Automatic Music Composition using Answer Set Programming

Music composition used to be a pen and paper activity. These these days music is often composed with the aid of computer software, even to the point where the computer compose parts of the score autonomously. The composition of most styles of music is governed by rules. We show that by approaching the automation, analysis and verification of composition as a knowledge representation task and formalising these rules in a suitable logical language, powerful and expressive intelligent composition tools can be easily built. This application paper describes the use of answer set programming to construct an automated system, named ANTON, that can compose melodic, harmonic and rhythmic music, diagnose errors in human compositions and serve as a computer-aided composition tool. The combination of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic composition in a single framework makes ANTON unique in the growing area of algorithmic composition. With near real-time composition, ANTON reaches the point where it can not only be used as a component in an interactive composition tool but also has the potential for live performances and concerts or automatically generated background music in a variety of applications. With the use of a fully declarative language and an "off-the-shelf" reasoning engine, ANTON provides the human composer a tool which is significantly simpler, more compact and more versatile than other existing systems. This paper has been accepted for publication in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP).Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures. Extended version of our ICLP2008 paper. Formatted following TPLP guideline

CHR(PRISM)-based Probabilistic Logic Learning

PRISM is an extension of Prolog with probabilistic predicates and built-in support for expectation-maximization learning. Constraint Handling Rules (CHR) is a high-level programming language based on multi-headed multiset rewrite rules. In this paper, we introduce a new probabilistic logic formalism, called CHRiSM, based on a combination of CHR and PRISM. It can be used for high-level rapid prototyping of complex statistical models by means of "chance rules". The underlying PRISM system can then be used for several probabilistic inference tasks, including probability computation and parameter learning. We define the CHRiSM language in terms of syntax and operational semantics, and illustrate it with examples. We define the notion of ambiguous programs and define a distribution semantics for unambiguous programs. Next, we describe an implementation of CHRiSM, based on CHR(PRISM). We discuss the relation between CHRiSM and other probabilistic logic programming languages, in particular PCHR. Finally we identify potential application domains

Anton — A Rule-Based Composition System

We investigate the use of declarative logic programming in the automated composition of music. We show that it is possible to use Answer Set Programming (ASP) to create {\em ab initio} short musical pieces that are both melodic and harmonic and have an appropriate rhythmic structure based on Farey series. Our system, Anton, named in honour of our favourite composer of the second Viennese School, is presented as both a design and as a practical working system, showing that rule-based declarative systems can be used effectively. We report on our experience in using ASP in this system, and indicate a number of potentially exciting directions in which this system could develop, both musically and computationally.</p

Anton — A Rule-Based Composition System

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Anton: Answer Set Programming in the Service of Music

With the increasing efficiency of answer set solvers and a better understanding of program design, answer set programming has reached a stage where it can be more successfully applied in a wider range of applications and where it attracts attention from researchers in other disciplines. One of these domains is music synthesis. In this paper we approach the automation and analysis of composition of music as a knowledge representation and advanced reasoning task. Doing so, it is possible to capture the underlying rules of melody and harmony by a very small, simple and elegant set of logic rules that can be interpreted under the answer set semantics. Our system, Anton, is the first algorithmic composer to combine both harmonic and melodic composition. In addition to describing the composition system thus created we consider the advantages of constructing an algorithmic composer this way, and also the limitations of current solvers