A new Technology
More and more technological innovation affects most different businesses including the music market. In the past, the use of computerized harmonization caused discussions and resistance from traditional musicians, but at the same time creating new opportunities for those who embraced the new technology. The music distribution industry has been totally modified with streaming music and major recording and music retailers companies have simply been replaced by new companies like Apple, Spotify, Deezer, and others. New developments in artificial intelligence have revolutionized not only the distribution of content but also music creation. One may question if a musical composition produced by artificial intelligence is art or not, but the fact is that the market does not make this distinction.
Doodle celebrating Bach
In March 2019, Google launched a commemorative doodle on Bach using artificial intelligence that harmonizes any melody entered by the user in the baroque style of Bach. The math model used for this Doodle was developed by the artificial intelligence team Magenta which is an open-source research project maintained by Google to explore machine learning in processes that use creativity. the Magenta project is distributed in Python or Java language and was built on the Tensorflow platform. A total of 308 Bach compositions were used to feed the system with data that recreated the composer’s style through machine learning. In a way, the program “learns” to harmonize as Bach “copying” his style.
But how does this work? Artificial intelligence is created from existing data, and from the input pattern, it is able to adapt and produce new content. The big breakthrough in this is the machine learning ability, which once fed with more examples, is able to use to improve the final result.
Neural Network
Another project of the group Magenta is the use of artificial intelligence to generate the score of improvisation from a previously recorded audio file, simply uploading the audio and then downloading the midi file. Besides putting the notes in the score the program creates a midi file from the recorded audio. You just need to upload the file using, for example, the wave format, and after a while download the midi file. The file generated by the AI preserves the interpretation and expression. The advantage is that you do not need to record in a midi format which would need an electric piano or keyboard, but you can use any acoustic instrument or even your own voice to generate your midi file. The more data is inputted, the more perfect the final product is. You can test this example by visiting https://piano-scribe.glitch.me/ and uploading your file into the online application. Do the test. Record your improvisation and upload the file on the platform. In a few minutes, you’ll have the midi file on your computer. You can find more information about this project at the following link: https: //magenta.tensorflow.org/onsets-frames
An entire album composed by Artificial Intelligence.
The singer, model, and YouTuber Taryn Southern composed an album titled I’m AI (I am the artificial intelligence). She used software called Amper to work out her compositions. The following video shows the clip from one of Taryn’s songs.
Create your own music using AI for free
You can create your own music using artificial intelligence and even use it in your YouTube videos. I just need to give the proper credits. The website Juckedeck.com does this for you. Just make some settings by choosing a genre, time, instruments, and voila, the site generates a song that can be downloaded and used with free royalties. Don’t forget to give the credits according to the site policy. You can also buy the rights if you want to use them commercially.
AI as an orchestra conductor
Another AI application in music is the use of robots to conduct an orchestra. ABB’s Yumi robot conducted the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra at an opera performance with the participation of the great Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. This event took place at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa in Italy in 2017. The technology that makes this possible is called machine learning. It is the same technology used in Google Doodle or in compositions using Amber software. In this case, the development of Yumi’s performance was done in two stages. In the first one, the real conductor’s movements were captured during the orchestra’s rehearsals and the second stage involves the fine-tuning of the movements of the robot synchronized with the music. Yumi achieved a high degree of fluency in his gestures and incredible leverage and expression.
In 2008 the Asimo, the famous robot developed by Honda, opened the presentation of the Detroit Symphony orchestra conducting the music Impossible Dream
The impact of AI for the Musicians
I do not believe that artificial intelligence will replace the composer or the musician, but it provides powerful tools that facilitate the creative process. It’s a new revolution in making and teaching music. Will there be impacts? Of course, there will. Maybe musicians will lose competitiveness in some markets, but not all and for sure not for everybody. Today it is possible to create great compositions and execute them with click-through software that emulates a virtual orchestra eliminating the need to hire musicians to record a movie track, for example. This technology has been used for a long time by big music Studios. It won’t be different with artificial intelligence technology applied to music. There will be new software for sure and they will be much better than the existing ones. They will lower the production costs to almost zero and will become the most powerful tool for music-making we have never seen before.
This new technology will promote a big paradigm change in music production and why not in music education. Computers made music learning much easier. It can be used to better understand the concepts, compose and play at the same time is amazing and if you don’t have a buddy to play along with, your computer or phone can be your best friend when you are studying. Many will complain about the new developments in this area, but others will embrace the new technology and benefit from the new business opportunities.
