Tracklisting:
- 2950
- 5057
- 9174a
- 9174b
- 9206
- 9071
- 2542
- 2955
- 12885
- 237028341
- 6769
- 3005
- 10005
- 12206
- 190644748
- 12905
- 2224
- 2452
- 214861357
- 179811013
- 16114
- 18102019105654
- 9162
- 9191a
- 9191b
- 9209
- 2943
- 5143
- 2567
- 2216
- 2928
- 4856
- 2934
- 3010
- 1059
- 2932
- 2890
- 3826
- 2935
- 2942
- 2936
- 2968
- 8770
- 3809
- 6818
- 2940
- 625
- 1261
- 2961
- 2910
- 2575
- 865
- 2970
- 2544
- 2548
- 2889
- 2542
- 2545
- 6648
- 16124
- 12373
- 12377
- 1204
- 1264
- 1320
- 12204
- 9169
- 6723
- 3633
- 1953
- 42
- 10121
- 12934
- 12929
- 12915
- 12910
- 12907
- 12904
- 12893
- 9512
- 38
- 36
- 30
- 19
- 3
- 18
- 12
- 9621
- 10
- 60
- 62
- 63
- 68
- 86
- 3010
- 2491
- 12asdasd234234893
- 201879228
- 8777
#A
For their first album on Audiobulb Av3ry presents #A - 99 musical outputs.
AV3RY
Av3ry is an AI program and a virtual persona, who is composing music, communicating with people and learning from interactions.
The main component is the on-demand conversation and art generation of the bot. The goal is to create unique pieces of music and art in the given moment - and based on the criteria of the user interaction.
In the idle process, when not communicating, the system generates random exports and creates a database of 10,000 music pieces. Furthermore the system running on its own creates a continuous audio stream broadcasted live 24/7. It is continuously evolving and changing musical progression.
Reviews
Headphone Commute
If you really want something “out there,” look no further then a new release by Audiobulb composed by a non-binary virtual persona named Av3ry. Now, I’ve heard my share of generative, artificial intelligence and machine music, and most of it is just ‘meh.’ I think one exception can be made when talking about ambient music, as quantized chimes, swells, and swooshing noise can lul even this non-believer to sleep. But Av3ry is something else entirely. They not only create music but also communicate with their audience, feeding the input back into the compositional process. The system generates random exports from external sources (Soundcloud, Freesound, YouTube, etc.), systematically processes them using Max/MSP, interleaves conversational extracts, and then uploads the work to its online archive. And the music is just strange. Think abstract post-techno breaks mixed with text-to-speech poetry, swirling atmospheric textures, and mashed-up rhythms, that somehow continue to hypnotize me and keep me engaged. I think it’s the culmination of sound-driven genres that for some reason reminds me of Arca, Andy Stott, and even World’s End Girlfriend [like the Tibetan singing bowls being punctured by a distorted hardcore kick] with the sheer number of ideas and at the same time minimalism and space. If you want Av3ry to write you a piece of music, head over to av3ry.net for instructions to chat with the bot and give them parameters for your sounds. I asked for a soft long-evolving slow piece and got a nightmarish hallucination of snippets that would easily impress a video game composer searching for inspiration for their new horror soundtrack. A little uneasy and freaky indeed.
909 Originals
According to the official blurb, ‘Av3ry combines natural language processing, algorithmic composition, data crawling and machine learning. She*he is constantly operating and creating music, poems and pictures in the moment – based on communication with interacting users. The music pieces are based on the criteria specified by the users. So the result is instant and individual – and sent directly to a single user.
‘The program extracts key features from the description of the users and tries to generate the pieces accordingly. Through the feedback of the users after listening to the result the algorithm can learn and fine-tune its parameters.’
Next month, Av3ry is set to put out her (his?) first album, a collection of close to 100 intriguing electronic compositions, on Audiobulb Records, a label renowned for its ‘exploratory’ music concepts.
The album, Av3ry presents #A – 99 musical outputs, is part Aphex Twin, part Philip Glass, part Commodore 64, and features tracks with titles such as 9174b, 12377, 12934, 9191a, and the fantastically named symbol12asdasd234234893.
For any Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fans out there, there’s also a track entitled 42 – as to whether it reveals the meaning of life, well, you’ll have to listen and find out.
Av3ry presents #A – 99 musical outputs is released on 21 October 2020, on Audiobulb Records. Open the pod bay doors, Hal…
Igloo Magazine
I thought I’d heard everything, but then how can that be possible? Av3ry (a computer persona that made this 99 track album titled #A) is a strange and disjointed foray into leftfield electronics with sporadically numbered track titles all ranging from under 1-minute to just over 5-minutes—a varied and non-linear adventure may take some getting used to.
From field recordings to vocal spurts to malfunctioning machinery, there are several sonic shapes that appear to morph but then just fade out—a dream sequence where you can’t understand what’s in front you, only to be placed in another surreal place that is further confounding. Mostly shedding on minimalist terrain, there are microscopic textures and robotic voices switching gears and shuffling, mutating, and transforming into abstraction. For the longer tracks, it seems that #A takes on a life of its own, shapeshifting into bits and bytes via melodic strands drifting in front of our field of vision. And it’s these fluctuating sound structures that manage to confound the listener, teasing them with experimental electronics and sometimes deformed instrumentals tied to otherworldly soundscapes that really shouldn’t make any sense—yet sometimes they do.
The multitude of drones, blips, clangs and vocal elements only cause us to wonder what exactly is going on. The result? A baffling album that pulls on our brain cells and don’t forget, Av3ry is also ready to create songs just for you—visit av3ry.net to find out more.
Modular Grid Thread
Sweelinck Posted: Oct 22nd 2020, 09:41
Av3ry. Not really modular, just some 'next-door neighbour'... :)
What do you think of this? As a musician, and particularly as a modular musician, what is your opinion or feeling?
'Av3ry is an AI program and a virtual persona, who is composing music, communicating with people and learning from interactions. The main component is the on-demand conversation and art generation of the bot. (...)' - Audiobulb Records.
More information here: http://av3ry.net
Sweelinck Posted: Oct 24th 2020, 11:02
It is amusing to note that, so far, the subject seems intriguing without eliciting any comments or reflections on it. Yet several bridges link the world of modular to that of artificial intelligence applied to music :
- The use of random.
- The self generative capacity.
- The integration of computer science, at least in digital modules.
- A common and progressive appearance in the Music of the 20th century.
- A remarkable shared development at the beginning of this 21st century.
- A strong potential for innovation, and even for mutual articulation...
I still have this beautiful reflection by Brian Eno on the subject of computers and sequencers that comes to mind, and which, I think, applies equally to these two worlds:
"The great benefit of computer sequencers is that they remove the issue of skill, and replace it with the issue of judgement.
With Cubase or Photoshop, anybody can actually do anything, and you can make stuff that sounds very much like stuff you’d hear on the radio, or looks very much like anything you see in magazines.
So the question becomes not whether you can do it or not, because any drudge can do it if they’re prepared to sit in front of the computer for a few days, the question then is, "Of all the things you can now do, which do you choose to do?".
I read in this Forum dozens of topics related to the choice of modules or the correct configuration of a setup. I am not saying that these questions are not interesting, on the contrary. I notice that the best answers, and by the best of us (I don't quote names, we'll recognize them) refer us most often to this same question from Eno: "Of all the things you can now do, which do you choose to do?
Is there any musician here for a comment, or even an answer to the initial question?
farkas Posted: Oct 24th 2020, 15:40
This is fascinating. As with all AI, I worry that it will discover and continue to reproduce an algorithm that is "popular" but uninteresting. Kind of like when you enjoy Seinfeld on Hulu or Netflix so the algorithm recommends Friends next. Haha
As for the Eno quote, that is pretty much exactly the musical idea that I have been exploring. I'm an Eno fan, but have never heard that quote before. I like the immediacy of recording live, I like the mistakes, I like the happy accidents, I like wondering why I made the choices I did while listening back to the recordings, I like challenging myself NOT to intervene in the music.
Of course all of these conceptual approaches don't always lend themselves to interesting music from the listener's perspective, but there is plenty of pop, rock, and hip hop that can scratch that itch for everyone (myself included). I just don't have any desire to work on anything with sparkling production, perfect EQ and mixing, verses and choruses, etc. So, for me the answer to the question, "Of all the things you can do now, which do you choose to do?" is probably a selfish one. I tend to just do what feels right in the moment and move on to the next idea. If someone else finds it interesting, that is welcome but has absolutely no bearing on the next choices I make.
Audiobulb Posted: Oct 26th 2020, 08:17
Really interested in replies to the questions posed. I have found working with and releasing Av3ry's music on Audiobulb Records a thought provoking exercise - is it an artist, is it artistic, does it have value and meaning if there is not a human being making decisions of compositional form, speed, narrative and emotions?
It is fascinating and disconcerting:
You can read how reviewers are reacting here: http://www.audiobulb.com/albums/AB101/AB101.htm
More reviews to come it.
Listeners are struggling to get it I sense.... but some are really connecting - so many tracks too - I guess it's a big investment in time and focus. Only time will tell how this will unfold.
Lugia Posted: Oct 26th 2020, 17:58
Actually, I find that the early investigations of AI-generated (Open AI Jukebox, specifically) pop by a few vaporwave producers is pretty interesting. For one thing, it eliminates the copyright law worries. But more importantly, it provides a sort of template in which there's certain known factors that appear in the result while, at the same time, it also features loads of uncanny valley-type results that are more difficult to predict. As such, it still acts very much like a "proper musical instrument" since it has its own variants on leaky pads, sticky valves, or a gnat down your throat due to the nature of the process.
As for the "is it artistic" point...well, consider this: an AI algorithm is just as capable of being a "composition" as is a score by Mahler, et al. The architecture is very different...but I was always taught that creating a scored work is very much analogous to writing program code. The "computers" might be different, but the underlying cybernetic process is essentially the same.