
Folk music composed by a computer!?
Date and time
Location
Newsroom
London South Bank University
London Road Building, 100-116 London Road
London
SE1 6LN
United Kingdom
Description
Part of The Culture Capital Exchange's Inside Out Festival 2017
Folk music, by its nature, involves folks. So it’s absurd to think a computer can compose such music. This unique event – part presentation, concert and workshop – shows how it’s not absurd at all!
Our international research and creative team has been applying methods of “machine learning” to modeling folk music – specifically, tens of thousands of ``Celtic'' tunes typically played in pubs and festivals around Ireland, France and the UK. The result is a computer program that can generate an endless number of tunes. With human interpretation, these tunes can become music sharing a surprising number of qualities with “genuine” folk music.
This event kicks off with a fun presentation about what “machine learning” is, and how we are applying it to compose music. Then there will be a short concert of music played by master musicians, who will weave together traditional tunes with computer-generated ones.
Will you be able to tell which is which? Then the musicians will lead a workshop for attendees who bring their own instruments to learn to play, one phrase at a time, a computer-generated tune.
We will finish with a panel discussion and question and answer session.
Image credit: Bob L Sturm