Text, melody, harmony, rhythm, accompaniment,
arrangement and singing performance. But not only that, even blockchain,
virtual and holographic singers.
A SIDI (Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation) team has succeeded in demonstrating how it is now possible to use artificial intelligence (AI) to compose, arrange and perform a new piece of music, starting from scratch and sending a single input to the system (the desired genre of the piece).
It is not just an exercise in computer
technology, what they are working on could be the beginning of a new approach
to musical show business.
In practice, SIDI has simulated the connection
of different open source and proprietary modules with specific functions,
creating a "closed" system capable of autonomously generating a song.
To this process they applied a deep learning system which, through enhancement
cycles, is able to constantly improve the result according to the listener's
feedback.
We interviewed Pietro Veragouth, creator and
coordinator of the project. Mr. Veragouth, what is the purpose of this project?
In reality it is the first step necessary for
the development of a completely autonomous system capable of composing and
executing hyper-personalized music, which is able to please anyone in the true sense
of the word.
A "machine" that knows how to do
this, is it possible?
In this first phase we have put together the
necessary pieces to make the system create a song out of nothing and improve
the result. It is a circular process that has an intrinsic limitation: the fact
that a piece cannot be objectively and universally beautiful. The system can
therefore be supplied with general parameters within rather wide ranges. As I compose
music as a hobby, I realize how a small variation can distort the result. To
this a whole series of considerations must be added that go beyond the ability
to generate a sequence of harmonious sounds, and which are psychological and
cultural but also linked to factors such as previous musical experience and to
the different conditions that, to a greater or lesser extent, predispose the
listener to it.
Can you explain the concept better?
When we listen to music, different chemical
reactions are triggered in our brain. The moment a specific segment of a song
gives us a feeling of pleasure, it means that dopamine has been produced in
particular. Through functional magnetic resonance or - although it has a lower
degree of resolution - with an electroencephalograph, we can measure this
activity in real time and determine which part of the piece has induced, both
consciously and unconsciously, the release of the neurotransmitter, in which
area of the brain and to what extent.
In the same way as a sentence in a text, the
exact same sequence of notes can be found in thousands of different songs, yet
they produce no effect in us. This is because the sensation of pleasure, as
happens during sneezing or orgasm, develops substantially in two phases: the
first generates tension, which in reality is a state of even increasing
discomfort, followed by the liberating state which, in fact, induces the
dopamine production and the feeling of pleasure. As I said before, however,
there are other factors that influence this process, such as the fame of the
artist, the fact that someone that we consider an opinion leader likes the
piece, the connection of a sequence of sounds to an unconscious memory
previously fixed in the synapses and so on.
The objectives we have set ourselves for the
second phase of this project are twofold: the first is to demonstrate that, by
applying this type of analysis to the created system, it is possible to create
virtually perfect music for each individual listener. The second is instead to
"open" the system to the outside, allowing generic or selected users
to collaborate in improving the song. This is possible because users will be
able to give their feedback through the network following a particular protocol
that we are perfecting.
But if the song is created by the computer and
improved by the users, who is the author? and who will own the property?
This is in fact an important issue on which we
have leaned. If a song is put on the net even for the sole purpose of testing
its goodness, there is the risk that it is voluntarily or even involuntarily
"stolen" (many pieces remain in the memory of an artist who,
unknowingly, thinks he was the true author of it). The hypothesis of using
traditional certification systems within a circular process like the one I
described earlier would be impractical. Hence the idea of using blockchain.
In this way, at the very moment in which the piece is conceived (or improved),
it is associated with an absolutely unalterable "proof of existence".
The attribution of the authorship of the piece will therefore be up to the
initial author (or he who simply starts the process) who can optionally
accredit the work to the other contributors and establish the use license, for
example, by adopting one of the models provided by the creative commons.
So what can we expect in this area in the
future?
What we are actually creating is a sort of
ecosystem that also embraces other technologies, such as holograms and virtual
reality. With the help of a holographic projector (a technology we have been
working on for some years and for which I hold two patents), it is in fact
possible to reproduce a singer or an entire band on stage and create a concert
similar to a real one, an innovation that is already a successful reality in
many Asian countries. On the virtual reality front, which presents itself as a
huge megatrend, we are developing a module for the generation, always on the
previous model, of virtual performers who, thanks to AI, are able to sing,
dance, give interviews and interact with their fans.
Is it an exaggeratedly virtual reality that you
envisage?
I know it may seem excessive but, to be honest,
the chances of this failing to materialize, although perhaps in somewhat
different terms, I think are extremely low. It's just a matter of time, but not
much. Those who are immersed in innovation and are in contact with the new generations
must only add two plus two. To make a historical comparison we could relate the
gramophone to virtual reality (with the advent of the gramophone the
performer-listener relationship was completely depersonalized) and the
synthesizer of the 80s to artificial intelligence (the synthesizer almost
completely replaced the figure of the musician and made the range of sounds and
sound effects infinite).
The Song: https://youtu.be/bJOyIAm1_LQ
What we see in this video is a very short, very
rough preview we are working on of the face of a virtual singer animated by AI https://youtu.be/cwbs_9W1n9k
Made by:
Swiss Institute of Disruptive Innovation (SIDI)
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