Key takeaways
- Miranda and Siegelwax built a quantum program that maps qubit measurements onto musical parameters like pitch and rhythm, using superposition to generate melodic variations.
- One goal of the project is to use quantum computing to generate candidate material for the missing movements of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.
- They discuss whether quantum randomness gives composers something genuinely different from the pseudorandom number generators already used in algorithmic music.
- Future work focuses on scaling the approach beyond simple sequences and improving how quantum circuit outputs get translated into notation a musician can actually play.
Summary
Yuval Boger interviews Prof. Eduardo Miranda and Brian Siegelwax, authors of “Teaching Qubits to Sing: Mission Impossible?”, a fascinating work about creating music with quantum computers. They talk about how the program works, their plans for future work, finishing Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, and much more.