Composing interactive computer music: Problems, process, and potential

The compositional process in music is an under-researched area. This is especially acute in more recent genres such as electroacoustic music. In recent decades, composers have begun to create works in which a performer is paired with a computer capable of responding in real time to his/her musical gestures. This study analyzes the creation of a musical work in this emerging field, one in which compositional thought manifests itself in two dimensions: work with sound materials creating and transforming musical ideas in the domains of pitch, rhythm, etc., and the development of algorithms for machine listening, analysis, and composition. The research documents the creation of a work for piano and interactive computer as it unfolds in a naturalistic setting. This process was recorded using a number of data collection techniques, including journaling, videotaping, MIDI save-as files, and a think-aloud protocol. The compositional work began with the design of an interactive program that exhibited basic competencies in the areas of machine listening, analysis, score-following, and algorithmic composition. As the work progressed, it moved to more traditional areas involving the development of new sound materials, which in turn necessitated substantial revisions to the original program. The process unfolded recursively so that these two lines of compositional thought gradually converged into an aesthetic problem arising from a perceived mismatch in improvisational abilities between the human performer and the machine. The solution was found from insights that revealed themselves as a result of these perspectives informing and enriching each other within the emerging musical context. The compositional process in the interactive music genre was thus found to have the inherent potential to substantially expand and enhance compositional thinking by situating the act of music creation at the intersection of several disciplines. These range from music theory and improvisation to branches of computer science such as algorithm design and artificial intelligence. This interdisciplinary approach provides a unique vantage point from which composers, guided by individual interests and preferences, can exploit the potential for new creative dimensions found in this nascent domain of artistic expression.