Robot composer Shimon jams its own beats
Robot composer Shimon – now those are a string of words I didn’t think I’d use for another few years.
With the exponential growth that is technology, what was fashioned in movies, Artificial Intelligence, is now firmly in our grasp.
The Georgia Institute of Technology has created something spectacular: a robot called Shimon that (not who) composes and plays its (not his) own beats.
Shimon, which should be said in a “Sean Connery” voice or alternatively a “Michael Jackson says Shamone” voice, uses artificial intelligence and a process called “deep neural learning” to compose and then to perform its music.
What music does robot composer Shimon jam?
With its 4 arms, 8 sticks and the knowledge of more than 5000 artists Shimon shreds the marimba. He uses riffs and phrases of music to piece together his own compositions.
Shimon says.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Shimon is that after receiving a series of musical notes, it is able to give its human ‘partner’ ideas that would work well with what was originally fed.
This could change the way music, especially electronic music, is made.
It seems the nature of AI is to enhance and improve our own capabilities- it sees no limits, only potential.
Earlier we did an article about Google’s Magenta AI, which also composes music, though is not in robot form.
The creators and developers of Shimon have been working for more than 7 years to materialize this mission.
Ph.D. student Mason Bretan and Gil Weinberg, the director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, have worked relentlessly to allow Shimon to work.
It is crazy how life-like it is (I keep wanting to say he) – he even has jamming body language when he performs.
Check out the video of the robot composer Shimon.
