Musical Studies on Evolution

A series of musical simulations inspired by biology

Musical Studies on Evolution is an exploration of biological processes through music. It revolves around the idea of simulating organisms with musical notes instead of cells or bacteria. With this substitution, the results of the simulations are melodies.

This audiovisual example shows the spreading of a disease, inspired by SIR simulations used in epidemiology. Infected members of the population start to periodically play notes, which together create an evolving melody. The probability of an infected “blob” contaminating its neighbors is proportional to their proximity. The simulation culminates with every one of the 100 “blobs” infected, resulting in a dense cluster of notes.

The audio examples are the result of three different approaches to simulating the growth of a population. The melodies have not been altered in any way. Some examples contain additional elements, e.g., drums or bass.