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  • Research

    The fundamental principle of IRCAM is to encourage productive interaction among scientific research, technological developments, and contemporary music production. Since its establishment in 1977, this initiative has provided the foundation for the institute’s activities. One of the major issues is the importance of contributing to the renewal of musical expression through science and technology. Conversely, sp…

    • Research Topics
    • The STMS Lab
    • Research Teams
    • Sound Systems and Signals: Audio/Acoustics, InstruMents
    • Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces
    • Perception and Sound Design
    • Sound Analysis-Synthesis
    • Sound Music Movement Interaction
    • Musical Representations
    • Analysis of Musical Practices
    • Projects
    • Sound Workshop
    • The Musical Body
    • Creative Dynamics
    • Musique/Sciences Collection
  • Creation

    IRCAM is an internationally recognized research center dedicated to creating new technologies for music. The institute offers a unique experimental environment where composers strive to enlarge their musical experience through the concepts expressed in new technologies.

    • Composers & Artists in Studio
    • In Ex Machina
    • Jazz Ex Machina
    • Improvise cum machina 1/2
    • Improvise cum machina 2/2
    • Like Sound, Like Flesh
    • Silent Talks
    • Music-Fictions
    • Tablado
    • Musical creation around Outer Space
    • Campo Abierto
    • Musical creation around Dream Work
    • Biotope
    • EROR
    • IDEA
    • Artistic Research Residency
    • Artistic Residencies: The Blog
    • Rendez Vous 20.21
    • Season 2021.22
    • Seasons from 1996 to present
    • ManiFeste-2022
    • ManiFeste festival from 2012 to 2022
    • L’Étincelle, IRCAM’s journal of creation
  • Transmission

    In parallel to its fundamental missions of research and creation, IRCAM is committed to sharing its knowledge and know-how, its technologies with the general public. Cutting-edge research and diffusion of innovations, an international reference for education and the democratization of artistic practices are the driving forces behind the institute’s educational activities.

    • 2022.23 Training Courses
    • Max, Max for Live
    • OpenMusic
    • Modalys
    • TS2 and Partiels
    • Sound spatialization
    • From PureData to audio plugins
    • Sensors, Interfaces, and Interactive Machine Learning
    • Other training programs
    • Practical Information
    • Advanced Programs
    • Cursus Program on Composition and Computer Music
    • Supersonic Chair
    • Master ATIAM
    • Sound Design Master's Program
    • Music Doctorate
    • AIMove Master
    • School Programs
    • Studios of Creation
    • Mixed-Music
    • Artistic and Cultural Education
    • Career Discovery Visit
    • Art School Reserach and Creation Workshop
    • Images of a Work Collection
    • ManiFeste-2022, the Academy
  • Innovations

    At the center of societal and economic concerns combining culture and information technologies, the current research at IRCAM is seen by the international research community as a reference for interdisciplinary projects on the sciences and technologies for sound and music, constantly exposed to society’s new needs and uses.

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  • Ars Electronica 2021 honors IRCAM researchers!
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June 29, 2021
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Ars Electronica 2021 honors IRCAM researchers!

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Composer Alexander Schubert and a team of artificial intelligence researchers from IRCAM have been awarded the 2021 "Digital Musics & Sound Art" award by Ars Electronica for the creation of Convergence.
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In Convergence, Alexander Schubert deconstructs our human perceptions by revealing those produced by the machine. On stage, the sounds are in a constant state of transformation and the musicians interact with their video-generated counterparts, reshaped by a program developed at Ircam that combines deep learning and automatic encoders. The fluidity of identities resulting from the modeling of personal characteristics is the starting point of a broader questioning on the restrictions of our mental constructions.

In the IRCAM-STMS lab we met with the two researchers who worked with the German composer on this work, along with the contribution of computer music designer Benjamin Lévy. Philippe Esling and Antoine Caillon answer us about this challenging art/science collaboration.


From left to right, Alexander Schubert, Philippe Esling and Antoine Caillon

Tell us about your encounter with Alexander Schubert... What kind of expertise did he bring to the Musical Representations team?

Meeting Alexander was the start of a process of mutual discovery, a meeting place and a listening experience free of all references. On our end, we were fascinated by the contemporary and refreshing aspect of Alexander's work (especially Codec Error). In turn, Alexander was eager to understand what artificial intelligence could bring to his art. Even if he came with a clear idea of what Convergence would become, he was not afraid to question our approaches as well as his own. We were able to spend hours discussing conceptual and technical issues, until we reached a practical approach that allowed him to fully explore the models we have developed over the last few years.

composers often come up with ideas that at first seem impractical or crazy, but when studied in more detail, open the door to fundamentally new, and potentially revolutionary, concepts.

What is the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in this creation? 

AI is omnipresent in this work, so much so that it seems to take on the roles of composer, conductor, musician, and listener simultaneously. From a purely technical point of view, AI is also present on many fronts, in both sound and visual aspects. On the one hand, AI allows us to generate sounds from Alexander's particular requests (screams, noisy violins), which are scattered throughout the work. Here, AI transcends its role of a "generating machine" because it is used in a context of timbre transfer. In this way it interprets the sound it perceives to present it to us in a new space of its own understanding. This makes it possible to transform a voice into a violin, or a cello into a human scream.

Did you develop a specific program to meet the composer’s expectations?

Because of Alexander's work, we had to rethink our approach to using the tools we develop. After long exchanges during which we compared his artistic vision to our technical reality, we undertook the design of a specific tool to unify our team's AI models within a single graphical interface. This allowed us to integrate these projects in a larger application framework and to explore the creative limits of each model. It was then easy to establish a seamless flow between science and creation. Alexander could then quickly explore new approaches and we could define new models based on his feedback.

Screenshot: Playground, graphical interface based on MAX / MSP allowing an intuitive use of AI model

Your collaboration with Alexander Schubert will continue next season for a new work commissioned by IRCAM for the ManiFeste-2022 festival. As researchers, what do artistic collaborations bring you?

We learn a lot from these collaborations, firstly because the creative exploration of AI models usually leads to pushing them to their limits. So, by looking at the path taken by composers, we can rethink the methods of interaction and the very definition of the models we design. In addition, composers often come up with ideas that at first seem impractical or crazy, but when studied in more detail, open the door to fundamentally new, and potentially revolutionary, concepts.

More info about  the 2021 "Digital Musics & Sound Art" award by Ars Electronica.

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