Undiscovered Bach? No, a Computer Wrote It (1997)

nytimes.com

14 pointsZeljkoS4 comments

I remember reading about this at the time and wondering where I could get my hands on the source code. What happened to this? After the burst of publicity and some MIDI samples, EMI seemed to disappear without a trace. Was it all just a hoax? Did David Cope abandon the software?

Cope's bibliography [0] suggests he's been following that train of thought up until at least 2012.

Though he seems only indirectly involved (the OM book's preface), OpenMusic [1], seems to contain most of his ideas of how a language should tackle those problems. OM is actively developed, latest release was 2017-04-27, so far as I can see.

[0] http://artsites.ucsc.edu/faculty/cope/bibliography_page_2.ht...

[1] http://repmus.ircam.fr/openmusic/home

Emmy Bach style chorale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PczDLl92vlc

Impressive for a computer, the sounds do hint at Bach's chorales. For a Bach listener, this is a turn-off. A string of nonsensical movements with a sauce of Bachesque colours doesn't make for a composition.

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