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I was thinking quite a bit about this recently and it is closer than many think. Already techno, ambient music is made almost automatically. To help you unders

I was thinking quite a bit about this recently and it is closer than many think. Already techno, ambient music is made almost automatically. To help you understand, there are two ways, one is using so called 'expert systems', this is computer algorithms guided by humans, and other would be artificial intelligence, where computers completely generate music on their own. For the most part, ES is done today and works well, AI can be done for ambient music. Once we plug our feedback, how we feel and what kind of music we would like to listen to, that is when things will get really interesting.

verklarte 11y ago
Any examples of techno/ambient generated by ES? I knew the ES had a big uptick in popularity in the 90s but I wasn't aware that people were still actively using it for things other than customer-service and similar question-asking interfaces.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  Some of the stuff on Warp is computer-assisted - in fact it has been for a long time. But we're really only talking about semi-random loop cut-ups and effects sequencing. Ableton has a small suite of algo-comp packs. And there are things like WaveDNA's Liquid Music. I'm not aware of anyone making complete commercial tracks using ES - at least, not with a high profile career. (I suspect Bjork does a bit of this, but I'm not sure how much. Holly Herndon certainly does, but isn't very mainstream.) Strange fact: people have been attempting algo-comp for decades, and it remains incredibly obscure and ignored, even though there have been literally hundreds of languages, toolkits, and frameworks. That's partly because most of it isn't very musical - at best it sounds like a random mash-up of music slices with no overall sense of form or mood, and at worst it sounds like musical nonsense. It could also be because successful systems become so complicated they're only really useful to one composer. No one else has the time or the patience to learn them. But more, musicians seem to have a block about the idea - e.g. WaveDNA have literally had a lot of hate for LiquidMusic. Even though many genres are very formulaic, abstracting those formulas in a useable way turns out to be very hard, especially if you're aiming for a definite mood instead of a random musical squiggle. Most people who make music would rather do it by hand than have a computer do it for them.
- desireco42 11y ago
  Nothing super specific, I know people are doing raves with that closure music suite where they modify rhythm and music as the night progresses. I am not sure how much this can be considered as ES, kind of is... Quick google found this, looks like what I was referring... http://algorave.com/ http://algorave.com/ This is what I was referring to http://overtone.github.io/ http://overtone.github.io/
mattmanser 11y ago
We are not going to be able to put a chip in the brain to detect your mood for decades, and even then will it be worth doing? Surgery is invasive, dangerous, your body is corrosive, putting stuff in your brain will have side-effects and what are you going to get out of it? Music to suit your mood? I totally agree with Nick Bostrom[1] on this one, it's not happening any time soon. [1]http://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-Nick-Bostrom/dp/0199678111 http://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-N...
- desireco42 11y ago
  You don't need to put a chip in my brain to detect my mood, simple skin detector, like your watch should be able to do that. Also, brainwaves can be detected with the headband, these are general rhythms, so you can't get specific centers, but it is getting more useful every day. Anyhow, I think I understand where your skepticism originates, it make sense, I think a lot of smaller advancements would allow us to come closer to this.

verklarte 11y ago

Any examples of techno/ambient generated by ES? I knew the ES had a big uptick in popularity in the 90s but I wasn't aware that people were still actively using it for things other than customer-service and similar question-asking interfaces.

TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
Some of the stuff on Warp is computer-assisted - in fact it has been for a long time. But we're really only talking about semi-random loop cut-ups and effects sequencing. Ableton has a small suite of algo-comp packs. And there are things like WaveDNA's Liquid Music. I'm not aware of anyone making complete commercial tracks using ES - at least, not with a high profile career. (I suspect Bjork does a bit of this, but I'm not sure how much. Holly Herndon certainly does, but isn't very mainstream.) Strange fact: people have been attempting algo-comp for decades, and it remains incredibly obscure and ignored, even though there have been literally hundreds of languages, toolkits, and frameworks. That's partly because most of it isn't very musical - at best it sounds like a random mash-up of music slices with no overall sense of form or mood, and at worst it sounds like musical nonsense. It could also be because successful systems become so complicated they're only really useful to one composer. No one else has the time or the patience to learn them. But more, musicians seem to have a block about the idea - e.g. WaveDNA have literally had a lot of hate for LiquidMusic. Even though many genres are very formulaic, abstracting those formulas in a useable way turns out to be very hard, especially if you're aiming for a definite mood instead of a random musical squiggle. Most people who make music would rather do it by hand than have a computer do it for them.
desireco42 11y ago
Nothing super specific, I know people are doing raves with that closure music suite where they modify rhythm and music as the night progresses. I am not sure how much this can be considered as ES, kind of is... Quick google found this, looks like what I was referring... http://algorave.com/ http://algorave.com/ This is what I was referring to http://overtone.github.io/ http://overtone.github.io/

mattmanser 11y ago

We are not going to be able to put a chip in the brain to detect your mood for decades, and even then will it be worth doing? Surgery is invasive, dangerous, your body is corrosive, putting stuff in your brain will have side-effects and what are you going to get out of it? Music to suit your mood? I totally agree with Nick Bostrom[1] on this one, it's not happening any time soon. [1]http://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-Nick-Bostrom/dp/0199678111 http://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-N...

desireco42 11y ago
You don't need to put a chip in my brain to detect my mood, simple skin detector, like your watch should be able to do that. Also, brainwaves can be detected with the headband, these are general rhythms, so you can't get specific centers, but it is getting more useful every day. Anyhow, I think I understand where your skepticism originates, it make sense, I think a lot of smaller advancements would allow us to come closer to this.