On and on ’til the break of dawn

Ever wish a song could go on forever? Guess what, it can.

With all the hype around Chat GPT and AI, “generative” is a contender for 2024’s word of the year. 

Whether it's prompting Suno to create instant songs, or holographic sensation Hatsune Miku wrapping up her North American tour (don’t worry, you can still get merch), generative AI  music is having a moment. Surprisingly, generative music has been around for at least 50 years.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GENERATIVE MUSIC

Discreet Music by Brian Eno

Not content to rest on his laurels after coining the term ambient music, Brian Eno popularised the term generative music to describe music that is “ever-different and changing and that is created by a system.”

Eno first explored generative music on Discreet Music, his fourth studio album released in 1975, by setting up a system that produces music autonomously.  

He used tape loops of different lengths which meant that each loop would repeat at a different time interval. He then played these loops simultaneously and because they were different lengths, they interacted in unique and unpredictable ways, creating a constantly changing musical piece.

Eno let the system run with minimal interference which meant the music evolved based on the interaction of the loops, rather than being composed in a traditional sense. He embodied generative music where the system, not a composer, creates music. 

For those who are visually inclined, here’s a handy chart of his recording system that Eno included in the album’s liner notes.

Eno wasn’t the first to explore generative music. He was influenced by minimalist masters Terry Riley and Steve Reich

In C by Terry Riley performed by Adian Utley’s Guitar Orchestra

Riley's In C is a sequence of 53 short musical phrases meant to be played and repeated an arbitrary number of times at the discretion of the performer. This allows for infinite interpretation. While composed in 1964, it has been performed numerous times over the years. 

Here’s a 2013 performance by Portishead’s Adrien Utly.

It’s Gonna Rain by Steve Reich

It's Gonna Rain’s source is a tape recording made in 1964 at San Francisco's Union Square in which a Pentecostal preacher named Brother Walter preaches about the end of the world.

Reich took two identical tape loops of the recorded phrase "It's gonna rain" and played them simultaneously on two different tape recorders. Due to technical limitations, the tape recorders were slightly out of sync with each other which caused the two loops to gradually move out of phase, creating a shifting pattern of sound.

As the loops went further out of sync, new rhythmic and harmonic patterns emerged. This process continued until the loops eventually returned to being in sync, completing the cycle. The result was a piece of music that evolved over time, creating complex textures and rhythms from a simple starting point. This technique became a hallmark of Reich's early work and influenced the development of minimalist music.

PRESENT DAY

You can put away your stacks of tape recorders and primitive synthesisers if you want to. Today there are several software products such as Wotja and Nodal that have been developed for the specific purpose of generative music creation. More traditional music making software such as Ableton Live incorporate generative tools as well.

Generator by Keith Fullerton Whitman

Influenced by aforementioned minimalists such as Terry Reilly and Steve Reich, Whitman assembles a bunch of cool vintage synths which he marries with modern production techniques to create generative music that sounds modern and vibrant.  

Or listen on Spotify here

Ecstatic Computation By Caterina Barbieri

The Italian-born Barbieri has explored elements of generative music on a few albums. On 2019’s Ecstatic Computation, she uses modular synthesisers driven by complex patterns, sequences and algorithms to create a series of unique songs that hang together as a warm, musical and cohesive listening experience. This is a stunning album that proves machines can have a soul.

Or listen on Spotify here 

FRKWYS Vol. 15: serenitatem by Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano

FRKWYS is a series of albums by Brooklyn-based record label RVNG Intl. It pairs modern artists and their influencers for collaborative albums.

FRKWYS Vol. 15 matches up Portland’s Visible Cloaks with Japanese environmental and ambient music masters Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano. They utilise elements of randomization as well as Wotja, a generative music-making software to create some highly soothing and pleasant music. 

Or listen on Spotify here

THE FUTURE OF GENERATIVE

Soundmint is a startup company with a technology platform that allows musical artists to upload stems, or individual musical elements that can be layered together to make a song. The stems are then used to generate one of a kind songs paired with generative visuals to create a unique work of art which can be bought as an NFT and authenticated on the blockchain. It’s like having your own personal remix of a song. Dubplates for the blockchain generation indeed.

Thanks for reading and listening

Sandy