Early History—Robots, Thought,Creativity, Learning and Translation - Robots Unlimited: Life in a Virtual Age - page 49

G A B C D E F G

1; 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8; 1

Figure 13. Notes from the reference list on the lid of the box of Kircher's Arca Musurgica

In each case the first row of a table sets out the notes for the first voice
(soprano), in other words the melody. The second row gives the notes for
the second voice (alto), the third row is for the tenor voice, and the fourth
row is for the bass voice. Thus the strip offers the choice between six
different melodies, each with its three other associated voices. The choice
as to which of the six tables should be used for a particular composition
can be made by the user at random, for example by throwing a die.
Next on the strip we come to a section with eight rows of notes in
which the lengths of the individual sounds vary. Here the user may again
choose at random how long the individual notes in the melody will be.
Looking a little more closely at the example Ave maris stella ,wefind
that in keeping with the character of the song, Kircher selects the key of
G minor, which determines the numbers corresponding to the individual
pitches. With the help of the reference list on the lid of the wooden box,
we arrive at Figure 13. If the user happens to select the third table on the
strip, that table indicates that the melody, which is sung by the soprano,
is represented by the row of numbers

323545

for which the corresponding notes (taken from Figure 13 ) are

B AB DCD

Similarly, the numbers and the corresponding notes for the other three
voices (also taken from the third table on the strip) are

Secondvoice(alto): 571777 viz.: D F G F F F

Thirdvoice(tenor): 341323 viz.: B CGB AB

Fourthvoice(bass): 876373 viz.: G F E B FB

Lowerdownthestripwefindtherowscorrespondingtothevarious
arrangements for the durations of the notes. If the user happens to
choose the second row (a choice that could also be made using a die
or some other method of random selection)