Chiclet by Ethan Bordeaux, Ben Recht, Noah Vawter and Brian Whitman (the DSPMusic Syndicate) gives life to a song. Instead of a permanent recording on a CD that is reproduced exactly every time you press “play”, the Chiclet player changes the musical composition and keeps it in a constant state of evolution.

Its creators developed it from commodity hardware, an algorithmic music language robust enough to last 30 years, and a synthesis framework capable of composing timeless textures. Starting with initial parameters of tone, texture waves, rhythm and critical duration, the song composes itself by gradually mutating from its base state. Because of this large scale of compositional drift, only time will tell what the music will grow into as it progresses. Concrete Music also has a sculptural component: the generator of this algorithmic music is encased in rough-hewn concrete. This unusual shell appears to guarantee its existence for some time, as if it were a time capsule that could be found and listened to in a remote future. The song in this sound sculpture acquires a life of its own and refuses to die, and, in this way, Concrete Music materializes one of humanity’s great longings: immortality throughout time. At the same time, it serves as a nod to the “musique concrete” of the 50s.