Techniques for Quantum-Computing-Aided Algorithmic Composition: Experiments in Rhythm, Timbre, Harmony, and Space

Abstract: Quantum computing can be employed in computer-aided music composition to control various attributes of the music at different structural levels. This article describes the application of quantum simulation to model compositional decision making, the simulation of quantum particle tracking to produce noise-based timbres, the use of basis state vector rotation to cause changing probabilistic behaviors in granular harmonic textures, and the exploitation of quantum measurement error to cause noisy perturbations of spatial soundpaths. We describe the concepts fundamental to these techniques, we provide algorithms and software enacting them, and we provide examples demonstrating their implementation in computer-generated music.