SPIN an AI-based Music Synthesizer
SPIN is an AI-Based Music Synthesizer that looks like a cross between a turntable and an MPC.
Arvind Sanjeev shared this intro video for SPIN, an AI music synthesizer that enables you synthesize compositions in collaboration with a language model, MusicGen.
SPIN looks a bit like a cross between a turntable and an MPC, but it really provides an interface for controlling the parameters for music generation and playback. A DVS (Digital Vinyl System) lets you slow down, zoom in, scratch and listen between the notes.
You can use it to create new compositions, as a simple sound synthesizer, as a playful scratch tool, or to play generative background music.
How It Works
Under the hood, SPIN takes the input prompts in the form of button presses through an Arduino Mega. This is sent via serial to a Raspberry Pi which prompts the MusicGen API.
MusicGen is a single Language Model (LM), designed to create high-quality music based on cues from text descriptions or melodies.
An MP3 file is received as the output of MusicGen, which is loaded onto a Digital Vinyl System (DVS). A transmuted Numark PT-01 and a timecoded control vinyl record serve as the turntable. The Xwax DVS package for Raspberry Pi reads the vinyl timecode through a Behringer audio driver, and the output is played via stereo speakers.
“There are a lot of amazing generative music experiments, from Dadabots’s relentless death metal streaming AI on YouTube to Holly Herndon’s experiments around voice transplantations,” notes Sanjeev. “But I realized we hit a tipping point when I stumbled upon the Riffusion music model; I was taken aback by its depth and realism, including its new update that adds lyrical voices to the output. Inspired by this, I wanted to build a platform to let me further explore and combine never-before-heard combinations of music and sounds. This laid the seed for building SPIN.”
More information on the project is available at Arvind Sanjeev website.
Check out SPIN, and share your thoughts on it in the comments!
