field guide ยท deterministic music
a seed can be a permanent musical address.
Deterministic music generation means that the same identity and engine contract produce the same musical decisions. The result can be shared as a compact address rather than only as a recording.
From text to coordinate
Everybeep trims and normalizes an ordinary phrase with Unicode NFC, prefixes a domain separator, and hashes the bytes with SHA-256. The resulting 256-bit number is encoded as a Base62 Song address.
Hashing is one-way for practical purposes. A copied Song URL carries only the address; the original phrase is neither needed for playback nor included in the shared link.
Seeded decisions
The address becomes a wide numerical seed. Independent pseudorandom streams can then make repeatable decisions about tempo, mode, motifs, rhythm, arrangement, instruments, and effects without storing a server-side song record.
A good seeded system also separates concerns. Adding presentation or export behavior must not accidentally rewrite a frozen composition.
Versioning is part of identity
Determinism is only meaningful when the algorithm and source data are named. If audible behavior changes while its identity stays the same, the promise has been broken.
Everybeep keeps renderer and catalog revisions inside stable fingerprints and export provenance. The listener sees one Song contract; a candidate becomes the default only through an explicitly documented promotion.
Why reproducibility matters
A reproducible generator supports durable sharing, regression testing, musical comparison, and provenance. A listener can return to a piece; a developer can verify that a refactor preserved it; an export can identify the system that constructed it.
The seed is not evidence of artistic quality or a license. It is an address and a technical identity.