Life with GenJam: interacting with a musical IGA

GenJam, short for genetic jammer, is an interactive genetic algorithm (IGA) that models a jazz improviser and performs as a featured soloist in the author's virtual quintet. GenJam evolves populations of melodic ideas under the guidance of a human mentor, whose feedback provides the environment under which individual ideas either survive to breed or die off. GenJam also uses its genetic algorithm machinery as a real-time melodic development paradigm to evolve phrases played by a human into its improvised responses in chase choruses. The paper provides an overview of the GenJam architecture and focuses on interface issues for three classes of users: mentors who train GenJam individually, audiences who train GenJam collectively, and performers who interact with GenJam in real-time performance situations.