Sergi Jordà, Music Technology Group - web

A Journey through Musical Computational Creativity

Computational or artificial creativity is a multidisciplinary field of research located at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and the arts. Although the term was officially coined in the late 90s, the study of the use of computers for simulating or enhancing human creativity dates back from the 50s, initially inspired by the work of cyberneticists such as Weiner or Shannon. For the last 30 years, my own personal work has mainly focused on exploring, from multiples perspectives, the capabilities of computers for enhancing or complementing (though never mimicking) human musical creativity.

In this seminar, I will first introduce the context and motivation of my work, and review some of the more notable results obtained along these three decades. I will then discuss more in depth a recent study we have carried for better understanding how do we perceive rhythm, with the subsequent development of artificial expert drumming agents aimed at assisting music production.