Harnessing the Intelligence of Physarum Polycephalum for Unconventional Computing-Aided Musical Composition

This paper introduces Die Lebensfreude, a pioneering piece of music composed with the aid of an amoeba-like plasmodial slime mould called Physarum polycephalum. The composition is for an ensemble of five instruments (flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano) and six channels of electronically synthesises sounds. The instrumental part and the synthesised sounds are musifications and sonifications, respectively, of a multi-agent based simulation of Physarum foraging for food. The slime mould, its simulation, and musifications and sonification methods are introduced in this paper. The rational for using Physarum in music is also discussed.