A Parsimonious Cognitive Architecture for Human-Computer Interactive Musical Free Improvisation

This paper presents some of the historical and theoretical foundations for a new cognitive architecture for human-computer interactive musical free improvisation. The architecture is parsimonious in that it has no access to musical knowledge and no domain-general subsystems, such as memory or representational abilities. The paper first describes some of the features and limitations of the architecture. It then illustrates how this architecture draws on insights from cybernetics, artificial life, artificial intelligence and ecological theory by situating it within a historical context. The context presented consists of a few key developments in the history of biologically-inspired robotics, followed by an indication of how they connect to James Gibson’s ecological theory. Finally, it describes how a recent approach to musicology informed by ecological theory bears on an implementation of this architecture.