Interconnected alchemy: an apparatus for alchemical algorithms

De Roure, David; Wilcox, Pip; Chamberlain, Alan

Abstract

The trope of the fraudulent or occult alchemist, prevalent since the mediaeval period of alchemy’s introduction into European thought, belies the endeavour of practitioners from ancient Egypt onwards. Alchemists used observation, experimentation, and drew conclusions to understand the world around them. Notions of interconnectedness, harmoniousness and codification pervade the alchemical pursuit—and alchemy interconnects literature, art, mathematics, and music....One of our tools is "numbers into notes", a web app for algorithmic composition based on early mathematics, in which the role of the human is to parameterize the algorithm and map number ranges to musical notes

Citation

De Roure, D., Wilcox, P., & Chamberlain, A. Interconnected alchemy: an apparatus for alchemical algorithms. Presented at Listen to the Voice of Fire: Alchemy in Sound Art

• Conference Name: Listen to the Voice of Fire: Alchemy in Sound Art
• Acceptance Date: Jan 12, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 3, 2017
• Deposit Date: Mar 8, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 8, 2017
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Algorithm, Creativity, Music, Alchemy, Humanities
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/848130
• Related Public URLs: https://www.facebook.com/events/282369562121679/
• Contract Date: Mar 8, 2017