originally called "Dmaj7."

Scryglass of Narcissus -- "Dmaj7" -- 3D Fractal Animation Music Video


So, after meeting Jayesskerr (Scott Kerr) and discovering Stick, I was able to take this little rock ditty up a couple of notches. Him, with his 12-string Grand and then superior 6-string guitar skills, and me with my newfound love of the meaty Railboard as a bass.

Music is now an original rock INSTRU-METAL done by Stephen SINK and Scott KERR (SINKERR), featuring Chapman Sticks (12-string Grand and Railboard), piano, guitars, and drums ("Spirit Chewality.") Done with Mandelbulber OpenCl v 1.21 using the quaternion and hypercomplex formulas.

Hypercomplex--"Spirit Chewality"--3D Fractal Animation Music video


Quaternion -- Spirit Chewality--3D Fractal Animation Music video


And that's 3 videos with the same scenes, but different formulas. And I made you listen to my song 3 times in 2 different forms.

I've gotten a few of my 6 or so Fractal Friends onto the Gospel of Stick, and about the same number of Stick friends to see the wondrous beauty of the morphing fractal, so that makes a grand sum of maybe... 12 people who are into both Stick and fractals. Hey, revolutions and religions have been started with 12 good followers! Although--I'm not looking for followers. Walking companions are just fine, too! With our walking Sticks, of course!

Sticks and Fractals,
Steve Sink
Paigan0
New Railboard avatar pic in the house!

Wow, I just tripped out on all 3 versions, really cool sounds. I really like the sound of the Stick in the left hand, so gritty and up in the mix. Good show!

Very, very trippy stuff. The visuals are pretty crazy. I don't know what this fractal stuff is, but it's cool to watch, especially with a soundtrack to go with it...

Thanks so much, Gene! I love my Railboard for bass and believe it or not, I've been working a lot on the Railboard melody side lately, but I keep using it in the studio as a bass guitar. I actually have a bass guitar (left handed so I can play it right handed like I do Stick, only tuned in fourths!) but I prefer the Railboard. I joke that I'm really only using the bottom 3 strings, but it's somewhat true as far as recording goes. So far.

I've been playing a lot with the Railboard mounted on my cymbal stand using the TAGG interface (from Gene and company!) and playing it left handed while playing piano with my right. They make a good duo together.

I'll post a song soon I've been working on playing that hybrid lefthand Railboard/right hand keyboards--just because it makes me look cool, which I probably need all the help I can get in that department (hey, my Mom says I'm cool!).

But I need to get out of the bass guitar paradigm and start really Sticking. Although I'm also interested in the NS/Stick as well, because that just might be the fit for me (and I'll still have 2 other Sticks!). Maybe I need to go even DEEPER into the Stick-as-bass paradigm. Stickbass or NS/Stick? A topic for another posting.

But thanks for the listen and the comments on the Railboard. I hope to get into it more and more. It's now living comfortably playing beside and with my other instruments. It's hasn't graduated to a solo instrument yet for me in the studio, although I do have 5 or 6 little noodle tunes I've been working on. Maybe next time!

Especially with a rocking soundtrack, Mr. Guitar Overlord of the Universe! Thanks for the help!

I don't know if I'm using the music to pimp the videos, or the videos to pimp the music. I started out wanting to get more attention to my music, by putting it with cool fractal animations.

Now I want to get more interest in my fractal animations by pairing it with really cool music (which I have to make myself). I'm not really making money off either niche endeavor, so why not combine two nichey things that even FEWER people will ever see or listen to?

Most of my 3D fractal animation music video competition--all 3 or 4 people out of the 7 billion on Earth so far, anyway--use classical music or free, uncopyrighted music. I do know of 2 guys who are putting their own music to their fractals, and both those guys are heavy into Electronic Dance Music, which as a genre, is a good fit. I think that both EDM and New Age Progressive music (me when I'm not rocking it out) are good fits for the fractal stuff. Really, any type of music, although I personally would not care to see fractals and country music put together, unless it was all Johnny Cash.

Most of the fractal community is caught up in doing one-off pictures. When I do fractal videos, I generate about 7000 individual frames for a 3-4 minute video at 30 Frames Per Second. That's a lot of "pictures" to choose from in doing fractal art.

But no one is getting rich off doing fractals, other than those film people working fractals into their movies. Dr. Strange and Suicide Squad both prominently featured fractals recently as part of their special effects, to name two recent Superhero movies. And superhero comics is my other used-to-be-niche interest, that is now Super Mainstream and the Dominant Form of Popular Culture. There's hope for Sticks and Fractals yet!

Thanks, guys! I appreciate the interest and comments!

By the way, the Fractal Friends (no one calls ourselves that yet!) decided that the Quaternion version is the coolest of the 3 formula types for this set of videos. It's normally a very boring formula, but I've managed to actually make it morph into some interesting shapes, and it was declared the "winner" of the 3 over at the Fractal Forums. Thanks!

Well, it's cool stuff that's for sure!

I've said before, I read James Glieck "Chaos: Making a New Science" way back when it first came out. Was fascinated by fractals and the Mandlebrot roots. Then you came along with your fractal animations. I love them. Great stuff for Stick Exploration. If I could, they would be the wallpaper for my studio. (would probably make visitors throw up though...)

That's so nice to hear! Although wallpaper that makes people throw up...I don't see a market there! Poison control center, maybe?

Hmm, where else do people pay to feel like they want to throw up? An amusement park! Maybe I can get Disney to project these onto Imax in true 3D and REALLY make people throw up! I kid, but there was a couple of cool scenes in Dr. Strange involving fractals. I paid $44 plus popcorn for the 2 kids and me to see it in 3D.

Thanks for watching and commenting!

Yeah, I was talking motion sickness. I once had a girl come up to me after an extreme Morley Wah bass solo and tell me she thought she was gonna lose her bowels. I took it as a compliment. It WAS the effect I was after...