4 ms·

It's interesting: some of the earliest European polyphony could be described as "procedurally generated"; the cantus firmus was assigned liturgically, and the d

It's interesting: some of the earliest European polyphony could be described as "procedurally generated"; the cantus firmus was assigned liturgically, and the descant could be determined by what we would today call an algorithm (sacred music was at this point considered science rather than a creative art). Plus ça change...

ThomPete 9y ago
Agree. Music is by and large about structure. What made it worth listening to was this structure combined with human imperfection in the details and once in a blue moon melodies and harmonies that sound like they are there without being actually played. Of known composers perhaps Bach was at the time the most mathematical of them. Within the next decade I believe algos will be able to write hit's. Already today a lot of the things we like to hear is really using technology to create soundscapes and hooks we would never be able to create as humans.
- stevehiehn 9y ago
  My bet is we will see DAWs that essentially offer composers shortlisted options to choose from. In my SignalsAndSorcery project I am really just using machine learning to find composition options that make sense in the give context (based on my data set). A DAW could just keep presenting a series of options to choose from and almost anyone could be a composer.
  - ThomPete 9y ago
    Yup agree completetly.
  - FigBug 9y ago
    I'm currently working on a DAW, and this is definitely the direction we'd like to head. In our previous version, we added some basic chord progressions. The next most likely chords are suggested on statistics from popular music. But I'm stuck on where to take it next. I have some ideas for a melody generator, but I don't really know anything about machine learning, etc. When you are ready to implement you API, I'd be very interested in talking to you. Send me an email at roland@tracktion.com
    - stevehiehn 9y ago
      @FigBug Cool. I'll ping you when/if I get something interesting stood up.
    - bandrami 9y ago
      I'm interested in this; mind if I tag in too?
    - bfuller 9y ago
      is it possible to use a set of music samples and through software find what piece of music is most representative of that set of music? like when you take a bunch of pictures of people and create a phase most representative of the set or which one of the set is most representative
twic 9y ago
One of my official duties on Hacker News is to remind people, at times like this, of "S2 Translation", a 1995 work by The Shamen which translated the coding sequence of a gene into music: https://synapticism.com/notes/s2-translation-an-early-work-of-protein-music/ https://synapticism.com/notes/s2-translation-an-early-work-o... It's a piece which could perhaps be revisited in the light of much improved membrane protein crystallisation techniques: https://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=4PIR https://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=4PIR

ThomPete 9y ago

Agree. Music is by and large about structure. What made it worth listening to was this structure combined with human imperfection in the details and once in a blue moon melodies and harmonies that sound like they are there without being actually played. Of known composers perhaps Bach was at the time the most mathematical of them. Within the next decade I believe algos will be able to write hit's. Already today a lot of the things we like to hear is really using technology to create soundscapes and hooks we would never be able to create as humans.

stevehiehn 9y ago
My bet is we will see DAWs that essentially offer composers shortlisted options to choose from. In my SignalsAndSorcery project I am really just using machine learning to find composition options that make sense in the give context (based on my data set). A DAW could just keep presenting a series of options to choose from and almost anyone could be a composer.
- ThomPete 9y ago
  Yup agree completetly.
- FigBug 9y ago
  I'm currently working on a DAW, and this is definitely the direction we'd like to head. In our previous version, we added some basic chord progressions. The next most likely chords are suggested on statistics from popular music. But I'm stuck on where to take it next. I have some ideas for a melody generator, but I don't really know anything about machine learning, etc. When you are ready to implement you API, I'd be very interested in talking to you. Send me an email at roland@tracktion.com
  - stevehiehn 9y ago
    @FigBug Cool. I'll ping you when/if I get something interesting stood up.
  - bandrami 9y ago
    I'm interested in this; mind if I tag in too?
  - bfuller 9y ago
    is it possible to use a set of music samples and through software find what piece of music is most representative of that set of music? like when you take a bunch of pictures of people and create a phase most representative of the set or which one of the set is most representative

twic 9y ago

One of my official duties on Hacker News is to remind people, at times like this, of "S2 Translation", a 1995 work by The Shamen which translated the coding sequence of a gene into music: https://synapticism.com/notes/s2-translation-an-early-work-of-protein-music/ https://synapticism.com/notes/s2-translation-an-early-work-o... It's a piece which could perhaps be revisited in the light of much improved membrane protein crystallisation techniques: https://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=4PIR https://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=4PIR