Coding and Music Creation in a Multi-Agent Environment

Abstract

This paper reports on an extension of NetLogo designed to enable immediate, visual-based creation of multi-voice music at the level of notes, motifs, and phrases. The extension, NetMusic, uses the NetLogo interface as a visual sketchpad and configurable application programming interface for multi-voice music making. Student coders compose music by learning to use, modify, and create NetLogo procedures. A curricular module, taught during several weeks of a small introductory computer science course for students with no background in programming and centered on multi-agent simulation, used music composition to engage students in music creation via coding. In this report we focus on the the tool and curriculum, concluding with preliminary response from students in the course.