The Reactional Technology: An Artistic Practice-Informed Approach to Developing a Generative Music Engine

Abstract

This article describes the process of creating a software for composing and improvising music, now called Reactional Music, and its evolution from a personal tool into a musical engine for interactive experiences, primarily in the field of video games. By tracking the development of the technology over time, with examples of its use in different projects, the article seeks to highlight the bidirectional way in which my artistic practice and the software development have continuously informed each other. The Reactional technology is a generative music engine that enables intuitive control over complex musical structures by reducing the dimensionality of input data. The original use case was to manage many multiple musical parameters with just a few input streams, allowing for fluid generation and improvisation. This article provides perspectives on the creative aspects of composing music and developing software in parallel through an iterative design process. The research method is a retrospective analysis of the system across distinct developmental states, an approach informed by autoethnographic analysis of the continuous feedback loop between artistic practice and technological development. The main contribution of this article is to observe the complex, intertwined process of the technology’s creation, thereby providing crucial insight into the relationship between software development and the artistic projects that utilised the technology.