On the
origin of music by means of natural selection
(or the
preservation of favoured ditties in the struggle for life) - Imperial
scientists may be on the way to creating the perfect pop tune, thanks to a
computer program powered by Darwinian natural selection –
Do away
with the DJ and scrap the composer. A computer program powered by Darwinian
natural selection and the musical tastes of 7,000 website users may be on the
way to creating a perfect pop tune, according to new research published today
in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Scientists
from Imperial College London have devised a way of producing music from noises
without a composer. They programmed a
computer to produce loops of random sounds and analyse the opinions of musical
consumers, who decided which ones they liked.
The result is music filled with many of the sophisticated chords and
rhythms familiar from modern songs.
The results
could also help explain why popular musical trends continuously evolve and why
traditional musical forms can persist for thousands of years.
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