From computer-aided to automatic compositions? A closer look at generative music systems

Non-musical processes have been source of inspiration for composers throughout the centuries. The development of the digital technologies opened up the possibility to not only learn from and transfer these ideas to compositional approaches, but also hand over numerical representations of these approaches to the available digital devices. The results then served as layout for the composers. While on the one hand, the digitally processed results became more and more shapeable along the composers’ needs, on the other hand, these processes nowadays also allow the generation of sound combinations which are not meant to be shaped by a composer afterwards. The interest of implementation seems to shift from computer aided/assisted composition towards an automatic music production. But how do these two approaches relate? Which concepts are embedded? And how independent are automated processes? This will be discussed based on a closer look at exemplary generative systems in music from the late 20th and early 21st century.