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Algorithmic Composition: Paradigms of Automated Music Generation
If you want to get started in algorithmic composition, this book is the best place to start. The author, Gerhard Niehaus, teaches algorithmic composition at the Institute of Electronic Music (IEM) at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria. His goal was to create a “detailed overview of prominent procedures of algorithmic composition in a pragmatic way,” and I think he has succeeded admirably. As you may know, algorithmic composition has a long history, featuring some names you might recognize – Kirnberger, Mozart and C.P.E. Bach. Niehaus recaps the history of algorithmic composition and algorithms in general in chapter 2. Following this introduction, Niehaus devotes a chapter to each of the major algorithmic composition paradigms:
- Markov Models
- Generative Grammars
- Transition Networks
- Chaos and Self-Similarity
- Genetic Algorithms
- Cellular Automata
- Artificial Neural Networks
- Artificial Intelligence
A final synopsis completes the book. My own compositions have mostly used Markov models, primarily as inspired by Xenakis’ Formalized Music. I don’t think I’m unique in staying with a single paradigm – most other algorithmic composers that I’m aware of have tended to focus on a single one of these paradigms, choosing to exploit other means to keep their music interesting. But I’ve certainly grown tired of the limitations of Markov models, and found several other techniques I can use in this book. I would have liked to see more on sonification and on “found music”, which I regard as algorithmic composition paradigms on an equal footing with the ones Niehaus covers. My personal favorite piece of my own was in fact “found music” – recordings taken from the sounds computers used to make as a by-product of� earning their keep. And I think fuzzy logic should have had more coverage as well – Peter Elsea has done quite a bit of research in this technique that deserves to be better known. Algorithmic composition certainly isn’t for every composer – it requires a disposition towards music theory that some composers can do without. But if you’re a musician / composer with a theoretical bent, I encourage you to try it, and this book is the best place to start.
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