Music 680, Fall 2007: Special Topics in Music - Compositional Algorithms
Class 1: September 10, 2007 - Course introduction
definitions: what is an algorithm? what is algorithmic composition?
!”2. Math. A process, or set of rules, usually one expressed in algebraic notation, now used esp. in
computing, machine translation and linguistics.” [Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed.]
”Models of process are natural to musical thinking. As we listen, part of us drinks in the sensual
experience of sound, while another part is constantly setting up expectations, and in so doing,
constructing hypotheses of musical process.” [Curtis Roads, The Computer Music Tutorial]
formalization as the precise (strict) representation of a musical process
perspectives: a relatively open view of algorithmic composition in the syllabus
continua that might provide perspective:
process versus constraint
process as procedures which define musical parameters (at any formal scale)
isorhythm as a historical example
constraint as rules which limit compositional choices
species counterpoint as a historical example (though not a formalized one)
totalizing vs. limited
or, what percentage of the work (by amount, by number of parameters) is algorithmic?
stochastic vs. deterministic
algorithms which embrace randomness vs. those which provide a fixed result
listener-designed vs. composer-designed
algorithms designed for perceptibility vs. those intended as creative support
classification by algorithm type
state machines, cellular automata, iterative processes, etc.
classification by musical style
serial, aleatoric, minimal, spectral, etc.
historical instances of algorithic composition
isorhythm (Machaut as exemplar)
deployment of numerical ratio (Dufay as exemplar)
canon and canonic technique (Ockeghem and Bach as exemplars)
including inversion, retrograde, mensuration
the dice game (Mozart)
variation form
canon in the early twentieth century
Arnold Schoenberg Drei Satiren (1928)
Ruth Crawford Seeger String Quartet 1931
some recent examples of algorithmic composition
David Franzson Il Dolce Fare Niente
Matthias Spahlinger 128 erfüllte Augenblicke
