Music composition using cellular automata

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Music has always been an interesting domain for the application of new scientific discoveries inviting composers to combine artistic creativity with scientific methods. Today, it is becoming increasingly common for the composer to turn to the sciences to supplement his or her compositional model. On the other hand scientists also seem to show interest in the organisational principles found in music. Scientific models carry an important component of human thought, namely formal abstraction, which can be very inspiring for music composition. However, their use raises certain questions like: What can be the justification for using science as a compositional tool? and Which aspects of science are applicable to music and how can it be done?. Obviously, there are no simple answers for these questions and indeed we do not intend to provide any here. Each artist must make his/her own judgements. As far as these questions are concerned, the work introduced in this paper is to be regarded only as a contribution for empirical experimentation. A class of mathematical models known as cellular automata play the central role in this research. The theory of cellular automata has been investigated and developed for over three decades. Although very simple, they may be used to model a wide variety of complex phenomena, including dynamic and chaotic systems, biological genetics, chemical reactions and crystalline growth. This paper introduces an experimental system using cellular automata for music composition called CAMUS, Cellular Automata MUSic. © 1994.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)105-117
Number of pages0
JournalLanguages of Design
Volume2
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 1994

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