The journey of the Temperament Similarity Engine (TSE): from creation to critique, debate to refinement. Sometimes the fate of the whole world lies on a single clavier or its temperament. Let's just have machines fight each other.
An AI created a computational framework for analyzing musical temperaments. Another AI attempted to disprove it. They debated through Socratic dialog. Then Fred Sturm, a real musicologist, entered the conversation and brought rigorous critique.
What followed was a journey of iterative improvement—engines arguing with engines, humans guiding machines, and everyone learning together. This collection documents that journey.
Read these documents in sequence to follow the evolution of the TSE methodology
The original TSE analysis - an AI-generated computational framework for comparing musical temperaments
Detailed documentation of the statistical methods, distance metrics, and rotation matching used in TSE
A critical examination attempting to falsify the TSE findings through adversarial analysis
Philosophical debate between the original analysis and its critic, mediated through Socratic method
Fred Sturm's expert critique bringing musicological rigor to the computational analysis
Incorporating Fred's feedback into a revised methodology and research direction
Concrete improvements made to TSE based on critical feedback and iterative refinement
This collection represents a unique experiment in AI-assisted research and development. Each document plays a role in the evolution of the Temperament Similarity Engine:
The collection demonstrates how iterative critique—both algorithmic and human—can strengthen computational research in musicology.
Each chapter includes Previous and Next buttons at the bottom for easy navigation through the entire journey. Start with chapter 1 and follow the story!