A cellular automaton is a collection of 'colored' cells on a grid of specified shape that evolves through a number of discrete time steps according to a set of rules based on the states of neighboring cells. The rules are then applied iteratively for as many time steps as desired. von Neumann was one of the first people to consider such a model, and incorporated a cellular model into his "universal constructor." Cellular automata were studied in the early 1950s as a possible model for biological systems (Wolfram 2002, p. Cellular Automaton).
Algorithmic composition could be described as “a sequence (set) of rules (instructions, operations) for solving (accomplishing) a [particular] problem (task) [in a finite number of steps] of combining musical parts (things, elements) into a whole (composition)”, From this definition we can see that it is not necessary to use computers for algorithmic composition as we often infer; Mozart did not when he described the Musical Dice Game. The concept of algorithmic composition is not something new. Pythagoras (around 500 B.C.) believed that music and mathematics were not separate studies. Hiller and Isaacson (1959) were probably the first who used a computational model using random number generators and Markov chains for algorithmic composition. Read More
Similarly, In my application, I use a cellular automaton to generate a specified pattern, which is based based on a set of rules. Apart from that, I use the generated pattern as a method for algorithmic composition to play a piano melody depending on the pattern generated.