Music = Math

[Trifixion]

Lyrics quote...

"I just can't believe my ears, some music out these days
The human factor has diminished in oh so many ways
Fancy footwork gets top bill and I'll put on such a show
One more MIDI cable and my band is ready to go..."

Writing music with a computer or with the help of a computer isn't a bad thing. Just ask Jason Becker - it's not like the guy has any choice any more. But having the computer write something for you...that bugs me. I really can't see machines ever being able to write music that is "better" than humans...more mathematically perfect, faster, more efficient, sure...but the heart is lacking.

 

[AkJay]

It's always been like this. People who are really good math tend to be talented musicians. Most people think that you need to be really creative in order to be able to play music, but it's more left-brain (which is the more logical hemisphere of the brain) than right (which is more creative/emotional).

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I like listening to algorithmically generated music now and again. Music generated using fractal patterns can sound amazing but it still needs a human to select the instruments and tweak how the music is generated.

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

Computer music will be good but we will need human musicians to advance music.

 

[willard3]

Music composition really is math. Chords are chords, regardless of who or what is inventing them.

And people frequently fail to realize this. Unless you're a savant, you can't just hammer out an amazing tune on the spot...you have to know chord progressions, voice leading, harmonic function, modulations, etc.

Actually, back in the day, music was taught alongside arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrivium] because they shared similar characteristics.

Then you have the twelve-tone composers like Schoenberg and Webern, who treat every note as equal. You also have Milton Babbitt who actually uses mathematical formulae to write some of his music.

 

[Warwolt]

I like how many people here seem to like to make a clear difference between a human and a computer when the human brain and the computer both are, more or less, mathematical calculators?

Isn't emotion just a matter of complexity in some manner of algorithm? It's not necessarily something that we'll ever learn to reproduce but I still think its theoretically possible to create something artificial who can write music on the same basis as a human can.

 

[Premonition]

Music comes from the soul. What makes music so strong is not just the notes, but what lies behind the notes as well. The heart of the song is what makes a great song. Sure you can have an A.I. make good songs on certain genres. But in the end ... no. I hope it never becomes real, as in: out there.