6:30 for 7:00pm Tuesday 3 June 2008

Room G22
History of Art Film and Visual Media
Birkbeck College
43 Gordon Square
London WC1H 0PD

MPEG7 and genetic co-evolution: Sound Improvisation Strategies

Nearest tubes - Euston Square, Warren Street & Russell Square

Musical improvisation is driven mainly by the unconscious mind, engaging the dialogic imagination to reference the entire cultural heritage of an improviser in a single flash. This workshop will introduce a case study of evolutionary computation techniques, in particular genetic co-evolution, as applied to the frequency domain using MPEG7 techniques, in order to create an artificial agent that mediates between an improviser and her unconscious mind, to probe and unblock improvisatory action in live music performance or practice.

David Plans Casal is a musician and researcher, and digital technologist at Brunel University. His research focuses on artificial intelligence and music. He has given concerts at IRCAM (Igor Stravinsky Hall), the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast, and several London venues. His research proposes that musical improvisation is driven mainly by the unconscious mind, engaging the dialogic imagination to reference the entire cultural heritage of an improviser in a single flash. He uses evolutionary computation techniques, in particular genetic co-evolution, as applied to the frequency domain using MPEG7 techniques, in order to create an artificial agent that mediates between an improviser and her unconscious mind, to probe and unblock improvisatory action in live music performance or practice.