ILLUSTRATION: ANDRIY ONUFRIYENKO/GETTY IMAGES
Musicians, Machines, and the AI-Powered Future of Sound
Fears that computers could replace composers are real. But some music-makers are finding ways to harness generative AI creatively.
LAST NOVEMBER, AT the Stockholm University of the Arts, a human and an AI made music together. The performance began with musician David Dolan playing a grand piano into a microphone. As he played, a computer system, designed and overseen by composer and Kingston University researcher Oded Ben-Tal, “listened” to the piece, extracting data on pitch, rhythm, and timbre. Then, it added its own accompaniment, improvising just like a person would. Some sounds were transformations of Dolan’s piano; some were new sounds synthesized on the fly. The performance was icy and ambient, eerie and textural.