Self Organized Sound

Doctoral Dissertation

Fernando Gomez-Evelson
fer@music.columbia.edu

Computer Music Center
Music Department
Columbia University
Spring 2002

 

Abstract

The following essay proposes a software application that implements general traits of living biological systems to determine musical form and structure. The goal is to discuss theoretical details that would support the creation of a virtual environment of sound-objects where biologic self-organization governs musical interactions. We will discuss if the reciprocal evolutionary change of sound object species, and specifically the concept of survival of the fittest, can determine the musical adaptability and life span of a sound object. The objective of the proposed application is to foster the genesis of new sounds and structures as a consequence of the interaction between species. We expect the results to shed light on how processes of adaptation and natural selection may affect these as well as other key attributes of sound. Ultimately, the purpose of the proposed application is to enable composers to produce computer music excerpts of varying length that portray the evolutionary features of each run.