Beyond the cybernetic jam fantasy: the continuator

The Continuator is a usable musical instrument combining techniques from interactive and automatic learning systems. It learns and interactively plays with a user in the user´s style. Music-generation systems have traditionally belonged to one of two categories: interactive systems in which players trigger musical phrases, events, or effects, such as the Karma musical workstation, and systems such as Risset´s interactive piano, which allow for user input such as keystrokes or chords, but can´t learn and use preprogrammed musical styles. Most of these systems propose musical effects libraries (a term used in the Karma workstation meaning a generation of music material based on user input). Although some of these effects are musically impressive, these systems can´t be considered cybernetic musicians or even musical companions, because they use preprogrammed reactions and have no memory or facility for evolving.