Application of Grover's Algorithm on the ibmqx4 Quantum Computer to Rule-based Algorithmic Music Composition

Previous research on quantum computing/mechanics and the arts has usually been in simulation. The small amount of work done in hardware or with actual physical systems has not utilized any of the advantages of quantum computation: the main advantage being the potential speed increase of quantum algorithms. This paper introduces a way of utilizing Grover's algorithm - which has been shown to provide a quadratic speed-up over its classical equivalent - in algorithmic rule-based music composition. The system introduced - qgMuse - is simple but scalable. It lays some groundwork for new ways of addressing a significant problem in computer music research: unstructured random search for desired music features. Example melodies are composed using qgMuse using the ibmqx4 quantum hardware, and the paper concludes with discussion on how such an approach can grow with the improvement of quantum computer hardware and software.