First published in 2012
Professor Armand Leroi from Imperial College London explains why he thinks a Darwinian computer program that can evolve music from noise could kill off the composer. You might think that creating the perfect piece of music - whether it's a classical great, jazz masterpiece or pop hit - is all down to the composer's talent, flair or even genius. Not so, according to Armand Leroi from Imperial College London.
"What we are trying to find out is whether you need a composer to make music," says the professor of evolutionary developmental biology.
"And we don't think you do."
He believes a much more fundamental force of nature is at work.
"We don't often think of music as evolving, but everybody knows it has a history and it has traditions. But if you think about it, it really has evolved, it is changing continuously," Prof Leroi explains.