ABSTRACT
Can we design interactive software that enhances individual creativity in music improvisation? This chapter attempts to answer this question in the affirmative, and further proposes a class of interactive systems to achieve this goal. The question of enhancing creativity has been addressed by various researchers in creativity studies, as sketched in Chapter 18 of this volume. An analysis of previous work in creativity studies and in computer music generation reveals the following important characteristics:
(1) Creativity studies involving the relationship between users and computers have addressed only existing – and relatively old – music software. Consequently, the conclusions of these studies cannot be used to design new software in particular interactive environments. So far, no study has been conducted that relates interactive music system design with creativity enhancement.
