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The Music of Robots: Music Automata from Pythagoras to the Future

Roger B. Dannenberg

Wegmans Hall 1400

Abstract:  Mankind has always been fascinated by mechanical simulations of human activity. A characteristic of Western thought is to understand our minds, bodies, and our world in mechanistic terms. Music especially has been viewed as a mathematical and mechanical process.  As a result, musicians, scientists, and engineers have devised all sorts of mechanisms and systems for composing and performing music. I will review some of these activities and their evolution over the last 2500 years, ending with some work on music composition, music performance, and how humanoid robot performers change the way we hear music.

Roger B. Dannenberg is Professor of Computer Science, Art and Music at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Dannenberg is an international leader in computer music and is well known especially for programming language design and real-time interactive systems including computer accompaniment. Dannenberg is also the co-creator of Audacity, an open-source audio editor used by millions, and the opera La Mare dels Peixos, soon to premiere in its English version The Mother of Fishes.

Refreshments will be provided