AI in Music Composing

 With the advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AU) have emerged questions about its impact on music composing.

Generative artificial intelligence is based on searching through vast data sets of information, in this case, music, to identify patterns. Algorithms provide directions on how to search, categorize, sort and synthesize the resultant data to fit human-developed specifications.

The simplest area of music composition utilizing generative AI tools is lyrics because of the quantity of textual material that is readily available. Other AI tools sift through existing songs to predict variables that are characteristic of popular, profitable compositions. For instance, fast tempos and major keys are more popular. Based on that information, people can give prompts to AI music-generating tools to create melodies and harmonies that audience will enjoy listening too. AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Arts) can generate pieces that are hard to distinguish from music created by classical composers.

Often the source materials has been gathered without regard to copyright, and lyricists and music publishers are starting to sue companies that develop and promote their AI text generating tools. The plaintiffs are demanding licensing deals and royalties for their works. While copyright allows for compositions that may be based on another work, the new composition must differ significantly not to be confused with the prior work and add new value to the music.  What the composers assert that they are due is consent (permission), credit (attribution), and compensation (typically money).

Nevertheless, AI is not truly creative. It has no feelings and no sense of nuanced context. Were composers to depend on AI tools to write music, the results would probably become more homogenous and duller, certainly not inspiring the listener – or the musician.

The Mathematical Harmony in Music

 

“Music is the mathematics of one who does not know that he is counting.” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)

 Tomoko realizes the preciseness and patterns of music. Not surprisingly then, math helps in reading music. The simplest task such as counting the beats uses math. Each time signature codes the number of beats per measure, and the notes represent fractions of a measure and beat – such as whole notes, quarter notes, eighth notes and so on. In turn, reading these rhythmic notations can help one read and solve math equations. 

In fact, mathematics lies underneath much musical composition and reflects the very nature of music itself. Even the concept of octaves is mathematical. An octave is the distance between a given note with a set sound frequency (that is, the string’s vibration) with another note with double that frequency. A perfect fifth is 1.5 times the frequency of the octave’s base note. Ratios help make music harmonious.

Music compositions reflect patterns, just as math does: symmetry, repetition, transposition, inversion.  The process for perceiving and generating those patterns mirrors mathematical processes. Johann Sebastian Bach very consciously incorporated mathematical principles into his keyboard compositions. His work “Musical Offering” is comprised of ten canons, in which each canon is a mathematical transformation of the principal musical line. In fact, a mathematical breakthrough enabled Bach to write “The Well-Tempered Clavier.” Keyboard instruments used to be tuned using a just-toned scale, which made shifting to keys other than the tonic sounded “off.” The equal (even)-tempered scale, popularized by Bach, evened out the frequency ratios between all 12 notes of the chromic scale so that shifts of harmonies to other keys would sound the same.

Tomoko rightly asserts that reading and playing music require good discipline, improve listening and collaborative skills, and strengthens mental and muscle memory.  Those practices can also build math skills and recall of math details. A harmonious blend!

 

Musical Arcs

In a piano piece, musical arcs are phrasings reflecting changes in tone, rhythm and mood. They might be steady, ascending or descending in their dynamics, starting quietly then becoming loud only to end calmly, or they might be frenetic.

That same concept of arc applies to a musician’s daily life – and lifelong trajectory. That certainly applies to Tomoko.

When instructing students about a new piece of music, Tomoko advises, “Take each piece as a house. Read and make notations about it. Identify the arcs of phrasing; they are like glue to connect the notes and measures.”

Tomoko’s daily schedule is also like a musical arc. When asked what her favorite time of day is, Tomoko responds, “4:30 am. I set up the coffee. This is good time to write thank you notes. I go outside and watch birds and other animals.” As she starts the days, she asks herself: “ What should I do? Ready is ready.” What about the end of the day? “I review the day, and prepare for the next day. Clean up and put together.” Tomoko realizes the importance of reflection, even when, she acknowledges, “sometimes it is hard to look.”

That latter statement reinforces her philosophy: “You should plan and be a good decision-maker. That leads to success.” Tomoko’s life arc is intentional, like a composer’s intentional writing.

Thinking more long-term, Tomoko’s entire life reflects a steady and ascending arc. She says, “When you get older the pieces repeat. They gain warm memories and consolation.” She sums it up as: “How beautiful.”

The Power of Composers

“Composers have special power,” contends Tomoko. They express feelings and ideas through the language of music, “just as an author creates through the language of words.” Those composers each represent different lives and ways of thinking. Tomoko continues, “Behind the composing is the philosophy of the composer. And that philosophy does not change.” It is the identity, the integrity, of the composer. “They have their idea what is best for them,” assert Tomoko.

  

Where does this power originate? “ I feel sorry for them because they can’t explain their creative power,” says Tomoko. Even though the tools are the same, the results are unique. What makes a note the right one? How does a phrase convey thought? How does the music’s movement rise above the score it is written on? “You have to respect every composer,” Tomoko explains. “Composition is hard work. Each composer creates a unique sound and interpretation. It’s very complicated.” Tomoko maintains that “They are tough guys.”

But composing is more than text. It is more than one-way communication. It is a conversation.  

Composers resonate with its performers and the audience. The music rings straight to the heart, and the sound created by the composer reverberates throughout the body and the soul: both in its performance and in listening to it.

And that music can empower the performer and the listener. It adds value to their lives and makes them better people. Music unites the composer and the audience, and brings out their best selves at the same time that it affirms a sense of belonging with each other and with higher powers.

It is no wonder that Tomoko believes that “composers are guardian angels.”

The Dynamic Tension of Music

Music opens the mind, the heart, and the soul. Yet at the same time, music demands parameters. Its is both open and closed, external and internal.

“To play well you need to be open to the music,” says Tomoko. “What is the composer trying to say? What is the composer thinking and feeling?” Tomoko says.

As a pianist, you access the music with your eyes. Then you internalize that music, informed by the composer’s intent. Tomoko shares her knowledge about these musicians to help her students understand the music’s origin and its context. She reminds her students, “Be true to the composer”; they are working with a closed set of musical notation. Finally, as a pianist, you externalize that composition through your body: your mind and heart flow through your arms, your fingers, even your feet. Such attention to the structure and dynamics of music leads to its ultimate freedom of expression.

Those same openness applies to the audience. They experience the music with their whole body: eyes, ears, even the felt rhythm and beat of the music can reverberate through the body. That music touches the person internally in the head and heart.

How can a limited set of tones, performed in sequence, lead to seemingly limitless variations and musical experiences? Tomoko would say that it is the miracle of the composers’ openness to musical possibilities – and the disciplined use of musical form to express internal inspiration to compose a new reality for others to enjoy.