Algorithmic

Composition
Music in the Information Age

Jonathan Au and Victor Wong

Aims
• Give a brief overview of algorithmic composition

• Discuss some methods of algorithmic composition

• Consider possible impacts and implications of this

technology
What is an algorithm?
What is an algorithm?

p osed
i c c om
i s m us
mu si c c es s
mic al p ro
i t h u r
Algor a proced
rou g h
th
The History of Algorithmic
Music
Chance Music
John Cage (1912-1992)
Mozart (1756-1791)

‘True’ Algorithmic Music

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
The History of Algorithmic
Music
Chance Music
John Cage (1912-1992)
Mozart (1756-1791)

‘True’ Algorithmic Music

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)

The Information
Age
David Cope (b. 1941)
Who?
• A pioneer and a contemporary composer using
algorithmic methods to compose music
What?
• Created a program in the 80s that would analyse
music and create new works in the style of analysed
works
Why?
• Method of getting around “composer’s block” when
struggling with a commission
 Algorithmically Integrated
Composing Environment
• AL.I.C.E.
• Establish database; set
program variables
(similar format with
resemblance for pattern-
matching)
• Input: notation program
• success or failure of
output depends on
quality of database

(Cope, 2000)
Computational Problems with
AL.I.C.E.

• Identify (hear) the software in the output

• Recognisable imprints overtime
• Relies on MIDI for performance: does not produce
elegance or even acceptable performance sounds
• Lack of true intelligence (attribute of life)
Computoser
http://computoser.com/
• Currently research – using social media to gather
feedback to improve algorithm (v0.3)
Computoser
http://computoser.com/
• Currently research – using social media to gather
feedback to improve algorithm (v0.3)

“Can it replace human composers and studios and performers

completely? No. But it can generate tracks at low cost and
high volume. The best composers will still be better, and some
will benefit from the computer-composed tracks - by
extending and improving on them, for example.”
-Bozhidar Bozhanov
The Artificial Neural Network
Method

• Simplified model of our own brains

• ‘Neurons’ link a series of commands (inputs) until
we have a desired result (output)
• This is an example of a neural network trying to
play a game:
The Artificial Neural Network
Method
The Artificial Neural Network
Method

• Goal-oriented
• Self-learning, efficiency driven
• Good for harmonizing of melodies
What is happening now?
The Information Age: Big Data

• Apps and other retailers (Spotify, Shazaam, Amazon)

• Data, metadata and marketing

So what?
Implications for future
• Resemblance of cloning: Programs can recreate
composition styles of different composers (e.g.
Mozart) through imitation
• ALICE and other EMI programs may extend beyond
musical boundaries: research in architecture,
economics, stock market predictions are
experimenting with EMI-like re-combinative and
signature-recognition techniques
Consequences
• Innovations in A.I. such as
Deep Blue and its contemporaries
• Raises aesthetical, moral and ethical questions
• Value of music
• Status of composer in society
• Increasing reliance can lead to decline in creativity

• Who controls this technology could ultimately

command what we consume
A Matter of Perspective?
• (ANALOGY) Deep Blue VS Invention of Deep Blue
• Work with rather than work apart from users

“I believe that collaborative composition between humans

and machine programs during the next millennium will
become more personal and more personally meaningful.
Ultimately, the differences between human and machine that
so many feel so acutely will disappear, and the two will seem
as one.”

David Cope (2000)

Conclusions
• Currently, algorithmic compositions are the preserve
of researchers and a handful of composers
• Current methods are not enough to render the
human composer obsolete
• Algorithmic compositions still need human input
and feedback
• Research is ongoing, but with the advance of A.I.
and the advent of feedback from big data, there
may come a day when computers will surpass
humans in music composition
Conclusions
• Currently, algorithmic compositions are the preserve
of researchers and a handful of composers
• Current methods are not enough to render the
human composer obsolete
• Algorithmic compositions still need human input
and feedback
• Research is ongoing, but with the advance of A.I.
and the advent of feedback from big data, there
may come a day when computers will surpass
humans in music composition
Bibliography
Bozhanov, Bozhidar. 2015. “Computoser - Unique, Computer-Generated Music.” Accessed
December 1. http://computoser.com/.
Brownlee, John. 2013. “Can Computers Write Music That Has A Soul?”
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1673173/can-computers-write-music-that-has-a-soul.
“Click.” 2015. First broadcast 26 September by BBC News. Presented by Spencer Kelly.
Cope, D. (2000). The algorithmic composer. Madison, WI:A-R Editions.
Cope, D. (2001). Virtual music. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Duckworth, W. (2005). Virtual music. New York:Routledge.
Nierhaus, G. (2009). Algorithmic composition. Germany:SpringerWeinNewYork.
Povel, Dirk-Jan. 2010. “Melody Generator: A Device for Algorithmic Music Construction.”
Journal of Software Engineering and Applications 3 (7).
“The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms.” 2015. First broadcast 24 September by BBC
Four. Directed by David Briggs and presented by Marcus du Sautoy.
“WolframTones: An Experiment in a New Kind of Music.” 2015. Accessed December 1. http://
tones.wolfram.com/.