Numbers into Notes
Interactive software inspired by music, maths and Ada Lovelace
The code Numbers into Notes was written by PRiSM Technical Director, David De Roure for the Oxford e-Research Centre in December 2015, developed from an operatic work Ada sketches by PRiSM Director and Composer, Emily Howard. It featured as part of the Ada Lovelace Symposium in 2015, and as an interactive demonstration to encourage discussion about music, mathematics, and programming at the time of Ada Lovelace.
Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent. Ada Lovelace, 1843
Supported by the Transforming Musicology project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the FAST project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, it has led to a publicly available web applications and musical devices which have been used creatively, and a series of academic and public engagements.
