ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Episode 181
Artificial Intelligence and Electronic Music
Playlist
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Introduction
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1. Cornelius Cardew, “Treatise: String Orchestra (2025). The first of three AI interpretations of a piece by Cardew composed between 1963 and 1967. The work was written as a graphic score. Produced by the team of Professor Shlomo Dubnov of the University of California at San Diego, they used as the basis for an improvisation Cardew’s graphical musical score comprising 193 pages of lines, symbols, and various geometric or abstract shapes that largely stray from conventional musical notation (pages 1 to 33 were used). The recordings from Dubnov’s team interpreted this graphic score with the help of Open AI’s ChatGPT 40 and a program they developed themselves called Music Latent Diffusion Model (MusicLDM), an AI-like algorithm. The recordings show how AI can transform visual stimuli into sound and expand on their interpretation in an experimental music composition. This version is arranged for digital string orchestra.
2. Cornelius Cardew, “Treatise” Sinewave” (2025). This version from Dubrov’s lab was arranged for sinewave generator.
3. Cornelius Cardew, “Treatise: Experimental” (2025). This version from Dubrov’s lab was arranged for a mix of instruments defined as “experimental” by the team.
4. Valérie Philippin, “Extraits de recherche” (2024). Vocal interaction experiment conducted with vocalist Valérie Philippin while she was in artistic residence at European Research Council REACH project (ERC) at IRCAM. AI interaction in real-time using the Somax2 program. Voice: Valérie Philippin, Somax2 & electronics: Mikhail Malt.
5. Horse Lords and The Who/Men, “Zero Degree Machine” (2023). Horse Lords Concert at ERC REACH. Music using Somax2 to interact with the performers and add new parts and instruments in real time. If you hear something other than a guitar, drums, bass, and sax, then it was created by Somax2. You might detect loops of instruments (e.g., saxophone) as well because Somax2 adds to the mix. Horse Lords (Max Eilbacher bass/electronics, Sam Haberman percussion, Owen Gardner guitar, Andrew Bernstein percussion/saxophone). The Who/Men: Gérard Assayag, Mikhail Malt, Reach interactive AI: Somax2; Marco Fiorini, Reach interactive AI: Somax2 and electric guitar; Manuel Poletti, computer music production at IRCAM). The Who/Men are providing guidance for Somax2 in real-time, operating different instances of the program on their laptops.
6. PintoCreation “AI-generated Sci-Fi Sci-Fi and Visual Storytelling” (2025). This is just an example of how task-specific AI is being used to generate videos with electronic music soundtracks. This is an excerpt from one of the soundtracks for the many videos they have generated for their YouTube channel.
7. Artificial Intelligence Music, “Melodic Techno” (2025). Excerpt of AI-generated techno music found on this YouTube site. They explain that the music found here “was composed by an AI, meticulously trained on the nuances of this captivating genre.’ I have no idea what AI engine was used, but this is just one example of how many music producers are getting onto the AI train.
8. Atmoscapia, “Calm Ambient” (2025). This is a purpose-built generative ambient music creator for “Films, Games, YouTube, and Creative Projects.” Billed as an “Instant Ambient Music Generator For Content Creators,” you use it by selecting styles and lengths up to an hour long. In this case, I chose the style “Calm, Meditative, Dreamy.” Two other categories are also provided for “Cinematic, Dramatic, Emotional” and “Dark, Horror, Suspense.” Those are the extent of the current choices in the free version. It delivers a soundtrack that you can download.
9. Thom Holmes, “Thom DeepAI Noise Music” (2025). In an attempt to generate something more experimental using an AI system, I turned to DeepAI and gave it the following instructions: “Experimental, noise sounds. No melody, no harmony, no rhythm. Randomized intervals of silence. Randomized mood swings.” It was short as I was not using the premium version, but it came closer than some other AI programs to creating a work that was more closely aligned with experimental.
Opening background music: Ambient music generated by the Atmoscapia AI system using the “Dark, Horror, Suspense” setting (excerpt).
Introduction to the podcast voiced by Anne Benkovitz.
Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.
My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022.
See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.
For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.
