Chorale music splicing system: An algorithmic music composer inspired by molecular splicing

Abstract

Splicing systems are a formal model of a generative mechanism of words (strings of characters), inspired by a recombinant behavior of DNA. They are defined by a finite alphabet A, an initial set I of words and a set R of rules. Many of the studies about splicing systems focused on the properties of the generated languages and their theoretical computational power. In this paper we propose the use of splicing systems for algorithmic music composition. Although the approach is general and can be applied to many types of music, in this paper, we focus the attention to the algorithmic composition of 4-voice chorale-like music. We have developed a Java implementation of this approach and we have provided an evaluation of the music output by the system.