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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

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 9y ago
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.
sriku 9y ago
It is better left undefined since that would close its evolutionary scope, excluding great experiments in "noise music". Does it produce something that affects you is what matters. David Cope's work is interesting in this regard. His algorithms composed sheet music that is played by a pianist. He's done some blind tests where the audience appreciated the "work of Chopin" until they came to know the truth.

TheOtherHobbes 9y ago

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.

sriku 9y ago

It is better left undefined since that would close its evolutionary scope, excluding great experiments in "noise music". Does it produce something that affects you is what matters. David Cope's work is interesting in this regard. His algorithms composed sheet music that is played by a pianist. He's done some blind tests where the audience appreciated the "work of Chopin" until they came to know the truth.