ARCA MUSARITHMICA

a device for automatic music composition from 1650

The Arca musarithmica is a device for automatic music composition invented by Athanasius Kircher in 1650. This site presents a digital implementation of Kircher’s system in Haskell by Andrew Cashner, PhD along with new research about the Arca’s role in the history of music and the sciences.

Image: The original print illustration of Kircher’s Arca
                       musarithmica, a large box containing many sets of ruler-like
                       rods and adorned with images of historic musical instruments.