My Master’s Thesis in the Integrated Design and Media program at NYU Tandon explores the impact that AI has on traditional, non-Western music. This is an in-progress project conducted over the course of three semesters, and will be completed in May 2024.
The initial stage of my project consisted of a thorough examination of how AI can be used to create cross-cultural connections in music, with a focus on different kinds of traditional non-Western music.
You can read the paper here: Deep Learning for Cross-Cultural Connections in Music
The second stage of my project consisted of interviews and observational studies with stakeholders - mainly musicians of both Western and non-Western backgrounds.
Through this part of the project, I was able to get a firsthand understanding of people’s impressions and future hopes for AI in music, along with their feelings on AI in general.
Take a look at the zine here: Understanding the Impact of AI on Traditional Non-Western Music
My next steps are to create a deep learning model that can generate traditional non-Western music, and use the generated audio in an immersive audio-visual installation.
The installation will also remix the generated music with traditional music. This part of the project aims to comment on how prevalent AI will become in music in the future.