
I For One Welcome Our New Robot Vocal Cords: Radical Computer Music - vimes656
http://thequietus.com/articles/14405-black-midi-algorave
======
e12e
While not directly related to the article, but more related to the headline --
I was just catching up on some of what Beardyman's been up to lately:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPBM69nThkM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPBM69nThkM)

Now, that's one example of what _human_ vocal cords (with various degrees
computer augmentation) are capable of. While the things discussed in the
article may be interesting... the reference to vocal cords seems somewhat
misplaced?

[edit: I should perhaps clarify/highlight that the above video does _not_
feature drum machines etc -- "only" sampling, looping and "warping". Easier to
follow, is this video I like to call "I was hip-hop before ducks":

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39n4wow8fWE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39n4wow8fWE)
]

~~~
e12e
Well, not quite _no_ other effects, according to an article on his new setup:

"Helping him drive it are three iPads, two of which control the Beardytron and
one that uses apps for extra noises. He also has keyboards, Native Instruments
Guitar Rig, and Rob Papen’s delay as part of the setup."

[http://www.djtechtools.com/2012/12/12/the-
beardytron-5000-mk...](http://www.djtechtools.com/2012/12/12/the-
beardytron-5000-mkii-building-beardymans-ultimate-live-production-system/)

[edit2: Although according to his TED talk, it _only_ reuses noises he puts
in, so I guess it's an open question if he's moved to include "external"
samples or not...

[http://www.ted.com/talks/beardyman_the_polyphonic_me.html](http://www.ted.com/talks/beardyman_the_polyphonic_me.html)
]

[edit: apparently that article wasn't submitted to hn, as I'm guessing it's a
good fit, now it is:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7195664](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7195664)
]

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hmsimha
Somehow, digging in deeper on this subject led me to another video (which I
just shared -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7195652](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7195652))
of a player piano emulating human speech by reproducing the part of the
spectral fingerprint within it's range. Eerie

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pessimizer
I found this article very difficult to read, and while it talks a lot about
procedural music, I don't think that any of the people it covers are making
any _except_ the "Birthday Song Crew", who are clearly geniuses.

It did, however, introduce me to
[http://yaxu.org/tidal/](http://yaxu.org/tidal/) which is going to force me to
finally learn Haskell.

~~~
lifeformed
I had trouble reading this too. I mean, all the words made sense, but it
didn't feel like it was making any specific points? It sounds like a dictation
of a stream of thoughts loosely related to experimental electronic music.

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illicium
TFA asks if a machine can sing, and doesn't mention Vocaloid?

~~~
Gigablah
Vocaloid still relies on human vocal samples, though.

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Renaud
I love music and experimentation but I find those pieces portrayed there quite
devoid of emotional content.

I like the idea of procedural music being created automatically, but I believe
that the end result still need to inspire and transport the listener. I have
no doubts that we will be able to make some pretty convincing stuff in the
future, and it probably won't be a lot worse than what's already playing in
the charts.

~~~
aethr
Genetic algorithms could eventually produce music that triggered a emotional
response in humans. Your "fitness test" would need to be having real people
listen to procedurally generated scores and rating the emotional impact (if
any) of each sample. Perhaps a task for mechanical turk?

In the end though, I think we seek out music or art that puts us in the
mindset or emotional state of the artist. Forging a connection of shared
experience.

If the music tugged at all the right heartstrings, but you knew it wasn't made
by a human, could you feel that depth of connection?

~~~
DLWormwood
> If the music tugged at all the right heartstrings, but you knew it wasn't
> made by a human, could you feel that depth of connection?

I do think this is a false dichotomy of sorts. (Right turn of phrase?) The
music may have been made by a machine, but humans made the machine. What
ultimately is the difference between music “made” by a violin being directly
played, verses a synthesizer reconstructing songs based on what a programmer
did beforehand? It’s just a matter of degree. It might be more productive in
discussions to look at the “artist” verses “committee” angle instead.

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dcre
For those talking about the lack of emotional content, I found that this video
-- for Holly Herndon's "Movement" \-- helped some of this work make more
sense. Of course, Herndon's music isn't really "automatically generated" and
features a lot of human vocal samples.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kanNN4RPrOf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kanNN4RPrOf)
(NSFW, in most workplaces -- two dancers in underwear.)

~~~
smallerize
That video is unavailable.

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bsaul
About just as interesting as automatically generated novels. A machine has no
intention. It doesn't "want" to turn itself on or off and play some music.

~~~
bliti
Not yet.

~~~
PavlovsCat
Unless AI just "happens" by itself, it will always be a result of human effort
and ultimately an expression of human intent (if you ignore the pesky issue of
free will, that is). But we generally love creating things and then
worshipping them, so I'm pretty sure that will be quite lost on us when AI
comes.

~~~
robinh
"it will always be a result of human effort and ultimately an expression of
human intent"

Like babies? (Well, most of the time.)

~~~
PavlovsCat
We don't painstakingly plan and build babies, so no, not quite.

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shangxiao
Can someone translate this article into layspeak please?

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faceface1286
I feel like this article is procedurally generated.

