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Popular YouTube Artist Uses AI To Record New Album (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the tricks-of-the-trade dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report from The Verge of a popular YouTube artist who is using artificial intelligence to produce a LP: If you heard Taryn Southern's new single "Break Free" on the radio, you'd probably just keep driving or grocery shopping, or doing whatever you do in places that still have radios playing. The song is a big, moody ballad -- the kind that might play during the climax of a Steven Spielberg movie. "Break Free" wasn't composed by a John Williams copycat, but by artificial intelligence. The song is not a fluke or a novelty for Southern either; she's using artificial intelligence platforms to create an entire album, called I AM AI. It's the first LP to be entirely composed and produced with AI. Southern used an open source AI platform called Amper Music to create the stems of "Break Free." For each track, she plugs in genre, the instruments she wants to use, and beats per minute. In return, Amper churns out disjointed verses that can be rearranged into a song, and layered beneath Southern's vocals. Southern told The Verge she's toying with four other AI music platforms, but she's not sure which of those will make the final album cut.

48 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Nice by TimothyHollins · · Score: 4, Funny

    For once it might be Beyonce and Justin Bieber worrying about their jobs getting outsourced instead of programmers and service personnel. I like this new plot twist.

    1. Re: Nice by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      People don't listen to them for their "music", it's because they want to fuck them. If they were ugly, would their music sell? No.

      Justin Bieber IS ugly though!

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Nice by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

      TPain will be the first to go. Just set the genre to Hip Hop, and get the AI to read out it's lyrics with AutoTune and BAM.

    3. Re:Nice by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      Except the funny thing is, T-Pain can actually sing. He just had the misfortune to latch onto an easy-to-reproduce gimmick, and in the end it killed his career.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  2. Entirely by arth1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's the first LP to be entirely composed and produced with AI. Southern used an open source AI platform called Amper Music to create the stems of "Break Free." For each track, she plugs in genre, the instruments she wants to use, and beats per minute. In return, Amper churns out disjointed verses that can be rearranged into a song, and layered beneath Southern's vocals

    That's an interesting definition of "entirely".
    I would say "partially" is a better word.

    1. Re:Entirely by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's an interesting definition of "entirely".
      I would say "partially" is a better word.

      You're correct. In fact, it's only a few steps removed from playing a Casio keyboard with the arpeggiator turned on and randomly pressing the white keys.

      I've used Amper Music and it's an interesting platform. Algorithmic and generative music certainly is interesting, but like this song, it's kind of dull.

      A more interesting application is having an AI produce a musical score which is then performed by human musicians. Gottfried Koenig does something like this in a more traditional Western Classical tradition rather than pop music. I prefer the live interaction of man and machine to the "throw a bunch of standard chord progressions into some software".

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Entirely by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It's just like how "literally" now means "exponentially".

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:Entirely by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Is that literally exponentially, or virtually exponentially?

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    4. Re:Entirely by Mal-2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's an interesting definition of "entirely".
      I would say "partially" is a better word.

      I'd be inclined to agree. I'd say this is as "entirely" produced by AI to the same degree as my own work has been for years, and many others as well. It's called Band In A Box, which has been around (though not with all the features it currently has) for almost 30 years.

      I also have tracks where the entire composition was done by cgMusic, and I did all the arrangement and production, like this one, or where the computer did 80% of the composition, such as this or this.

      To musicians in my position, who create their tracks from the ground up all the way to mastering, none of this is even remotely new. We've been doing it not for years, but for decades. It wasn't called AI, and "expert system" is probably more appropriate, but it doesn't change the way it is used or the results obtained.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  3. They'll be alright. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The AI composes the songs - not performs them. And many pop stars don't write their own songs.

    Elvis Presley had an awesome career singing other people's songs.

    1. Re:They'll be alright. by geekmux · · Score: 2

      The AI composes the songs - not performs them. And many pop stars don't write their own songs.

      Elvis Presley had an awesome career singing other people's songs.

      Unlike damn near every entertainer today, Elvis Presley didn't need Autotune.

      And the only reason they'll be "alright" is because the music standard has dropped so fucking low that we don't even call them musicians anymore; they're now entertainers. The fans will welcome these AI-writing overlords and not miss a beat.

    2. Re:They'll be alright. by src1138 · · Score: 1

      Next stop - Sharon Apple.

    3. Re:They'll be alright. by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 1

      Puhleez, if you honestly though 90% of musicians wrote their own songs you are sadly mistaken.

      --
      There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
    4. Re:They'll be alright. by mark-t · · Score: 2

      I think it depends if you define "musician" to be synonymous with singer.

      I would not consider a singer to be a musician *unless* they also wrote songs.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    5. Re:They'll be alright. by geekmux · · Score: 2

      Puhleez, if you honestly though 90% of musicians wrote their own songs you are sadly mistaken.

      Music used to be written and created. It held emotion and power.

      Today, pop music is manufactured predictable shit. It's all based on a market-validated recipe of some brainless hottie laying oversexualizing Autotuned vocals on top of revenue-generating beats. The shift to letting AI create "music" only validates how truly easy it is to manufacture shit for the masses.

      As I said before, the music standard has dropped lower than a dubstep track.

    6. Re:They'll be alright. by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1, Troll

      Seriously, SM/bondage-artists with huge plastic dildos singing for preteen girls is our culture now?

      You mean like the lead singer for Rammstein who has a dildo on the end of his mic? Or did you mean the spiked dog collar he wears? The medical procedure he underwent to have a light temporarily put in his mouth?

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    7. Re:They'll be alright. by mark-t · · Score: 1

      I cannot claim to know... I know that he sang, but did he ever compose or write music? If so, then yes, but if not, then no.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    8. Re:They'll be alright. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      I think it depends if you define "musician" to be synonymous with singer.

      Synonymous? Well, no I don't. Singers are musicians, but musicians are not necessarily singers.

      I would not consider a singer to be a musician *unless* they also wrote songs.

      Well then you dismiss the overwhelming number of musicians (including singers) who do not compose their own music, but instead dedicate their careers to performing the music of others.

      Singers are singers, pianists are pianists, drummers are drummers, guitarists are guitarists, composers are composers. But collectively, they're musicians.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    9. Re: They'll be alright. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      When I said "collectively they're musicians" I thought it was clear that I meant:

      - singers are musicians
      - pianists are musicians
      - drummers are musicians
      - guitarists are musicians
      - composers are musicians
      - etc.

      I apologize if I caused any confusion.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    10. Re:They'll be alright. by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 1

      Valid point, some "singers" can't even play an instrument, heck without AutoTune half of them can't sing.

      --
      There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
  4. Algorithmic Interface ? by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 1

    The classic definition of AI to me always meant self learning and possibly even self aware. It's funny how terms change over time once it becomes a popular buzzword.

    1. Re:Algorithmic Interface ? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Actually both terms never really were part of the definition :)
      Self learning in AI is e.g. just a small subset, albeit one that made strong improvements the last decade.

      On the other hand in SF or movies AI is often set equal to self aware. However I doubt the computer in Star Trek is selfaware.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    2. Re:Algorithmic Interface ? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Whenever I see "A.I." in an article I read it as "Advanced Ignoramus".

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Algorithmic Interface ? by Migraineman · · Score: 1

      When AI becomes sentient, will music get its soul back?

  5. Obig Orwell by seven+of+five · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Here were produced rubbishy newspapers containing almost nothing except sport, crime and astrology, sensational five-cent novelettes, films oozing with sex, and sentimental songs which were composed entirely by mechanical means on a special kind of kaleidoscope known as a versificator. "

    1. Re:Obig Orwell by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately life has no value

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:Obig Orwell by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      'seven of five'

      ..tertiary adjunct to Unimatrix sqrt(-1)?

  6. LP???? by OzPeter · · Score: 2

    In what world does a music download equate to an LP??

    Yeah get off my lawn.

    OTOH This will be the Autotune of the future. I can't say that I am inspired by that song (seemed pretty generic and soulless to me) but I am sure I will be surprised someday soon.

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  7. Copyright all possible variations of "music" by bad-badtz-maru · · Score: 1

    They should just run the Amper algorithm nonstop, generating every possible chord and note permutation likely to appear in commercial music. Then they can sit back and sue any future hit artists for copyright infringement

    1. Re:Copyright all possible variations of "music" by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 2

      There should be an easier way.

      Music is encoded at 44khz * 24-bit samples. That's about 1Mbits per second of audio.

      Why not just run through all the permutations of possible 1s and 0s and copyright that? You'd literally have every possible 1-second sound that could exist.

      Now, as to the computational power you'd need, well, there's the rub.

      --
      I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
  8. I AM Radio... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I was looking at a table top radio at a store recently where it had FM but no AM. How can you have a radio without the AM band?

    1. Re:I AM Radio... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      By cutting into the BOM.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  9. Who? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Taryn Southern [... ] (is) using artificial intelligence platforms to create an entire album.

    And soon someone will replace her with a vocaloid.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  10. Who gets the ASCAP fees? by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    Does all the money go to the singer? Does the AI have representation? Does the AI make flaky demands like no brown M&Ms in the green room?

    1. Re:Who gets the ASCAP fees? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I assume that the "brown M&M's" reference is referring to the legendary Van Halen performance contract clause stipulating that there would be M&M's but no brown ones in the dressing room. The rational for the clause actually made some sense. "The M&Ms provision was included in Van Halen’s contracts not as an act of caprice, but because it served a practical purpose: to provide a simple way of determining whether the technical specifications of the contract had been thoroughly read and complied with." More info here:

      http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp

  11. Gyms will save a bundle by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 1

    Instead of paying to license newest crappy tunes they'll just buy the software once and autogenerate a bunch of different songs to play every day.

  12. I've been playing with this for a long time now by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 1

    Well, a few months anyway. My "songs" (well, machine learning neural network) are here, if anyone wants to listen to them. The Char-RNN creates all the lyrics, song titles, and notes. I was particularly amused by the song title "I'm Almost Human" https://soundcloud.com/user-34... The data file feeding the NN was of death metal lyrics. The tunes are far too happy to match (I'm not a musician, and only working with a limited set of free .MIDI instruments/tools) but the actual lyrics (not printed on the site) are pretty dark/esoteric/weird (as to be expected by a Neural Network)

    --
    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
  13. My experience by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have experimented with computer-composed music, and conclude it's fairly easy to make "pleasant" music: the rules for western ear expectations are fairly straight forward; stay within the rules and it'll sound "normal".

    Markov-like chains of "hit tune" chord progressions can be mined, for example, to find decent chords. And there are fairly obvious rules for how the melody moves around a given chord and chord transitions, if you simply study diagrams/plots of several hits. The melody "likes" certain distances and relationships with regard to the active chord, sort of reminiscent of the probabilistic modelling of electron orbits (positions) relative to the center of the the atom. One can fine-tune the extraction of such patterns/formulas using statistics and AI (although I just eye-balled most of it myself and used some trial-and-error).

    Now whether anyone finds music generated from such pattern mining highly entertaining and/or moving is another matter. For one, such is subjective: a pattern or technique that one person really likes, another may not. The hard part is not really generating ideas, but culling them. AI may indeed be able to cull based on patterns of existing hits to find a bigger audience, but after a while the easy-to-find patterns will get tired and stale to listeners. The low-hanging fruit will be all picked and people will want something different. It's why fads like disco, auto-tune, emo rock, and techno come and go.

    Even if AI-using composers hone their techniques of generating candidate music, the hard part will still be culling against actual listeners: after all, AI does not buy music: only actual human "testers" will suffice. The cost of testing (getting listeners) will be about the same regardless of whether a tune is composed by a human or machine. Thus, you need to make sure the bot's quality is competitive with a human, or you are wasting money. On the web you still have to pay for attention (unless you get really lucky with cute hamsters or the like).

    Another thing, my "music machines" tend to sound like my hand-composed music. It's modelling my own head more or less being I tune it based on my preference and by grabbing samples of stuff I like in order to extract patterns from. Thus, the artificial composer is sort of an extension of myself. It's just "implementing" my preferences.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:My experience by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > Markov-like chains of "hit tune" chord progressions can be mined, for example, to find decent chords.

      Hell, even a 4 note chord" works. (Axis of Awesome)

    2. Re:My experience by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      And closely related to the "4-chords":

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      But do note (no pun intended) that my experiments were mostly focused on early classical music. "Bach era", if you will. (I even put one on SoundCloud, but don't feel like giving a link out just yet.)

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    3. Re:My experience by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      May I ask what it is you use to generate music?

      The "auto-composer" generates either MIDI or MIDI-like codes*, which I then feed into a MIDI player (synthesizer) of some kind. I also experimented with the "csound" library to actually generate sound (.WAV files), which gives one more control over the wave-forms, but I decided that's too much micromanagement needed by the bot, and went back to MIDI players. (Csound is fun to play with, though. It's better for "spacey" music than traditional.)

      Keep in mind these are hobbyist and experimental gizmos. If I were a music pro (not) it would typically be converted into traditional "music sheet" staff notation and given to the band/orchestra to practice and play. Synthesizers are just a cheap shortcut, at least for a traditional sound.

      * I like to generate an intermediate form that's a higher abstraction than MIDI (but later converted to MIDI), something like the following table (or CSV) structure:

      - beat number, or maybe just a "new beat" marker
      - channel (instrument)
      - note number (note position on the keyboard or equiv.)
      - start tick (Example: 4th tick out of 8)
      - duration in ticks
      - velocity (intensity)
      - misc. special effects indicators, such as bend or slow ramp-up

      Ticks are typically 8 per beat, but may be 16 for intricate music, or 6 per beat for 3/4 time (great for Renascence tunes). I'm not guaranteeing I'm using official vocab here.

      Further, I recently devised a kind of musical ASCII short-hand that gives a current-chord perspective instead of an absolute "note" position perspective. It's real nutty, but I like it. It makes one think about melodies different than the usual approach. It's interesting how a different notation makes one think differently about song construction because it highlights patterns not readily visible in the typical approach. It's roughly comparable to the feeling of using polar coordinates instead of X/Y coordinates. Certain kinds of math transformations are just easier with polar coordinates when dealing with round stuff.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    4. Re:My experience by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      LOL! Hadn't seen that one. Priceless!

  14. Re:This is the future of music by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    All music will be produced on-the-fly by AI

    Cool; too bad we don't have AI yet. DId you mean to say machine logic?

  15. Sounds like it sucks by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    No, I haven't heard it, maybe I'll find a way, but my initial reaction, considering how shitty so-called inappropriately-named 'AI' is, is that it'll suck.

  16. Generative music by sound+vision · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is called generative music, and it's not new. Since this is Slashdot, you may recall that the music in Spore was entirely machine-generated, in real-time no less. No pre-recording, no overdubs. The man behind the Spore music, Brian Eno, has been experimenting with music based on rules and randomness (but not computers) since 1975, using a deck of special cards, calling it "oblique strategies".
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Calling it "AI" instead doesn't make it new. But hey, I guess some random YouTube douche needSUBSCRIBE NOW SUBSCRIBE NOW SUBSCRIBE NOW

  17. Re:Ask Slashdot: What's your favorite song? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

    Hmm..well, whatever this AI comes up with...has to be better than what's being put out by Taylor Swift or Beyonce.....

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  18. Re:just what the world needs by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Take it away R2D2, ladies & gentlemen, he's the man!...

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
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