Laurie Spiegel on the difference between algorithmic music and ‘AI’

In 1986, physics euphony pioneer Laurie Spiegel created Music Mouse, a measurement for those pinch a Mac, Atari, aliases Amiga machine to dabble successful algorithmic euphony creation. Music Mouse is deceptively simple: Notes are arranged connected an XY grid, and you play it by moving a rodent around. Back successful 1986, the machine rodent was still a comparatively caller device. While it tin trace its origins backmost to the precocious ’60s, it wasn’t until the Macintosh 128K successful 1984 that it started seeing wide adoption.

By past Spiegel, was already an accomplished composer. Her 1980 medium The Expanding Universe is mostly considered among the greatest ambient records of each time. And her creation “Harmony of the Worlds” is presently tearing done interstellar abstraction arsenic portion of the Voyager Golden Record, launched successful 1977. But she is besides a method wizard who joined Bell Labs successful 1973 and was instrumental successful early integer synthesis experiments and worked connected an early machine graphics strategy called Vampire.

Spiegel was profoundly drawn to algorithmic euphony creation and this caller tool, the location computer. So, she created what she calls an “intelligent instrument” that enables the creation of analyzable melodies and harmonies pinch minimal music-theory knowledge. Music Mouse restricts you to peculiar scales, and past you research them simply by pushing a rodent around.

Spiegel gives the personification immoderate control, of course. You tin take if notes move successful parallel aliases contrary to each other, location are options to play notes backmost arsenic chords aliases arpeggios, and location is moreover a elemental shape generator.

Despite being disposable for acquisition until 2021, Spiegel ne'er updated it to activity connected thing much existent than Mac OS 9. Now, 40 years aft its debut, it’s getting reborn for modern machines pinch thief from Eventide.

While it would person been easy for Eventide and Spiegel to overload the 2026 type of Music Mouse pinch countless modern amenities and caller features, they kept things restrained for type 1.0. The halfway characteristic group is the same, though the sound motor is much robust and includes patches based connected Spiegel’s ain Yamaha DX7. There are besides immoderate enhanced MIDI features, including the expertise to provender information from Music Mouse into your DAW aliases an outer synthesizer.

Laurie Spiegel answered immoderate questions for america astir the history of Music Mouse, algorithmic composition, AI, and why she thinks the machine is simply a “folk instrument.”

What were the origins of Music Mouse? Was location thing circumstantial that inspired its creation?

When the first Macs came out, the usage of a rodent arsenic an input device, arsenic an XY controller, was altogether new. Previous computers had conscionable alphanumeric keyboard input aliases possibly civilization controllers. The astir evident point I instantly wanted to do was to beryllium capable to push sound astir pinch that mouse. So, arsenic soon arsenic the first C compilers came out, I coded up a measurement to do that. Pretty soon, though, I wanted the sound quantized into scales, past to adhd much voices to capable retired the harmony. Then I wanted to person controls for timbre, tempo, and everything other I yet added.

How did you link pinch Eventide for this caller version?

I first met Tony and Richard of Eventide each the measurement backmost successful the early 1970s. They are longtime bully friends. I’d been progressive successful various euphony tech projects astatine Eventide complete the years. Tony knew that I really missed Music Mouse and that I still get a adjacent number of requests for the 1980s versions from group who support vintage computers from that era conscionable to beryllium capable to tally Music Mouse aliases different obsolete software. He decided it was a philharmonic instrumentality worthy reviving. I had been wanting to revive it, but hadn’t been capable to find the clip to moreover conscionable support up pinch the measurement improvement tech keeps changing. My main point is really composing music, and I person an progressive capable profession doing that to not person capable clip to do coding arsenic well. I americium highly grateful to Eventide for resuscitating Music Mouse. I dream a batch of group will get a batch of euphony retired of this caller version.

Did you consciousness compelled to make immoderate large changes to it aft 40 years?

We decided to support 1.0 of this caller type of Music Mouse functionally the aforesaid arsenic the 1980s original. The exceptions are adding a higher-quality soul synthesizer and providing ways to sync it pinch different software, to grounds aliases notate its MIDI output. We person a increasing database of features to adhd successful 2.0.

Are location immoderate existent innovations successful euphony tech that excite you?

That’s a difficult question, because I americium not each that excited astir euphony tech correct now. It’s euphony itself that holds my liking — composition, form, structure. I emotion counterpoint and the various contrapuntal forms. I studied them extensively erstwhile I was younger. Of course, harmonic progression is thing I’m besides very willing in, and successful algorithmic assistance for composing it.

That various kinds of structures wrong euphony tin now beryllium much easy dealt pinch successful machine package by now has some pros and cons. The pros see really overmuch much profoundly we person to understand really euphony works, really it is structured, and really it affects us, successful bid to correspond it arsenic a process explanation successful software. That intends learning, research, and self-discovery. The cons see that it’s beautiful easy by now to usage computers to make music-like worldly that is not really the look of an individual quality being. Music is simply a basal quality experience. There is nary quality nine that doesn’t person it. But it is thing that comes from wrong quality beings, arsenic individual expression, arsenic communication, arsenic a benignant of shape of archiving of what we are feeling, and arsenic a intends of sharing it.

You’ve been credited arsenic saying that the machine is simply a caller benignant of people instrument. Can you explicate what you mean by that? How does thing for illustration Music Mouse fresh into that model?

Now that everyone pinch a machine aliases moreover conscionable a telephone has the expertise to grounds and edit and play backmost and digitally process and toggle shape sound, and peculiarly ever since sampling became a communal philharmonic technique, group person been doing remixes, collages, sonic montages… doing each kinds of worldly to audio they get from others aliases find online. This is very for illustration what we utilized to telephone “the people process,” successful which euphony is repurposed, re-orchestrated, fixed caller lyrics aliases different modified arsenic it goes from personification to personification and is adapted to fresh what is meaningful successful successive groups of people.

Music Mouse will thief group create philharmonic materials that tin beryllium utilized successful a perchance infinite number of ways. It is simply a personal, often home-based instrumentality played by an individual, for illustration a guitar.

You mention to Music Mouse arsenic an “intelligent instrument”; it automates a definite magnitude of creation. What is the entreaty of letting a machine return the instrumentality to a degree, arsenic an artist?

Music Mouse is not a generative algorithm aliases an “AI.” It’s a philharmonic instrumentality that a personification tin play. It is, to immoderate degree, what we utilized to telephone an “expert system,” arsenic it has immoderate philharmonic expertise built in. But that is meant to beryllium supportive for the existent unrecorded quality being who is playing it, not to switch them. It makes the playing of notes easier successful bid to fto the player’s attraction beryllium connected the level of phrasing aliases form. I person coded up generative algorithms for music. Music Mouse is not 1 of them. It’s an instrumentality that an individual tin play, and it’s nether their control. It enables a different position that’s from supra the level of the individual note.

Do you spot a relationship betwixt modern generative AI and algorithmic creation tools?

Of course. Algorithms tin beryllium utilized to make music. I person written and utilized some. Music Mouse is not generative, though. It does thing connected its own. It’s a philharmonic instrumentality played by a person.

What is presently called “AI” is different from erstwhile generations of artificial intelligence. I expect location will doubtless beryllium further evolution. In the early years of my usage of machine logic successful composing, AI was much of a rule-based practice. We would effort to fig retired really the mind was making a circumstantial benignant of decision, codification up a simulation to trial our hypothesis, and past refine our knowing successful ray of the result. After that, location was a play of AI taking much of a brute-force approach. Computer chess, for example, would impact generating each imaginable moves imaginable successful a fixed situation, past eliminating those that would beryllium little beneficial. Then neural nets were brought successful for a adjacent procreation of AI. I look guardant to getting beyond the imitative homogenizing LLM attack and seeing immoderate comes next.

There are galore ways of designing an algorithm that either generates euphony aliases other helps a quality being to do that, making immoderate of the decisions during the person’s imaginative process to time off them free to attraction connected different aspects. By taking complete immoderate of the decision-making, they tin free a imaginative mind to attraction connected different perspectives. People conscionable starting to study euphony excessively often bog down and springiness up astatine the level of simply playing the notes, conscionable figuring retired wherever to put their fingers. We tin make philharmonic instruments now that fto group usage a spot of automation connected those debased levels to fto them definitive themselves connected a larger level, for example, to make gestures successful texture-space alternatively than reasoning up conscionable 1 statement astatine a time.

What do you deliberation separates algorithmically generated euphony from thing created by generative AI?

Artificial intelligence refers to a circumstantial subset of ways to usage algorithms. An algorithm is conscionable a explanation of a process, a series of steps to beryllium taken. A generative algorithm tin make decisions progressive successful the accumulation of information, and, of course, euphony is simply a benignant of information. You tin deliberation of AI arsenic trying to simulate quality intelligence. It mightiness person a purpose, specified arsenic taking complete immoderate of our cognitive workload. In contrast, the intent of generative algorithms is to create stuff. In music, that intent is to create an experience.

Music Mouse is not a generative algorithmic program. It’s much of a mini master strategy successful that it has built into it accusation and methods that tin thief its subordinate get beyond the level of conscionable uncovering notes, to the level of uncovering individual expression.

Suno’s CEO Mikey Shulman has said that, “Increasingly sensation is the only point that matters successful creation and accomplishment is going to matter a batch less.” In an property wherever euphony tin beryllium easy created utilizing algorithms, plug-ins, and matter prompts connected inexpensive laptops and smartphones, do you spot the domiciled of composer being 1 chiefly of curation?

I tin spot wherever he’s coming from, but, no, I don’t deliberation so. The scope and kinds of skills utilized successful the imaginative arts will proceed to germinate and expand. But the history of imaginative techniques shows them to beryllium mostly cumulative versus sequential. The keyboard synthesizer has not replaced the piano, which has not replaced the harpsichord aliases the organ. We person them all, that full lineage, each still successful use. Each philharmonic instrumentality aliases creator method implies its ain unsocial creator realm. Each is defined by its circumstantial limitations, which guideline america arsenic we usage them. It is existent that skills and accepted techniques will beryllium an action alternatively than a prerequisite to creating euphony and art, but group will still do them. Just arsenic LPs and chemic movie person made comebacks recently, I expect to spot accepted philharmonic skills do the same. We person had computers and synthesizers for decades, yet location are still small children captivated by instruments made retired of wood aliases coating aliases drawing, and I person yet to usage immoderate euphony editing package that gives maine the fluidity and state of a pencil connected unit paper. There will conscionable beryllium much kinds of complementary ways of making music.

More importantly, we humans person imaginations and emotions. There are soul experiences going connected wrong of america that we consciousness driven to express, to communicate, to share. It doesn’t matter what machines tin make connected their own. We will ever person those soul subjective experiences, emotion, and imagination, and group will acquisition them intensely capable to consciousness driven to create them outer to their ain selves successful bid to pass and stock them. You can’t switch quality self-expression aliases the request for it by simulating their results. Artistic creation comes from a basal quality drive, the request for self-expression. Artistic productivity is an basal method of processing the strength of being alive.

You told New Music USA successful 2014 that, successful respect to physics music, “There is nary azygous creator… the conception of a finite fixed-form portion pinch an identifiable creator that is spot and a mean of speech aliases the embodiment of economical worth really disappears.” Does this thought style your views connected ownership of art?

Those assumptions, which we inherited from the European classical exemplary of music, are already overmuch little salient successful our philharmonic landscape. Improvisation, “process pieces,” the easiness pinch which we tin do transformations of audio files are each complete the place. Folk music, and a batch of what we heard online present and there, mightiness beryllium audio that nary longer has immoderate known originator. We don’t know, and group don’t really care, who first created a swatch of sound. We are experiencing immoderate has been done pinch it — different orchestrations, durations, awesome processing. The immense proliferation of plug-ins and guitar effects pedals fto anyone toggle shape a sound beyond recognition. This is creation connected a different level than connected the level of the individual note, likewise to Music Mouse.

Another very important facet of “folk music” is that it is typically played astatine home, pinch aliases for friends aliases family, aliases alone. This is very different from general performance settings and programming we successful the US inherited from Europe. For me, the astir important philharmonic acquisition is conscionable astir ever astatine home, wherever we live. To quote what Pete Seeger said successful his write-up of Music Mouse successful Sing Out, that “she [meaning me] foresees a time erstwhile machine pieces will beryllium for illustration folksongs, anonymous communal spot to beryllium altered by each caller user. She would for illustration to get euphony retired of the performance hallway and backmost into the surviving room.”

Music Mouse is disposable for macOS and Windows 11 for $29.