Years ago Digital Magazine, from the "Digital" computer company that made Vax computers, had a really interesting article about the strong overlap between programming and classical music composition, because both are based on rigid rules, but once you know the theory/rules behind them, the sky is the limit.
Now that is an interesting intersection; I had no idea. I read theory and a counterpoint on my own, and I can totally see that intersection, and why AI would get so into figuring out the quirks of Telemann, Bach, or someone like that in order to try to recreate their thought processes. But I still don't put composition of that style together with guitar playing, or focus on guitar tone per se. I remember my last guitar teacher, in the 90s, whose heroes were all the serialists and/or crazy people, like Elliot Carter, Penderecki, Schonberg, and Charles Ives, would talk about classical guitar with these hilariously disparaging comments, like "It's all just a bunch of lines in A minor" haha (I don't at all agree with that sentiment, by the way!). I was being taught tone rows and atonal theory when all I was listening to was a combination of cock rock, Shrapnel Records, and thrash. This is my lifeblood, and my teacher is telling me to read "Elementary Training for Musicians" by Paul Hindemith, the least aptly titled book in the canon, and I did try to get through it. No wonder my mind is so warped. The closest I could get on my own was an affinity for Bartok, but that's not really in the same world as the serialists. But anyway, I just had a very very weird teacher, but I wonder how many electric guitarists in general love classical theory, counterpoint, and whatnot. That's very interesting. I do believe reading, by the way, that Cacophony (Marty Friedman and the inimitable Jason Becker) used tone rows, but I've never tried to transcribe any of their work to know for sure. I believe there's one in a Slayer riff if memory serves right, haha, no kidding.
