Welcome to QuTune Project page
The QuTune Project is aimed at creating resources for making music with quantum computing, and making quantum computing with music.
Quantum computing is a nascent technology, which is advancing rapidly.
There is a long history of research into using computers for music since the 1950s. Nowadays computers are essential for the music economy. Thus, it is very likely that quantum computers will be used in the music industry in the time to come.
A new area of research and development is emerging: Quantum Computer Music. For an introduction to the field, please read the article Quantum Computer Music. What the heck? published in CTM Magazine in Berlin.
Historically, it is fair to compare state-of-the-art (i.e., at the time of this writing, 2021) quantum computers with the computer mainframes of the 1950s. And it must have been hard for our forefathers of the last century to predict how computers would evolve. For example, in 1977, Ken Olsen, co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s) allegedly said: “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home”. Yet, we wear computers on the wrist today.
It is equally hard nowadays to imagine how computers will be like in 2090. But in contrast to 70 years ago, however, today’s musicians are generally conversant with computers and programming. So, the time is ripe for musicians to start experimenting with quantum computing in music, and play an active role in the development of this fascinating technology. There is every reason to believe that quantum computers will do wonders for musical creativity. Hence the QuTune project.
This page is a portal to programming tools, demonstrations, publications and other materials produced by the QuTune team.
QuTune kick-started in the Spring of 2021 thanks to a 12-month-long grant awarded by the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme’s QCS Hub to Eduardo R. Miranda (Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR), University of Plymouth, UK) and Bob Coecke, then a professor at the University of Oxford, UK). [Press Release]
The funding is now long gone. Nevertheless, the University of Plymouth team is carrying on the activities and forging collaborations with several partners to continue developing and promoting research in this area. Notably, we have forged strong partnerships with DESY’s Center for Quantum Technology and Applications (Zeuthen, Germany), Quantinuum (UK) and IQM (Finland).
The University of Plymouth now runs the Ph.D. Quantum Computing in the Arts, Music and Humanities . More information about this exciting new programme and how to apply, please consult the website .
The ICCMR QuTune Team
- Eduardo R. Miranda
- Paulo V. Itaborai
- Peter James Thomas
- Hari Vignesh Shaji
- Colin Harrington
External Collaborators
- Omar Costa Hamido
- Bob Coecke
- Scott Oshiro
- Hector Miller-Bakewell
- Brian N. Siegelwax
- Maria Aguado
- Karl Jansen
Repositories: Tools, Demos and Materials
quantumaudio: A Python package (beta) for Quantum Representations of Audio, encoding and decoding- Variation Quantum Harmoniser - Sonification tools for VQE
- Q1Synth - One Qubit Synthesiser
- Tutorials on The QAC Toolkit for Quantum Computing in Max
- TTT - Transition Table Tools (Max)
- OSC-Qasm - An OSC Python interface for executing Qasm code
- Code and resources for Quanthoven, music with QNLP experiment
- Partitioned Quantum Cellular Automata (PQCA)
- PQCA Tutorials: Getting stated and rendering music
- Generating Musical Scales
- Demonstrations of Musical Quantum Walks and the Basak-Miranda Algorithm
- Code and resources for Teaching Qubits to Sing project
Events
- 2nd International Symposium on Quantum Computing and Musical Creativity (Oct 2023). [Proceedings]
- Sounding Qubits: Quantum Computing and Musical Creativity - Living in a Quantum State, Goethe-Institut London (Dec 2022). Book launch (Quantum Computer Music) + performances. Documentary video [here]
- 1st International Symposium on Quantum Computing and Musical Creativity (Nov 2021). Videos of presentations now available [here].
Books
- Handbook of Artificial Intelligence for Music. 2021. Springer.
- Quantum Computer Music - Foundations, Methods and Advanced Concepts. 2022. Springer
- Quantum Computing in the Arts and Humanities - An Introduction to Core Concepts, Theory and Applications. 2022. Springer.
Research Papers
- Variational Quantum Harmonizer: Generating Chord Progressions and Other Sonification Methods with the VQE Algorithm [arXiv:2309.12254]
- Developing Quantum Reservoir Computing as Machine Learning of Music [ISQCMC Berlin Proceedings]
- Q1Synth: A Quantum Musical Instrument [Applied Sciences]
- Generative Music with Partitioned Quantum Cellular Automata [Applied Sciences]
- Quantum Brain Networks: a Perspective [arXiv:2106.12295 ]
- An Approach to Interfacing the Brain with Quantum Computers: Practical Steps and Caveats [International Journal of Unconventional Computing]
- Quantum Representations of Sound: From Mechanical Waves to Quantum Circuits [arXiv:2301.01595]
- Teaching Qubits to Sing: Mission Impossible? [arXiv:2207.08225v3]
- A Quantum Natural Language Processing Approach to Musical Intelligence [arXiv:2111.06741v2]
- Quantum Computer Music: Foundations and Initial Experiments [arXiv:2110.124088]
- Quantum Computer: Hello, Music! [arXiv:2006.13849]
- OSC-Qasm: Interfacing Music Software with Quantum Computing [arXiv:2212.01615v2]
- Creative Quantum Computing: Inverse FFT, Sound Synthesis, Adaptive Sequencing and Musical Composition [arXiv:2005.05832]
- On Interfacing the Brain with Quantum Computers: An Approach to Listen to the Logic of the Mind [arXiv:2101.03887]
Academic Thesis
- Towards Quantum Computing for Audio and Music Expression, Paulo V. Itaborai, Res.M. Computer Music Thesis. 2023 University of Plymouth, UK.
Non-Academic Articles
- Quantum Computer Music. What the heck? [CTM Magazine]
- Behind The Scenes: My First Paper [Medium]
- Introducing Sharp Scale: A Series of Generative Quantum Art Pieces [Medium / Qiskit Blog]
- Presenting the 1st International Symposium on Quantum Computing and Musical Creativity [Medium / Qiskit Blog]
- The Arrival of Quantum Computer Music (with sound examples) [Medium]
- I’m a Musician, and Here’s Why I’m Learning Quantum Computing [Medium]
Music, Videos, Artistic Outputs
- Audio: Spinnings - Q1Synth Trio
- Audio: Qubism - London Sinfonietta
- Video: Zeno - Bass Clarinet and Electronics
- Video: QuTunes Band Lecture-Concert at ICFO Quantum Sound Symposium in Barcelona, 2023.
- Video: Multiverse Symphony Komposition für Ensemble und Quantencomputer von Eduardo Miranda. Lecture and concert at the inauguration of Ligeti Center, Hamburg, 2023.
- Video: Dependent Origination - Cephas Teom and Paulo Itaborai, IKLECTIK performance, London.
- Concert: Many Musics, Quantum Worlds , IKLECTIK, London, UK, May 2023.
- Concert: Multiverse Symphony , Ligeti Center, Hamburgh, Germany, June 2023.
- Concert: Sound Unwrapped - London Sinfonietta , King’s Place, London, UK, June 2023.
- Concert: Komplementārās pretrunas Festival , Riga, Latvia, 2023.
- Concert: Quantum Tunes: Mind and Wiggle , ECDF, Berlin, Germany, 2023.
- Concert: Wave Dysfunction , Radialsystem, CTM Festival, Berlin, Germany.
About our Work: Articles, Media and Interviews
- Video: Couch to Concert - London Sinfonietta . Interview to Jamz Supernova (DJ BBC 6Music,1Xtra), 2023.
- Magazine Article: Can we use quantum computers to make music? , by Philip Ball, in Physics World, 2023.
- Radio & Transcript: Latvia Radio 3 (Latvijas Sabiedriskie Mediji). Interview on AI and quantum computing in music, 2023.