Miranda,E.R.
Kirby,S.
Todd,P.M.

Evolutionary computing is a powerful tool for studying the origins and evolution of music. In this case, music is studied as an adaptive complex dynamic system and its origins and evolution are studied in the context of the cultural conventions that may emerge under a number of constraints (e.g. psychological, physiological and ecological). This paper introduces three case studies of evolutionary modelling of music. It begins with a model for studying the role of mating-selective pressure in the evolution of musical taste. Here the agents evolve “courting tunes” in a society of “male” composers and “female” critics. Next, a mimetic model is introduced to study the evolution of musical expectation in a community of autonomous agents furnished with a vocal synthesizer, a hearing system and memory. Finally, an iterated learning model is proposed for studying the evolution of compositional grammars. In this case, the agents evolve grammars for composing music to express a set of emotions.

Miranda, E. R., Kirby, S., & Todd, P. M. (2003). On computational models of the evolution of music: From the origins of musical taste to the emergence of grammars. Contemporary Music Review, 22, 91-111. (Full text)

Publication year	2003
Document type:	Article
Publication status:	Published
External URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0749446032000150915 View
Categories:
Keywords:	evolution of grammarevolution of musical tasteimitationorigins of musicsensory-motor mapping