{"id":1386,"date":"2025-07-23T09:42:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T07:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lorenzofrizzera.it\/wp\/?p=1386"},"modified":"2025-10-05T09:27:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T07:27:03","slug":"in-cerca-di-vita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lorenzofrizzera.it\/en\/in-cerca-di-vita\/","title":{"rendered":"Searching for Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lorenzo Frizzera<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the development of the next segment of my musical composition, centered on conflict and war, I\u2019ve decided to create a variation of the famous Game of Life<\/em> by Conway, adapted for the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Game of Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Conway\u2019s Game of Life is a cellular automaton devised by mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970. It unfolds on a grid where each cell can be either alive or dead, according to very simple rules: a live cell with two or three live neighbors survives, while in all other cases it dies\u2014either from loneliness or overcrowding. Moreover, a dead cell comes to life only if it has exactly three live neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Source: https:\/\/www.datawrapper.de\/blog\/game-of-life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the simplicity of its rules, the game generates complex and surprising behaviors, including stable structures, oscillators, and \"spaceships\" that move across the grid. It has thus become a well-known example of how intricate global phenomena can emerge from basic local rules. But how can all this be translated into musical notes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endless Cycles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I began with the simplest possible form: two adjacent notes\u2014let's say C and D\u2014that could be either active or inactive. Since there were only two, each could have just one neighboring note, which could also be active or not. Then I created a simple program using AI\u2014or Collective Intelligence<\/em> (CI), as I prefer to call it. Naturally, I wasn\u2019t focused on sound quality at this stage, so I used the roughest sounds available, planning to play the sequences on real musical instruments during the recording phase. Here\u2019s the result (rotate or scroll on mobile to view the full content):<\/p>\n\n\n\n