Launch of the EVOLVAPHONE and Celebration of 150th Anniversary of On the Origin of Species

On the week that sees the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species we reveal the fantastic Evolvaphone - the world's first booth to create music based on the principles of natural selection!

Friday (27:11) will be a day of Darwin related activity (starting at 12:00) where you can come along to Science Gallery to meet a Darwin look a like, try a game of "Survival of the Fittest" musical chairs or have a look at a first edition of "On the Origin of Species".

At 18:00 witness the world premiere of the Evolvaphone from 18:00 at an event with Senator David Norris, a Skype-in by Professor Steve Jones - plus the world's first performance of the Evolvaphone! A limited number of tickets are available for Science Gallery members.

What is the Evolvaphone?

This exotic booth invites you to sample the delights of the dangerous machine hidden within. A machine which can work procreative musical miracles from the few simple ingredients you are kindly asked to provide: your voice & your initials

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Once you have entered this extraordinary booth, simply state your name into a mouthpiece and type your initials into the system using a state of the art telegraph key, and you're away on a sonic journey of evolutionary proportions!!! This information will generate a musical composition using morse code rhythms based on your initials and the natural inflections of your voice, all strictly in compliance with the laws of natural selection.
But not only will you hear this composition, you will also be able to feel and watch it unravel around you. A unique vibrating display - the Mendelian Recombinator - makes seeds erupt with each reproductive thrust of the music. Vibrating speakers within the seats bring the booth to life!

Humble composer George Higgs has been working on the algorithm day and night under the strict and uncompromising eye of geneticist Dr. Aoife Mclysaght,  Trinity College Dublin. 

The aims of the project are laughably immodest: 
1) to enable the creation of a unique musical composition for each individual or couple who enter the booth
2) based on their voices and initials
3) in strict conformity with the laws of natural selection, as envisaged exactly 150 years ago today by Mr. Charles Robert Darwin
4) and lastly get this, ladies and gentlemen, the composer claims that he wants his generative algorithm to sound good.


The Evolvaphone is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Arts Council.