This book discusses not only the applications of evolutionary computation to music, but also the tools needed to create and study such systems. These tools are drawn in part from research into the origins and evolution of biological organisms, ecologies, and cultural systems on the one hand, and from computer simulation methodologies on the other. They can be combined to create surrogate artificial worlds populated by interacting simulated organisms in which complex musical experiments can be performed that would otherwise be impossible.

This authoritative book, with contributions from experts from around the globe, demonstrates that evolutionary systems can be used to create and to study musical compositions and cultures in ways that have never before been achieved.

About the Author

Eduardo Reck Miranda is a Professor in Computer Music at the University of Plymouth, UK, where he heads the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR). He has recently been appointed the Edgard Varèse Guest Professor of Computer Music at the Technical University of Berlin.

Al Biles has been applying evolutionary computation to music since 1993, when he built the first of many versions of GenJam, the Genetic Jammer. Since that time he and GenJam have performed around the world together, and Al has watched the field of evolutionary computer music emerge as a fascinating creative enterprise. Al is Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Information Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology.