Creative Computers, Improvisation and Intimacy

Autonomous musical machine partners, live algorithms, are able to collaborate with human improvisers on an equal footing. Adaptability can be a significant factor in human/machine interaction in this context. Intimacy is an additional factor; intimacy might be achieved if human and machine performers can adapt to each other and learn from one another. Previously associated in computer music with ideas of embodiment and HCI, intimacy as more widely understood, refers to the interpersonal process enjoyed between individuals, in which personal self-disclosure finds validation through a partner's response. Real intimacies are learned over time, not designed, and are based upon an evident reciprocity and emergent mutuality. In the context of musical expression, a social rather than a biological/technological discourse can be applied to live algorithms with a capacity for learning. This possibility is explored with reference to the author's various improvisation/composition systems including au(or)a, piano_prosthesis, and oboe_prosthesis

Evaluating computational creativity: a standardised procedure for evaluating creative systems and its application

This thesis proposes SPECS: a Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems. No methodology has been accepted as standard for evaluating the creativity of a system in the field of computational creativity and the multi-faceted and subjective nature of creativity generates substantial definitional issues. Evaluative practice has developed a general lack of rigour and systematicity, hindering research progress. SPECS is a standardised and systematic methodology for evaluating computational creativity. It is flexible enough to be applied to a variety of different types of creative system and adaptable to specific demands in different types of creativity. In the three-stage process of evaluation, researchers are required to be specific about what creativity entails in the domain they work in and what standards they test a system’s creativity by. To assist researchers, definitional issues are investigated and a set of components representing aspects of creativity is presented, which was empirically derived using computational linguistics analysis. These components are recommended for use within SPECS, being offered as a general definition of creativity that can be customised to account for any specific priorities for creativity in a given domain. SPECS is applied in a case study for detailed comparisons of the creativity of three musical improvisation systems, identifying which systems are more creative than others and why. In a second case study, SPECS is used to capture initial impressions on the creativity of systems presented at a 2011 computational creativity research event. Five systems performing different creative tasks are compared and contrasted. These case studies exemplify the valuable information that can be obtained on a system’s strengths and weaknesses. SPECS gives researchers vital feedback for improving their systems’ creativity, informing further progress in computational creativity research

Musicians and Machines: Bridging the Semantic Gap In Live Performance

PhDThis thesis explores the automatic extraction of musical information from live performances – with the intention of using that information to create novel, responsive and adaptive performance tools for musicians. We focus specifically on two forms of musical analysis – harmonic analysis and beat tracking. We present two harmonic analysis algorithms – specifically we present a novel chroma vector analysis technique which we later use as the input for a chord recognition algorithm. We also present a real-time beat tracker, based upon an extension of state of the art non-causal models, that is computationally efficient and capable of strong performance compared to other models. Furthermore, through a modular study of several beat tracking algorithms we attempt to establish methods to improve beat tracking and apply these lessons to our model. Building upon this work, we show that these analyses can be combined to create a beat-synchronous musical representation, with harmonic information segmented at the level of the beat. We present a number of ways of calculating these representations and discuss their relative merits. We proceed by introducing a technique, which we call Performance Following, for recognising repeated patterns in live musical performances. Through examining the real-time beat-synchronous musical representation, this technique makes predictions of future harmonic content in musical performances with no prior knowledge in the form of a score. Finally, we present a number of potential applications for live performances that incorporate the real-time musical analysis techniques outlined previously. The applications presented include audio effects informed by beat tracking, a technique for synchronising video to a live performance, the use of harmonic information to control visual displays and an automatic accompaniment system based upon our performance following technique.EPSR

Evaluating computational creativity: a standardised procedure for evaluating creative systems and its application

This thesis proposes SPECS: a Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems. No methodology has been accepted as standard for evaluating the creativity of a system in the field of computational creativity and the multi-faceted and subjective nature of creativity generates substantial definitional issues. Evaluative practice has developed a general lack of rigour and systematicity, hindering research progress. SPECS is a standardised and systematic methodology for evaluating computational creativity. It is flexible enough to be applied to a variety of different types of creative system and adaptable to specific demands in different types of creativity. In the three-stage process of evaluation, researchers are required to be specific about what creativity entails in the domain they work in and what standards they test a system’s creativity by. To assist researchers, definitional issues are investigated and a set of components representing aspects of creativity is presented, which was empirically derived using computational linguistics analysis. These components are recommended for use within SPECS, being offered as a general definition of creativity that can be customised to account for any specific priorities for creativity in a given domain. SPECS is applied in a case study for detailed comparisons of the creativity of three musical improvisation systems, identifying which systems are more creative than others and why. In a second case study, SPECS is used to capture initial impressions on the creativity of systems presented at a 2011 computational creativity research event. Five systems performing different creative tasks are compared and contrasted. These case studies exemplify the valuable information that can be obtained on a system’s strengths and weaknesses. SPECS gives researchers vital feedback for improving their systems’ creativity, informing further progress in computational creativity research