Just curious if anyone here has tried to compose 'evolutionary music'? I just learned that such a formal term exists:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_musicI use genetic algorithms as search heuristics in a very different context (day job), but I think this approach could yield incredible possibilities for music composition.
I would love to be able to provide a 'framework' to listeners that evolves according to the iterations of the optimization routine within a 'suitably' predefined search space (instead of one sample path/realization of it, delivered on vinyl/CD, for example). Ideally, the audience would be able to select the random seed/initial starting point in the search space. This starting point would be presented to the listener in some meaningful context (e.g., their current GPS, location of birth, etc., to name the first few that come to mind).
I'm sure the creation of evolutionary music and this delivery has been done (I just haven't seen it). Probably some dusty java applet under the guise of a 'multimedia' project in 1998 (not that there's anything wrong with dusty java applets). It's very feasible these days - particularly now that some music labels are delivering content on thumb drives.
