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.
Many algorithms that have no immediate musical relevance are used by composers as creative inspiration for their music. Algorithms such as fractals, L-systems, statistical models, and even arbitrary data (e.g. 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.
So what is algorithmic music? Simply put, it is music that is composed using an automatic process (which can include computer software). It does not include automatic performance. It can be random, semi-random, fractal, or produced by some other complex computed means. As well as the mass of good MIDI sequencing and composition software that is available, there is a lot of excellent fractal/algorithmic music software available - much of it is free- or shareware.
Flickr Photo Gallery: Algorithmic Music Uploads
YouTube Recent Videos Gallery: Algorithms & Music
SoundHelix Song 7
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Author: SoundHelix
Keywords: SoundHelix AlgoMusic random music algorithmic music Sound Helix
Added: November 23, 2009
Magic Square Music 1
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Qckk01
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Author: synthesizerwriter
Keywords: music visualisation generative art quartz composer kaleidoscope
Added: November 12, 2009
TRIADEX Muse, Light show and Amplifier module.... from outer space _-_-_
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Author: scienceforce
Keywords: The muse EMS synthi ems vcs3 vccs-3 the putney 2001 space odyssey stanley kubrik
Added: November 3, 2009
QCParticleSmoke5
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Author: synthesizerwriter
Keywords: music visualisation generative art quartz composer
Added: October 18, 2009
Technorati Feeds Tagged With "Algorithm"
Top News Stories: Algorithmic Music
BioInform s Funding Update: NSF Bioinformatics Awards through August 30, 2003 (GenomeWeb News)
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Financial Institutions Pinpoint Trading Trajectory with IBM ILOG (ebizQ.net)
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External Links
Sample Random Music Generator, Gnosis Arts Multimedia Communications LLC
