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Does A Song Have DNA?
From: http://sciencesowhat.direct.gov.uk/...havedna?Itemid=
Professor Armand Leroi is an evolutionary developmental biologist at Imperial College in London. He is using evolutionary algorithms to trace the history of song styles. By analysing thousands of songs from around the world, he hopes to find out how they are related to each other. The project is a collaboration with musician Brian Eno, after they met by chance at a dinner party.
Individual characteristics of each song (such as the pitch and timbre of the vocals) are measured, a practice known as cantometrics . These measurements are then fed into a bank of 30 computers that look for patterns within the information and compare it to other songs. The results are surprising. You can watch a lecture by Leroi on the project here.
Another experiment is allowing songs to evolve right in front of our eyes – or ears! The DarwinTunes website stores a library of music and allows people to listen to them and rate them. So far, so like Spotify. But the difference is that all the songs on DarwinTunes are completely computer-generated, and get better over time.
Each song in DarwinTunes is based on a bit of computer code. These bits of code combine and create new, different songs. By providing feedback on which songs are good and which are not worth listening to, users slowly guide the code toward better and better music. This mimics evolution in the real world, where natural selection guides changes to living creatures – gradually making cheetahs faster or giraffes taller.
From Monday 23 to Friday 27 November 2009, over 100 first year biology students at Imperial College will each spend 10 minutes per day rating music for DarwinTunes. The scientists behind the project - Professor Armand Leroi and Dr Bob MacCallum - hope that this will be enough time to develop a collection of songs that are far more musical than the ones they began with.
You can take part in the experiment yourself, and help create the first artificially evolved chart buster – just go to www.DarwinTunes.org and get listening!
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Thoughts?
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When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again: I would have none but knaves follow it, since a fool gives it.
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