Generative by Fahmi Mursyid

Formal processes and algorithms have been utilised for centuries within the creative activity of music, the tools and technique of their application known as algorithmic composition (Roads 1986).

The evolution of the electronic computer transferred algorithmic composition to the digital domain, bringing a wealth of new possibilities and allowing the machine to be a part of the process. Notable among early experiments in algorithmic composition was the Olson-Belar composing machine (Olson and Belar 1961, Hiller 1970).

Built around 1951, this machine allowed the assignment of weighted probabilities to electronically produced random numbers. The results of this process controlled pitch and rhythmic event generation.

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