Shimon Sings-Robotic Musicianship Finds Its Voice

Abstract

Robotic Musicianship research at Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology (GTCMT) focuses on the construction of autonomous and wearable robots that analyze, reason about, and generate music. The goal of our research is to facilitate meaningful and inspiring musical interactions between humans and machines. The term Robotic Musicianship refers to the intersection of the fields of Musical Mechatronics—the study and construction of physical systems that generate sound through mechanical means, and Machine Musicianship, which focuses on developing algorithms and cognitive models representative of music perception, composition, improvisation, performance, interaction, and theory. Research in Robotic Musicianship at GTCMT addresses the design of autonomous and wearable music-playing robots that have the underlying musical intelligence to support performance and interaction with human musicians. The motivation for our research is not to imitate human creativity or replace it, but rather to supplement it and enrich the musical experience for humans. We aim to explore the possibilities of combining computers with physical sound generators to create systems capable of rich acoustic sound production, intuitive physics-based visual cues from sound-producing movements, and expressive physical behaviors through sound-accompanying body movements. Our work is driven by the artistic potential that is embedded in non-human characteristics of machines, including humanly impossible speed and precision, freedom of physical design, and the ability to explore artificial constructs and algorithms that could surprise and inspire human musicians.