Music Evolution Project

Status: Under Development

Overview

The Music Evolution Project is an experimental Rust application inspired by DarwinTunes designed to evolve musical compositions using genetic algorithms, which I am undertaking in my spare time. The project aims to explore the creation of complex musical compositions through the application of evolutionary principles, allowing for the mutation, crossover, and selection of musical genomes. Initially, this project will emulate the functionality of DarwinTunes, but it is hoped that more features could be developed such as a landscape in which musical compositions compete, produce progeny, and ultimately evolve.

Features

• Genetic Encoding: Musical parameters such as frequency, amplitude, duration, and phase are encoded within a binary genome.
• Mutation Rate: The mutation rate is encoded in the first 8 bits of the genome, normalised between 0 and 1.
• Total Song Length: The total length of the song is encoded in the next 16 bits.
• Note Encoding: Each note is encoded in chunks, allowing for varying genome lengths and handling incomplete chunks as non-coding regions.
• Complex Waveform Generation: Generates complex waveforms by superimposing multiple harmonics.
• Dynamic Genome Handling: Supports genomes of varying lengths, capable of handling insertions and deletions.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust: Ensure you have the Rust programming language installed. You can download and install Rust from rust-lang.org.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/lorcanpd/music_evolution.git
   cd music_evolution
   

2. Build the project:

   cargo build
   Running the Project
   

3. To run the project, execute the following command:

   cargo run
   

4. Example Output

   Father phenotype:
   Total song length: xxxxms
   Mother phenotype:
   Total song length: xxxxms
   Child phenotype:
   Total song length: xxxxms
   
   

   You should hear three sound clips which resemble the old dialup connection tones: two parents and their child.

Project Structure

• src/main.rs: The main entry point of the application, containing the logic for generating random genomes, performing crossover, decoding genomes, and playing the resulting waveforms.
• src/genome.rs: Defines the Genome structure and its initialization.
• src/decode_genome.rs: Contains the functionality to decode genomes into musical parameters.
• src/play_genes.rs: Plays the genes decoded from the genome using the rodio crate.
• src/genome_crosser.rs: Contains the logic for crossing over genomes to produce a child genome.
• src/graph.rs: Contains early development logic for the world the songs will inhabit. Nodes where they compete and reproduce, and edges which they migrate along from node to node.

Contributing

This project is currently under early development and is not yet open for contributions.

Acknowledgements

This project uses the rodio crate for audio playback. Special thanks to the Rust community for their support and contributions. Inspired by DarwinTunes