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Live Coding Through Rule-Based Modelling of High Level Structures: exploring output spaces of algorithmic composition systems

Iván Paz

Live coding commonly takes pieces of code from algorithmic composition systems. However, sometimes algorithmic generators either do not consistently show high-level properties, like dramatic transition among parts, or simply, our aesthetic criterion prefers some particular cases among all the possible. In such cases it is useful to have tools for exploring the output space of generative systems, in order to identify and categorize outputs with specific properties. This paper presents an approach to creating linguistic rules out of human-evaluated patterns and their potential uses in live coding to create high-level structures. The methodology starts with a set of sampled examples from an algorithmic system that are evaluated by the user through qualitative linguistic variables. Then, the examples along with the user's evaluation are analysed through an inductive and rule extraction methodology. For a particular example case, these rules are extracted and evaluated. Its application then as information used for writing code on the fly, as well as its implementation in the form of filters or generators is presented.