Note-based music organizes discrete pitched events; sound-based music foregrounds spectral content with less pitch hierarchy

Leigh Landy’s distinction: note-based music uses discrete sequences of events largely describable in score notation, characterized in part by pitches, permitting tonal/harmonic/rhythmic hierarchies. Sound-based music emphasizes the spectral content of sounds, which may be slowly transforming, with fewer discrete events and little emphasis on pitch. This distinction helps map where algorithmic music sits — much live coding and electroacoustic work is sound-based, while algorithmic approaches to composition include both categories.

Examples

Note-based: algorithmic Bach-style composition with MIDI notes. Sound-based: granular synthesis drones in SuperCollider where pitch is secondary to texture and timbre.

Assessment

Given a short description of a piece (e.g. ‘a slowly morphing drone with no discernible pitch center’), classify it as primarily note-based or sound-based and explain why. Then name one algorithmic technique suited to each category.