Algorithmic Art,
Live Coding,
and AI
Dr. Renick Bell
RMIT University Vietnam, School of Communication and Design
digital media program
24/11/27
Introduction
Started a PhD in computer science at Tokyo Denki University in Tokyo, Japan�Finished a PhD in art at Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan�Over 250 performances since 2011, music releases on many labels, active in algorave scene
Research interests: algorithmic art & music, electronic music, AI, improvisation, aesthetics, education
Dr. Renick Bell
RMIT University Vietnam, School of Communication and Design
digital media program
Lecturer, sound design and interaction
Joined RMIT Sept. 2023
Art relies on science, some technical moments in music
Materials science�DSP, audio synthesis, digital audio workstations�Music can be engineered.
Algorithmic generation of music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musikalisches_W%C3%BCrfelspiel
… so that finally Band in a Box and Google Magenta are pretty great, but…
Limitations of connectionist approach
Live coding as interface to algorithmic systems
Differentiate live coding as teaching technique from live coding for performance�My systems: Conductive (Haskell); Konduktiva (JavaScript) https://konduktiva.org/doku.php?id=start �TOPLAP https://toplap.org/wiki/Main_Page
Live coding as part of an audio-visual performance
With associate lecturer Nguyen Hoang Giang at Beyond 1 & 0�10th Anniversary event for digital media program Oct. 2024
Agents
Imagine Butch Morris conducting Han Bennink and Paal Nilssen-Love�Players, Conductors
representation
MusicalEnvironment; Agents -> Players with action and interonset interval functions�Rhythm and rhythmic density, QuantizedMaps
Representation of Melody and Harmony
Notes, chords, octaves, roots, modeFilters, modeMaps, velocity�Expressed through synthesizers over the MIDI protocol�“Live Coding Melody and Harmony in JavaScript” https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678299.3678336�Using this in an exhibition opening tomorrow as part of the Vietnam Festival of Creativity and Design: https://vfcd.events/en/home/ �at https://mvillage.vn/chi-nhanh/m-village-hotel-ly-tu-trong�
The future
collaborators for research and publication, tier 2 grants?
Representation for musical form, timbre/audio synthesis
More agents, smarter agents
Applications of machine learning techniques, LLMs
Tangible interfaces, NIME
Live coding as pedagogical technique
Application of these techniques to other domains
For more information
My website: https://renickbell.net/
The talking notes for this presentation: https://renickbell.net/doku.php?id=algorithmic_art_live_coding_ai
My academic writing: https://renickbell.net/doku.php?id=academic
Some videos of my performances: https://www.youtube.com/@renickbell
Some of my musical releases: https://renickbell.bandcamp.com