Conceptualising a theoretical device to synthesise melodies.

https://www.scirp.org/html/2224.html

Revolves around talk of AI for musical synthesis.

Foreword.

Algorithmic Music Construction provides a logical framework for the theoretical generation of human melodies & overall structure of music.

Their method included four stages:

  1. Specification of the theoretical basis
  2. Translation of the theory into a set of principles
  3. Implementation of the principles as a generative computer algorithm
  4. Test of the output.

Various methodology of creating algorithmic composition includes Markov chains, Knowledge-based systems, Grammars, Evolutionary methods divided into genetic algorithms, & Interactive genetic algorithms.

Because the method presented in the paper generates music, it can be seen as an instance of algorithmic composition. However, since it was not meant as a test on musical theory rather than classical AI methods, to guide the implementation of the music generating device.

Base model

The starting point of the project involves the conception of music as a psychological phenomenon[1]; in the cases of tonal music this would involve the combination of two distinct aspects found within its methodology;

  1. Discovering the context of which the music was conceived; i.e: its meter[2], key, harmony, rhythm etc, and to represent the input which consists in sounds of varying pitch. This context is then used to infer its intent & emotion, as these now form the musical themes & motifs commonly associated with the representations of moods within humans.[2:1]
  2. Within that context, tone sequences are generated using construction rules specifying the hierarchical organisation of tones into parts, & of parts into larger parts, etc., relating to concepts like motives, phrases, repetition & variation, skeleton, structure & ornamental tones, etc. In line with these assumptions, two components are discerned from

  1. This may also come to imply that music is specifically an experience unique to underlying human psychology rather than a universal lingua franca. ↩︎

  2. More research needed to understand whether certain musical motifs & traits were made so through affirmation of its meaning by public consciousness, or if it was the listener who first understood it to be so. ↩︎ ↩︎

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