21M.380 | Spring 2010 | Undergraduate

Music and Technology: Algorithmic and Generative Music

Course Description

This course examines the history, techniques, and aesthetics of mechanical and computer-aided approaches to algorithmic music composition and generative music systems. Through creative hands-on projects, readings, listening assignments, and lectures, students will explore a variety of historical and contemporary …
This course examines the history, techniques, and aesthetics of mechanical and computer-aided approaches to algorithmic music composition and generative music systems. Through creative hands-on projects, readings, listening assignments, and lectures, students will explore a variety of historical and contemporary approaches. Diverse tools and systems will be employed, including applications in Python, MIDI, Csound, SuperCollider, and Pure Data.
Learning Resource Types
Music
Projects with Examples
Lecture Notes
Written Assignments with Examples
Design Assignments with Examples
Diagram of a cellular automata used for generating musical compositions.
Cellular automaton (CA) algorithms, in which rules define the state of cells in a grid, can be applied to musical composition. (Image by Christopher Ariza.)