ExpTwo

In 1955/56, Lejaren A. Hiller and Leonard M. Isaacson used a computer for generating music for the first time. The result was the ILLIAC Suite for string quartet.

I have been fascinated by all four of the movements, which the authors call “Experiments”, but Experiment No. 2: four-part first-species counterpoint (the Adagio of the ILLIAC Suite) immediately and particularly caught my attention. I listened to the recording I was able to obtain over and over, and I became eager to generate more music of that particular kind by myself.

So, during 2009, I read the book documenting the making of the ILLIAC suite (recommended! — see below, References). Then, I sat down and coded the first version of ExpTwo, with the aim to get as close to the original algorithm as I could. (It was a gross hack at the time.) Work has then rested for some 14 years, when in 2023 I picked up on the project again. And finally, I got a presentable and distributable version of it. (At least I hope so.) And here it is!

Download the program .zip file and try it yourself. Note: You need a Java Runtime (get it here) on your system to get it to run.

Please note that I cannot (and will not) help you set up your MIDI system. Select a device with a receiver in the ExpTwo program, set the MIDI program (“instrument”) of your synthesizer to some strings for best results (I use String Ensemble in GarageBand / Full Strings in Logic Pro), but you're on your own from there.

Downloads

• ExpTwo — the program
• The Source Code. For this, of course, you need a Java Development Kit (JDK). Compile and run AdagioGUI.java. (The makefile has a target called ‘run’, so if you have Java set up correctly, you should get it to work with ‘make run’.)
• The Adagio composed and played at the World Premiere of ExpTwo in Graz, Austria, on 2023-05-23, in MIDI and MP3 formats.

References

Hiller, Lejaren A. jr. / Isaacson, Leonard M.: Experimental Music: Composition with an Electronic Computer, New York et al.: McGraw-Hill 1959.