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November 19, 2023

How Artificial Intelligence Is Reviving Forgotten Music Styles

How Artificial Intelligence Is Reviving Forgotten Music Styles

In the world of music, something really cool is going on – Artificial Intelligence (AI) is bringing forgotten tunes and styles back to life. It's like mixing super advanced tech with musical sentiments from the good old days. This is not just a short-lived trend, it's a comeback that spans across time. So, let's check out how AI is changing things, bringing back old music styles, and making a comeback that appeals to both old-school and modern music lovers.

How AI Works While Reviving & Recreating Music?

AI has an amazing skill – it can bring back old music styles and make entirely new songs using a smart process called machine learning. Using deep learning and neural networks, the AI learns from a bunch of music data, like old compositions and recordings. This data is its training ground. With the help of neural networks, AI dives into the details of patterns, structures, and vibes in the music it learned, focusing on specific times or styles.

Next, the AI pulls out important features from the music data, like melody, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics. This part is super important because it grabs the unique parts that make the music style special. Once it knows all this, the trained AI starts creating brand-new songs that copy the patterns and structures it learned. What's really cool is that people can tweak the songs to fit their own likes.

After the AI has worked its magic, the new songs go through a careful check to make sure they really capture the style everyone wanted. This checking part is like a big test, and if needed, subtle changes are made. Through this back-and-forth process, the AI gets better at copying the chosen music style, and in the end, you get a totally new song that sounds like it's from the past.

How AI Helped Finish Beethoven’s 10th Symphony?

AI can not only recreate and revive music styles but its precision and training is such that between 2019 and 2020, it helped finish Beethoven's 10th symphony which was unfinished at the time of his demise.

In 2019, a team of music experts and computer scientists from Dresden University of Technology and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland joined forces for a special project. They used AI algorithms to carefully study Beethoven's old music and create new pieces that matched his unique style. They also looked closely at Beethoven's plans for the 10th Symphony to understand how he worked and what he wanted.

The music they made with AI was then performed and recorded by a live orchestra, directed by conductor Peter Gülke. This finished piece premiered at a concert in Bonn, Germany in 2020.

Completing Beethoven's 10th Symphony with AI is a big deal for the worlds of musicology and computer science. It shows that AI can analyze complex information and make new art that fits with established styles.

AI X Schubert & Mozart

Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, a classical mystery, finally got completed with the help of both musicians and AI. The AI algorithms, tuned to Schubert's musical style, added parts that smoothly fit with the existing music, bringing a fitting end to this mysterious musical journey.

Moving to Mozart's Requiem, which remained a puzzle due to Mozart's early death, AI stepped in to revive it. By studying Mozart's many pieces and understanding the details of the Requiem, AI filled in the missing parts. This allowed audiences to experience the grand finale that Mozart couldn't finish himself. Thanks to AI and Mozart's brilliance working together, the Requiem got its complete and emotional conclusion, giving listeners a powerful musical moment.

The Ethical Dimensions: Finding the Right Tune Between Creativity and Authenticity

While it's amazing that AI can finish unfinished masterpieces, it also brings up important questions about the mix of technology and true artistic expression. Figuring out how to honor a composer's legacy while embracing the innovation AI brings needs careful thought.

We're in a situation where old-fashioned values meet new technology, and we need to think about the ethics of using AI in music. This means considering who should get credit for AI-generated music, why we're using this technology, and how to keep the real artistic feeling alive.

Thinking about ethics is a bit like walking a tightrope. We want to use AI to make music better without overshadowing the original genius it's meant to go along with. It's about finding a careful approach that respects what composers wanted while also letting AI add interesting new things to the music. It's not just about finishing old songs, it's about doing it in a way that keeps the heart of the music intact and remembers the artistic journey that happened before AI came into the picture.

Figuring out the right balance between creativity and staying true to the original becomes really important. The changing role of AI in making music means musicians, tech experts, and everyone else need to keep talking to make sure we're using artificial intelligence in a way that's fair and follows ethical rules. The main goal is not just to use AI to make music better, but to do it in a way that makes the artistic experience richer. It's about respecting the past and being excited about all the new possibilities the future of music holds.

Final Thoughts

The collaboration between AI and music, far from being a passing trend, stands as a foundational pillar shaping the very essence of musical creation in the years to come. It is a harmonious symphony of tradition and progress, a testament to the vast potential when human creativity and technological capabilities intertwine. As we witness this transformative era, the ethical considerations surrounding AI and music act as guardians, ensuring authenticity of artistic expression.

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