| Algorithmic Composition |
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Algorithms (or, at the very least, formal sets of rules) have been used to compose music for centuries; the procedures used to plot voice-leading in Western Counterpoint , for example, can often be reduced to algorithmic determinacy. The term is usually reserved, however, for the use of formal procedures to make music without human intervention, either through the introduction of Chance procedures or the use of Computers . There is a radical distinction (both in terms of philosophy and the in the heard result) between Composer s who use indeterminate (e.g. Stochastic ) procedures to compose music and those who use routines which produce deterministic results given a fixed input into the algorithm. Many algorithms that have no immediate musical relevance are used by composers as creative inspiration for their music. Algorithms such as Fractals , L-system s, Statistical Models , and even arbitrary Data (e.g. Census figures, GIS coordinates, or Magnetic Field measurements) are fair game for musical interpretation. The success or failure of these procedures as sources of "good" music largely depends on the Mapping system employed by the composer to translate the non-musical information into a musical data stream. Composers known for their use of algorithmic procedures:
Algorithmic techniques have also been employed in a number of systems intended for direct musical performance, with many using algorithmic techniques to generate infinitely-variable , Splinter Cell and Freedom Fighters . Similar status of these "generative" works is unclear, although the original "composition" is supplied by the composer and the "performance" is largely the result of the user's computer's own algorithms. However, MusiGenesis (see external link below), an algorithmic composition program based on Richard Dawkins' Blind Watchmaker program, makes no ownership claims on music created by the program. SAMPLES OF ALGORITHMIC MUSIC
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