
Emergence of Original Music Through Algorithms - rbanffy
http://nautil.us/issue/50/emergence/how-i-taught-my-computer-to-write-its-own-music-rp
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anotheryou
No mention of what raymond scott did in the 50s?

[https://youtu.be/MDIIfAMGLhM](https://youtu.be/MDIIfAMGLhM)

Wikipedia:

> Scott developed some of the first devices capable of producing a series of
> electronic tones automatically in sequence. He later credited himself as
> being the inventor of the polyphonic sequencer. (It should be noted that his
> electromechanical devices, some with motors moving photocells past lights,
> bore little resemblance to the all-electronic sequencers of the late
> sixties.) He began working on a machine he said composed using artificial
> intelligence. The Electronium, as Scott called it, with its vast array of
> knobs, buttons and patch panels is considered the first self-composing
> synthesizer.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronium)

You will know his popular music from the warnerbrothers cartoons :)
[https://youtu.be/YfDqR4fqIWE](https://youtu.be/YfDqR4fqIWE)

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tunesmith
I wish the definition of music were a bit more specific. If you look at it as
something that is supposed to communicate an composer-intended emotional
narrative, this is still a long way away from that kind of music. I wonder how
well AI is doing these days in terms of writing compelling plays, or movie
scripts, or short stories? There, the distance between author-intended
emotional narrative and work product is a bit more immediate, but in my
opinion that is still an essential element even in music.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
This is basically sample fragments with some very simple repetition rules,
which are then picked and mixed manually.

The repetition makes it sound a lot more musical than some of the more extreme
academic music you can find. But it's still a product of its source material
enhanced by human editing.

There's no sense in which this is any kind of AI. There's no NN, no symbol
grammar, and barely even the simplest rule-based expert system. It's more like
a semi-random razor blade tape editor and mixer.

But... it's new to most audiences, who won't have heard of Autechre's more
interesting experiments with Max - or any number of other projects - and who
are used to a rather precious narrative about the sublime nature of musical
composition, which the text shovels on with a back hoe.

It's one of the odd things about music - it's performative in more than one
way. Not only are composers supposed to perform music in the obvious sense,
they're also supposed to perform "I am a composer and/or performer" in very
standardised genre-specific ways.

In academic music and other genres aimed at intellectual audiences that means
the music has to be supported - i.e. marketed - with program notes that
suggest to the listener how important, culturally significant, original,
refined, and creative the music is.

If you take away the notes and let the music speak for itself, you immediately
lose a lot of the impact.

I suspect most people who heard on this Soundcloud without any explanation
would think "That was weird and maybe mildly interesting" and move on without
giving it a lot more thought.

AI won't have solved music until the music can stand on its own without
needing that kind of marketing.

------
fhood
"The music was at once futuristic and nostalgic, slightly melancholy, and
quite subtle: Even the digital noise samples it used—basically sonic
detritus—seemed sensitively integrated."

I had some difficulty taking the rest of the article seriously after reading
this. I know music is subjective, but I think the author may have been
projecting somewhat.

~~~
confounded
Did you listen to the samples? They may not be to your taste (Katy Perry
aficionados may be disappointed), but I certainly thought they had unexpected
emotional tones to them.

Don't forget, this is a three year labor of engineering love for the author!

~~~
KGIII
It is a very subjective thing. I listened to all the samples, trying to find
one that I could appreciate. I was unsuccessful.

Before you scoff, I am a trained classical guitarist and play a variety of
instruments. To be clear, nobody needs my permission to enjoy it. I found
nothing that I enjoyed.

I didn't find anything emotional about them. Other than the concept being
interesting, I've not found anything else to appreciate.

~~~
3131s
That's because the tempo is static, and I don't think there's any "dither" so
to speak on the placement of the notes (applying lag and lead, rubato, etc.).
I enjoy what the author created a lot, because I like abstract electronica,
but it is not so hard to apply algorithmic techniques that create a more
lively sound.

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nukenuke
I wonder if people have spent as much time listening to algorithm music as we
have reading articles about them. Seems like these approaches generate a lot
of press but I wonder how much people actually listen to the music on a
recurring basis

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code_duck
This is right up my alley, very interesting! Thanks for the article as I will
be listening to and reading about this in detail.

A tech note: I would prefer if I didn't have to install the SoundCloud app to
listen to the samples on my phone.

~~~
code_duck
Even worse, I can't get the links to open in soundcloud even after installing
it... and the app tells you that you can proceed without an account, then soon
insists that you need to sign in. So i still haven't heard any samples...

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racl101
Soon even the pop stars need to fear for their jobs. We just gotta perfect
robots to look like young humans make them appealing to their primary
demographic and we're good to go.

~~~
H4CK3RM4N
Hatsune Miku already seems to be doing a pretty good job of handling the
physical appearance bit.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpbbP8oh1p4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpbbP8oh1p4)

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pgeorgep
Every single week my Spotify 'Discover Weekly; playlist is spot on. Their algo
has been magic to my ears since 2015 ([https://qz.com/571007/the-magic-that-
makes-spotifys-discover...](https://qz.com/571007/the-magic-that-makes-
spotifys-discover-weekly-playlists-so-damn-good/))

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songeater
dont know if this is kosher... but doing something similar and posted on hn
previously...
[https://songeater.github.io/SONGSHTR/](https://songeater.github.io/SONGSHTR/)

