How to use AI 🧠 to compose Classical Music 🎵
Channel: Dirk Tomandl
Date: 2020-06-24

In this video I explain the process that I have developed that starts with raw idea fragments generated by the Artificial Intelligence software MuseNet (Payne, Christine. "MuseNet." OpenAI, 25 Apr. 2019, https://openai.com/blog/musenet) up to the final composition as a playable score.

00:00 Introduction
01:41 Overview over the process
04:00 MuseNet explanation and demo
06:54 Musical Example: excerpts from "Dueling Dancers" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv3lOWbMCOs&list=PLbG6g-0Kt-BdgBGG9DjJ95cy-DbZ3-Wyp)

Since these days most people have the attention span of a goldfish, I kept it as short as possible although there is obviously a lot more to say ;-)

This is the playlist where all of my AI co-composed pieces are compiled: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbG6g-0Kt-BdgBGG9DjJ95cy-DbZ3-Wyp

I am absolutely amazed how far Artificial Intelligence has come and its ability to help composing interesting music. We are witnessing the dawn of a new era. I consider MuseNet as my composing buddy that provides a never-ending fountain of ideas - without attitude ;-)

It is an interesting synergy between man and machine where we both make each other better.

Initially, MuseNet proposes four short fragments. After a dozen or attempts I keep the first few seconds used here. MuseNet then continues the piece by proposing four versions of a few seconds of music and the user picks their favorite. This iterative, step-wise process continues until either the composer is happy or MuseNet stalls (yes, it has bugs...). Usually, you have to go through many iterations and assess and reject dozens of fragments. My goal is to guide MuseNet in that its fragments can be used to compose a coherent, emotional, musical story:
Opener, introduction of a theme, development of the theme, a second theme and its development, quote theme one, ending
Without strong guidance and rejection of most proposed ideas, MuseNet can sometimes meander aimlessly or run in circles. However, in my experience, with sufficient guidance it has the potential to come up with amazing phrases.
I will post more AI-inspired compositions on this channel.

Can using MuseNet be considered "composing"? Yes, absolutely! For starters, the pieces would not exist without my guidance. AI thus far is not able to compose emotionally meaningful music that tells a coherent story. AI is good in creating short ideas that a human composer can use as starting material for the actual composition.
In order to guide MuseNet well, you'll have to listen to your exact same inner ear and voice like in regular composing. You'll have to develop an instinctive sense how to direct MuseNet musically. Only then you will get great raw musical material that then can be used for the actual composition. The many bad MuseNet videos on YouTube demonstrate how trivial its compositions can be if the human user lacks musicality.

Another interesting insight is that MuseNet creates both the music as well as its interpretation simultaneously. The advantage is that out-of-the-box its compositions sound and feel as if they were played by a human performer. The downside is that these "humanized", imprecise Midi files are a nightmare for notation software.

Enjoy and let me know ✍️ what you think in the comments below!
Don't forget to subscribe 🔔 to this channel!

🎹 Website: https://www.dirktomandl.com/
🎹 Playlist with all of Dirk's compositions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbG6g-0Kt-BdSGGCO8d1pU2-Ni2n1DEbZ
🎹 Free-Scores: https://www.free-scores.com/Download-PDF-Sheet-Music-dirktomandl.htm
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#ArtificialIntelligence, #MuseNet, #ClassicalComposition, #Piano, #OriginalComposition