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Image Credits: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images / Getty Images
Google may be laser concentrated on generative AI nowadays, like most of its Big Tech rivals. But that hasn’t stopped the search giant from purchasing from quite out-there art jobs, real to its speculative roots.
Enter the latest development from Google’s Art & Culture Lab, Viola the Bird, which utilizes AI to comprehend cello and violin structures. The work has Viola — an animated bird that stimulates a Sesame Street character — “perform” well-known Beethoven, Vivaldi, Holst and Ravel stringed pieces as a user moves their mouse backward and forward along a virtual cello in their web internet browser.
David Li, the artist behind Viola, dealt with cellists and violinists along with music arrangers to establish the AI, which he then used to develop an audio synthesis engine that creates the noises of a cello or violin based upon a user’s mouse motions.
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“The result is an interactive music experiment that is both fun and educational,” Pamela Peter-Agbia, a program supervisor at Google Arts & Culture, composes in a post. “Viola the Bird is a great way for anyone to learn about string instruments and to explore their own creativity through music.”
Having invested a long time with Viola, I can vouch for the “fun” part — however wouldn’t presume regarding state the task is instructional. It doesn’t supply sheet music or notes to accompany your “playing,” and there aren’t any guardrails to avoid somebody from carrying out tunes extremely off-tempo.
Questionable pedagogy aside, there’s enough to keep even casual classical fans captivated for a minute, like a recording function and a freestyle mode that lets you jam through Viola, on the viola, till you’ve had your fill.
If you’re tired throughout the next lunch break — or have young kids to keep captivated — offer Viola a shot. It’s totally free. Just keep your expectations in check — unlike a few of Google’s other AI-powered expeditions in music of late, this bird won’t precisely blow your mind.
