[ISEA95] Paper: Peter Beyls — The Exploration of Musical Space by Way of Genetic Algorithms

Abstract

This paper suggests evolution as an alternative to explicit design. The main ideas are: viewing research as an evolutionary process inspired by Darwinian theory of natural evolution, modeling musical composition as a process of optimization, seeing musical engineering as the exploration of the emergent properties of a complex dynamic system, and modeling this complex system as a one-dimensional cellular automaton. The interactive evaluation of the visual representations and their mapping to polyphonic MIDI streams involves selection, the application of genetic operators, and reproduction. A selective approach is implemented as part of a framework for musical experimentation written in HMSL.

  • Peter Beyls. Born in Belgium (1950), he has been exploring computer programming as a medium for artistic expression since the early seventies. He views computers as cognitive partners in the process of artistic creation and borrows methods from the science of artificial intelligence.