Computational Creativity and Music - Computational Creativity Research: Towards Creative Machines - page 305

is, arguably, creativity. Even in situations like that shown in Fig. 15.1 , where White
makes the first move andmust checkmate Black after Black's next move, little is clear
except what pieces White can logically move (likely the Queen or one of the two
Bishops). Note that Black here already leadsWhite by a Knight and Pawn (depending
on whether those counting equate Bishops with Knights), roughly accumulating to
six points.
I encourage readers to attempt to solve the puzzle on their own before reading
the following explanation. My point is that, even with only a relatively few likely
choices each of which can be worked through to discover its potentials, the resulting
checkmate requires creative thinking that many would find difficult or impossible.
Without examining all potential moves here—my count has White with thirty-five
in all, many of these obviously irrelevant—most inexperienced players will still find
this a difficult problem to solve. Good chess players typically sample all possibilities,
looking ahead to Black's potential responses which are far more than White's thirty
five, to see if by some quirk a checkmate is hidden somewhere in them. With chess
etiquette being what it is, all this must take place in the player's head and not on the
board itself or on paper.
For those not successful in discovering the solution, I present Queen to E-4 (letters
mark A-G left to right, and numbers 1-8 from bottom to top). Clearly a gambit, this
gives Black nine more points to add to the four already in hand if Black takes White's
Queen. This last move, however, leads to an immediate checkmate for White (Bishop
at C-6-B-7). If Black decides against taking White's Queen, its only option is D-6,
which leads to checkmate by White's bishop E-3-C-5. None of these moves are
illegal, all are known by both parties, yet most players of White won't give the
Queen's gambit a second thought since it immediately produces a point differential
that most reasonable players will think impossible to surmount. In chess, position is
everything. Most players know this, but it's difficult to consider when facing such
staggering odds.
This chess example, like the word game given previously, works within rules
but extends reasonable expectations by requiring unusual, even obtuse, associations.
Assumptions that XYZ belongs in a word or that sacrificing a piece to fall thirteen
points behind will win the game, most assuredly represents 'association of two ideas
heretofore not considered related but now revealed as logically connected.'
15.3 Music
While many might doubt the serious potentials for creativity in playing games like
letter combinations and chess, very few doubt its presence in the process of compos-
ing music. But, since music has rules, composing poses the same kinds of problems
exampled by such game playing.
In the following sections, I initially discuss melodic creativity based on human-
composed models, and then describe simple computer-composed single lines using
those models. In the section following that—more complex due to its harmonic