Brian Eno to create generative soundtrack for Spore

Brian Eno, widely credited with being the prime influential force behind modern ambient music, has taken an innovative approach to his voluntary conscription as soundtrack creator for the multi-platform, soon to-be-released video game from the creator of the Sims, Spore.

Essentially a “game of life” on steroids, Spore, allows the player / creator to create a virtual lifeform / civilization world in essentially a procedural content generation-al game. For the uninitiated, that means that the game evolves according to the procedures–or sets of actions that you (as the player / programmer) create. First you have to battle it out to survive as a protozoa in primordial ooze, then as a freakish creature, then control a tribe of them … and eventually end up exploring out in space.

The compositions created by Eno’s algorithm (via a device he calls “The Shuffler”) will never be the same over an entire lifetime.

Here’s a video of Eno and the creator of Spore, Will Wright, as they explain the concept behind the game and the music.