# Emily Howell - Virtual composer - (a computer!)



## 52paul (Sep 13, 2009)

A very interesting Times news item about classical music being composed by computer:

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6884631.ece



> Emily Howell could be the next big hit in the classical music world. She has already received critical acclaim for her compositions and secured a record deal, with her debut album due for release next year.
> 
> Emily Howell, however, is a computer program.
> 
> The brains behind her music belong to David Cope, a music professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After almost four decades' work he has created a machine that can create original compositions of contemporary classical music.


David Cope is himself a composer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cope

Another interesting commentary:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/09/virtual-composer-makes-beautiful-musicand-stirs-controversy.ars

So what does the future hold? Will computer composers replace human ones eventually?


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

well that is definitely odd.


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## The Cosmos (Oct 2, 2009)

To answer your last part -



> Will computer composers replace human ones eventually?


Of course not. You know the answer yourself. For many, the exciting part of creating music will go if it's all just based on some mathematical codes.

As for the program(?) itself - well, cant really judge from the minute clip, but hasn't this computer generated stuff been around for decades now? Why the "next big thing" hype? and isn't it subjective to the professor's taste?! (it's all coded in some way or the other right...)

Sort of indifferent as of now. Not all that interested, but hey, it's his freedom to do what he wants.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'm intrigued by the idea of computer generated suggestions for composers. For instance, they could provide a quick way of suggesting hundreds of alternate directions one could take to get nudges out of a rut -- assuming that is a problem composers might face. I wouldn't know.

[There was another very recent thread on this same topic I think.]


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

Here it is:

http://www.talkclassical.com/6996-computer-generated-classical-music.html


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Donya Quick and her software Kulitta
http://news.yale.edu/2015/08/20/you-d-never-know-it-wasn-t-bach-or-even-human

The late Paul Hudak, Quick's dissertation adviser at Yale, organized a separate series of informal public demonstrations where he juxtaposed a musical phrase composed by Kulitta with a phrase by J.S. Bach, the 17th-century German musical genius famous for his cello suites, fugues and chorales. Hudak then challenged audience members to identify which was which; invariably, even some music sophisticates confused Kulitta's phrase for work by Bach.

"It really does work, and that judgment isn't just based on a few people listening to a few of the pieces that have been produced," says Holly Rushmeier, a Yale computer science professor who has seen the system in action. "I was impressed with the user study that verified how effective the system is. Kulitta produces wonderfully sophisticated compositions."


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

If the human race survives long enough there will inevitably come a time when all music and art will be created solely by machines, and humans will have become nothing but mere consumers without the slightest capacity for free, creative thought. It's a morbid but fascinating idea and if we follow it to its logical conclusion, it is this: dehumanization, debasement and inevitable self destruction.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Morimur said:


> If the human race survives long enough there will inevitably come a time when all music and art will be created solely by machines, and humans will have become nothing but mere consumers without the slightest ability for free, creative thought. It's a morbid but fascinating idea, and if we follow it to its logical conclusion, it is this: dehumanization, debasement and inevitable self destruction.


I don't see this kind of research like that. Actually for me it's a great investigation on creativity and perception without the romantic aura that often we attribute to the music.
I don't see it as "the machines are going to replace us" but more as "the machines can tell us something about music and creative processes that usually we can't or we don't want to see".


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

The "machines will take over" scenario discounts the development of brain-computer interfaces, the technology of which is actually progressing faster than AI. It is more likely that in the deep future man and machine are not a discernible distinction, but merged as one.


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## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

Couchie said:


> The "machines will take over" scenario discounts the development of brain-computer interfaces, the technology of which is actually progressing faster than AI. It is more likely that in the deep future man and machine are not a discernible distinction, but merged as one.


Indeed! Not dehumanization but transhumanization. Transcending this mortal coil with the help of technology. That sounds exciting to me, not bleak.


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2015)

Hmmm...tried the first link and it took me to an article about Ashley Madison!


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