[News] AI for Accessible Co-Creation and Networked Performance

Article by Hans Kretz for Stanford University and ShareMusic & Performing Arts.

In preparation for AI Day 2024 on the first of October in Jönköping, musicians from around the world gathered on September 27th for a groundbreaking online performance, merging human-computer interactions, live musical creation, and telematic collaboration.

The event connected Somax2, a co-creative software developed by IRCAM’s Representations Musicales team (represented that day by Mikhail Malt), with JackTrip, a tool for ultra-low-latency, uncompressed audio streaming over internet. This was an important step towards the realization of an online platform for remote co-creation as part of the EU Horizon Project MuseIT. The next step will be further integrating tools for emotion-sensing into this co-creative process, which we look forward to further exploring in 2025 as we approach the completion of the MuseIT project.

At the heart of the performance was Ewe Larsson from ShareMusic & Performing Arts, whose musical input guided the AI-driven interaction. Somax2 responded to Larsson’s contributions, developing sonic material in real time and centering the performer’s creativity. This demonstrated the potential of AI not as a replacement but as a collaborative partner. Ewe Larsson was joined in this jam session by Joel Mansour, who added his own technological tools to the mix.

The event succeeded thanks to Mikhail Malt’s commitment to refining the system and Constantin Basica’s expertise in online performance, ensuring smooth connections. Additional contributions further enriched the project, from Tatiana Catanzaro (Stanford PhD candidate), Patricia Alessandrini (MuseIT researcher), ShareMusic's own producer Jan Hansen, and conductor/researcher Hans Kretz, who helped coordinate the event and to run the JackTrip server.

A short excerpt from the performance, which was presented during the Science Park AI Day along with a live interview of Ewe Larsson by Sophia Alexandersson, ShareMusic's executive and artistic director, will be posted soon, offering a glimpse of future creative endeavors with inclusive online co-creativity. We look forward to expanding this collaboration, integrating these technologies further, and advancing ShareMusic’s mission of fostering inclusion, creativity, knowledge sharing, and ever-increasing musical expressivity.