Abstract
The field of computer music has evolved in tandem with advances made in computer science. We are interested in how the developing field of unconventional computation may provide new pathways for music and related technologies. In this paper, we outline our initial work into harnessing the behaviour of the biological computing substrate Physarum polycephalum for a musical step sequencer. The plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum is an amorphous unicellular organism, which moves like a giant amoeba as it navigates its environment for food. Our research manipulates the organism’s route-efficient propagation characteristics in order to create a growth environment for musical/sound arrangement. We experiment with this device in two different scenarios: sample triggering and MIDI note triggering using sonification techniques.
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