Synthetic Orchestras Not As Good As The Real Thing, But May Be Close Enough
from the bot-on-bach dept
There have been numerous instances of machines replacing humans to perform some tasks, though traditionally this phenomenon is associated with repetitive, unskilled labor that can be easily automated. More recently computers and robots have started moving into more professional areas associated with higher skill, like surgery. Increasingly, computers and synthesizers are able to replace whole orchestras, producing sound that's impressively close to the real thing. This has caused some concern for trained musicians, worried that their skills will no longer be in demand, and in one case, a few years ago, it resulted in a formal complaint from a New York musician's union. The fact that a machine can do what they do with some degree of success raises the disturbing idea that a trained musician (one who reads sheet music, and then plays it back) is actually more like a technician than an artist. Many musicians will insist that a computerized system will never achieve the texture and beauty of a live orchestra performance. That may be true for some time, and top operas will continue to use live musicians. But more importantly, synthetic orchestras will enable many more productions that would have never been able to happen, because companies will have access to something that's close enough to the real thing at a tiny fraction of the price. And such a scenario, that sees more musical productions, and greater access to them, should be a positive for those involved with the industry, as long as they're prepared to adapt.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Disturbing?
From what I can tell, synthetic music doesn't sound as good because it's too perfect. Without the slightly off tempo's and stops it becomes clear that it is artificial. Maybe the best way to make realistic sounding synthetic music is to find a way to introduce faults in the playback?
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Re: Disturbing?
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well
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Re: well
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oh...
Joshua: There is already synthesized music which has that "being played" sound. aphex twin is rather good at it... and i've sequence out a few romantic era pieces which, after you take the time to put in tempo changes and whatnot, sound very natural.
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Just avoid any productions that use stairs.
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Computer geeks rule!
To do battle, no less
Against the great Kasparov
In this game we call chess
With our 'puters we came
To the orchestra pit
And played we so well
The musicians give fit
With our 'puters we came
And so again come anew
All before us beware
We're coming for you
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Now hold on Joe...
But more importantly, synthetic orchestras will enable many more productions that would have never been able to happen, because companies will have access to something that's close enough to the real thing at a tiny fraction of the price.
The part in bold is what scares musicians. Yes it will enable more productions but musicians fear that the cheaper synthetic orchestra would lead to the owners of production companies to depend on synthetic players for nearly ALL their productions, which would put a lot of them (accept the absolute best of the best) out of work.
Look at like outsourcing tech jobs. Yes cheaper foreign labor allows corporations to hold keep more money in house but that also puts a lot of Americans out of work. Yes outsourcing will level off (and possibly drop) and hiring will pick up on the States again as companies realize that outsourcing isn't as cheap as orginally though. But the people that lost those jobs before have to survive and they can't afford to wait out the ebb and flow of their job market.
In conclusion (I'm usually not so long winded) I think some of the, "A machine can't copy the emotion of a human player" argument is fear of job security and I think their fears may be legit in the years to come if the synthetic orchestra becomes commonplace.
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sure, most would like to see the oh wow factor, but i'm sure that the boston pops have some serious clout, and people will go to see them
the lower end musicians..might have a problem, but look at what happened with most production facilites. car companies have bots that weld and assemble. razors, paper towles, food. they are all made by machines. before youd have tons of peopel doing those jobs, but guess what? people moved to the "qa" and other areas...
so yeah, musicians will have to adapt. i mean, you don't see birds staying northin for the winter, do you?
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your music equivalent would be like happy birthday or twinkl twinkle little star.
what you can do is take "stary night" or "the scream" or "American gothic" and taking every pixle and giving it a number and then trying to paint it. and then compare it with a great symphonic compesition. more detail, more time, and it will come out a reproduction.
that's all music is. it's just a reproduction of ceertain harmonic frequencies. "synthetic" music is "pure" it's true. it's "correct" you hold a note for .5 seconds, not .49993 or .50023.
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technician vs artist
Certainly some people out there that play by reading music are more technicians that artists. However, as with everything, there is a certain something about the human spirit that can transcend the technical aspects of the process. Machines can't do this.
To shift gears a bit, watching (or being) a basketball player who is "in the zone" is truly something magical. Certainly knowing the correct "technical" procedure for shooting a basketball is necessary, but the act of somehow producing shot after shot under extremely stressful situations is something to behold because it involves much more than technique. It involves something a bit more mystical.
This applies to musicians as well. Watching a player piano is fascinating for about 5 minutes. Watching a person play the same thing can keep you seated for much longer. Why? Because good ones put enough of their soul into it that the mystique transcends any "automated" process.
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As far as perfect vs imperfect
The bigger picture is that this is akin to digital art programs like photoshop and such - just another tool in the kit for creative minds. Some applications will call for human orchestras, some will use digital ones. But the music lives on either way.
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Musicians have always had a hard time in the world. Unless of course you are simply the absolute best. I'm sure Maynard Ferguson never had to worry about feeding his family after he released his first album, but not every trumpet player has that sort of skill.
My point is, if musicians get 'outsourced' then we have nowhere else to go. The people who used to put together cars before machines did simply learned a new skill, because that's all it was, a skill. Mass production made it that way. But there's no mass production to music. Every person has to be in their own concert and then the director has to hold them all together and make the fullest sound possible.
Here's to the lament of musicians of the future!
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Re:
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"Musicians" need to wake up
Being a professional musician is typically the realm of the children of privelage and wealth - kind of like any artist. Once you don't have to worry about money, you can devote your life to trivial things, like playing instruments or painting.
"ART IS CRITICAL! IT'S CENTRAL TO SOCIETY!!!!"
Oh yea? More so than air? food? water? shelter? Security? Medicine? Family?
Where does it fall? Why is art so important that it should stand in the way of technology?
What of artists that embrace technology? Should their "art" be less valuable?
Sorry artists, you're like the fry-cooks of a time before robots made all the fast food.
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However some of the same logic applies to orchestras as well. In a theatrical setting, a computer would have a very difficult time responding to variation in the performance. If there is some kind of mistake on stage, a miscue or a forgotten line, or god forbid unplanned interaction with the audience, a life orchestra would be greatly superior.
Synthetic orchestras will come into play and very seriously in the comming years. Some musicians will be put out of work if they cannot adapt. However big name orchestras will always be around, broadway will never switch to 100% synthetic, and pure music performances will always be with real live performers.
My only real concern is that due to a decrease in jobs for all but the top musicians, there will be less interest in learning how to perform, and the talent level of professional musicians will decrease. But so long as primary through high schools activly promote musicianship, and universities still give scholarships for playing in the band we shouldn't have too many worries about that.
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Get a life.
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