Music by Interaction among Two Flocking Species and Human

In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Generative Systems in Electronic Arts, Melbourne, Australia, 2005.

This paper describes a new version of “Flocking Orchestra” that generates a type of music through inter-  action among ?ocking agents and human visitors. The agents move through a virtual 3D space and respond  to the visitor’s motions within the observation range of camera. Each agent controls a MIDI instrument  whose play depends on the agent’s state. The agents are divided into two groups. One group plays melodic  tones and the other group plays percussive instruments. The original BOIDS algorithm was extended by  adding two forces in order to support interaction. An attractive force causes the agents to move towards the  front part of the virtual world when they perceive visitor motion. A repellant force pushes the agents away  from the front part in the absence of any visitor’s motion. By attracting or repelling the ?ocking agents a  user can change the instrumentation, melodic and rhythmic patterns the ?ock generates. By this way, the  user plays with the ?ock and can enjoy a type of generative music.