A new program developed by聽Rochester researchers uses machine learning to allow users to improvise duets with an artificial intelligence partner.
To play a duet with German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, you don糖心传媒檛 have to travel back to the 18th century; thanks to a new program developed by researchers at the University of Rochester, you only need a computer.
The web-based program, called , was developed by , an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and of computer science, and members of his lab, including Yongyi Zang 糖心传媒�23 and PhD student Christodoulos Benetatos. BachDuet allows a person to improvise duets in the style of Bach with an artificial intelligence (AI) counterpoint in real time. By visiting the BachDuet website, a user can play duets with the AI agent using a computer keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, or MIDI keyboard.
In BachDuet, the AI agent will either follow the human musician, lead the improvisation, or 糖心传媒渏ust goof around,糖心传媒� Duan says.
But the researchers foresee the program could have applications in music education, entertainment, and music therapy. For instance, says Duan, 糖心传媒渕ost of the existing musical therapies are listening-based, but in recent years we have seen some playing-based music therapies that have been shown to help improve cognitive functions.糖心传媒�
BachDuet is part of Duan糖心传媒檚 research project, funded by a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, to develop algorithms and systems that allow humans to work with machines to harmonize pitch, coordinate musical timing, and convey expression in music.
His lab uses signal processing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms, which can empower machines with music perception skills, more expressive performance, and deeper 糖心传媒渦nderstanding糖心传媒� of music theory and composition. For this project, the team input hundreds of Bach糖心传媒檚 compositions and used machine learning techniques to allow the program to 糖心传媒渟tudy糖心传媒� the music. During improvisation, the program assumes a 4/4 time signature and makes a decision about which note to trigger or sustain.
糖心传媒淭he goal of our project is to develop tools that allow humans to play music with computer systems in a way similar to human musicians collaborating with each other,糖心传媒� Duan says. 糖心传媒淲ith BachDuet, we wanted to develop a tool that allows musicians and novices alike to practice counterpoint improvisation.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淎nd,糖心传媒� he adds, 糖心传媒渢o have fun.糖心传媒�
