Computer generated music : a methodology for computer music composition

This study will prove the fact that computers provide unprecedented opportunities to create music. Several distinct levels of computer participation can exist in the creative process. The lowest level, involving record-keeping functions, results in programs that serve as compositional aids. The intermediate level incorporates stochastic (literally "random") processes on a limited basis, and represents the midpoint between computer-assisted and computercomposed works. The highest level focuses on the design of algorithms that result in compositions determined in most of their details by stochastic processes and computer decision making. Although there is no clear dividing line between levels of computer/composer interaction, it is possible to characterize the degree to which the computer has provided outcomes for a given work, from low-level random generation of pitches to high-level Markovian chain distributions.