An Intelligent System to Generate Chord Progressions from Colors with an Artificial Immune System

Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Many synesthetes used their capabilities as inspiration for their works. Drawing on this phenomenon, this paper presents a model able to create chord progressions using colors as the synesthetic input. In particular, the model extracts sound from colors to create chord progressions by applying an artificial immune system (AIS). The quality of each chord is mapped in the Tonal Interval Space, a geometrical space in which mathematical measures are related to musical properties. The result is an assistive tool that has been evaluated in terms of musical standards and usefulness for the users.