Editing Algorithmic composition (section)

{{Short description|Technique of using algorithms to create music}}
{{Redirect|Music synthesizer|sound synthesizer|Synthesizer}}
'''Algorithmic composition''' is the technique of using [[algorithm]]s to create [[music]].

Algorithms (or, at the very least, formal sets of rules) have been used to [[composer|compose]] music for centuries; the procedures used to plot [[Voice leading|voice-leading]] in Western [[counterpoint]], for example, can often be reduced to algorithmic determinacy. The term can be used to describe music-generating techniques that run without ongoing human intervention, for example through the introduction of [[Randomness|chance]] procedures. However through [[live coding]] and other interactive interfaces, a fully human-centric approach to algorithmic composition is possible.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-algorithmic-music-9780190226992?cc=us&lang=en&|title=The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music|date=2018-02-15|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190226992|series=Oxford Handbooks|location=Oxford, New York}}</ref>

Some algorithms or data that have no immediate musical relevance are used by composers<ref name="Music Algorithm Composition Inspiration">{{cite journal|last=Jacob|first=Bruce L.|title=Algorithmic Composition as a Model of Creativity|journal=[[Organised Sound]]|date=December 1996|volume=1|issue=3|pages=157–165|doi=10.1017/S1355771896000222|hdl=1903/7435|s2cid=15546277 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> as creative inspiration for their music. Algorithms such as [[fractal]]s, [[L-system]]s, [[statistics|statistical models]], and even arbitrary [[data]] (e.g. [[census]] figures, [[Geographic information system|GIS]] coordinates, or [[magnetic field]] measurements) have been used as source materials.