Music Mouse

{{Short description|Musical composition software}}

Music Mouse is an algorithmic musical composition software developed by Laurie Spiegel.

Spiegel's best known and most widely used software, "Music Mouse - An Intelligent Instrument" (1986) is for Macintosh, Amiga and Atari computers.[https://archive.org/stream/09-commodore-magazine/Commodore_Magazine_Vol-08-N09_1987_Sep#page/n55/mode/2up Commodore Magazine, Sept. 1987]Simoni, Mary (1998). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3680891 "Profiles of Determination"], p.20. Computer Music Journal 22 (4): 19-28. The "intelligent instrument" name refers to the program's built-in knowledge of chord and scale convention and stylistic constraints.{{cite book | title = Hyperimprovisation: Computer-interactive Sound Improvisation | first = R.T. | last = Dean | year = 2003 | isbn = 0895795086 | page = 62 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lzc7axskdfcC }} Automating these processes allows the user to focus on other aspects of the music in real time.{{cite book | title =Women Composers And Music Technology in the United States | first = Elizabeth | last = Hinkle-Turner | year = 2006 | isbn = 0754604616 | page = 47 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FBydHQwZwWkC }} In addition to improvisations using this software, Spiegel composed several works for "Music Mouse", including Cavis muris in 1986, Three Sonic Spaces in 1989, and Sound Zones in 1990.{{cite book | title = Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music | first = Nicole V.| last = Gagné| year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0810867659 | page = 255 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ppHoEX_6v10C }} She continued to update the program through Macintosh OS 9. It remained available until 2021; as of 2023, the website is no longer active and is archived on the Wayback Machine.{{Cite web|url=http://retiary.org/ls/programs.html|title=Computer Software by Laurie Spiegel|author=Laurie Spiegel|access-date=2012-04-12}}{{acn|date=February 2024}}