slippery chicken--preparation for release and licensing of software for algorithmic music composition

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The potential for software procedures to enrich our musical culture has beenestablished by various composers in the 50+ years since algorithmic compositiontechniques were first introduced. Algorithmic composition involves the use ofstep-by-step procedures, usually encapsulated in software routines, to createmusic. Most conspicuous amongst proponents of musical algorithms ispop-musician Brian Eno. The power of such systems is still not fullyunderstood or deeply investigated by musicians and composers, whether highlytrained or not. There are many riches to be mined, as the expression ofcompositional ideas in software often leads to unexpected and surprisingly new,exciting results, most of which cannot be achieved via traditional means.Algorithmic composition techniques can thus play a vital and energising role inthe development of modern music across all genres and styles."slippery chicken" is a package of music composition software written in theprogramming language Common Lisp. The system produces music of any aesthetic.The original focus was to facilitate the combination of electronic andinstrumental sound worlds, not just at the sonic but at the structural level.It uses a sequence-based approach to generating, in one pass, complete musicalscores for traditional instruments, or with the same data writing digital musicfiles for synthesisers or samplers. Its top-down, generative approach would beof great interest to media/film/TV composers working to tight deadlines.For mainly practical reasons, the software is not yet publicly available: atmore than 33,000 lines of code (c. 580 pages), the project has not yet beenformally documented, fully tested for every eventuality, and packaged into someauto-installable form. This could, however, be accomplished within one yearwith the help of a technician; funding is being sought to undertake this work.Web-based documentation will be accompanied by illustrative musical materialand other outputs: an audio CD, a European lecture-concert tour, workshops, aconference presentation, a journal paper, and downloadable demonstrationcompositions that show off the software's unique features.Although the system would be released as open-source, freely-downloadablesoftware which the music community at large may use without cost fornon-commercial purposes, securing commercial licensing agreements is anotherfocus of the project. This would be two-tiered: (a) licence to integrateslippery-chicken in whole or in part into commercial music software programmes;and (b) pay-for-support services for individual professional users of thesystem.