Art By Machine

Art By Machine
Oldfield 1
2014

Detail from Art By Machine Detail from Art By Machine Detail from Art By Machine

Track List
1. Art by Machine (1:47)
2. Die Anxiety (2:13)
3. Computer Radio 1 (0:23)
4. A Soldier's Dream (4:27)
5. Yellow Balloon Attack (1:45)
6. Hedgehog Party (2:27)
7. Computer Radio 2 (0:14)
8. Twisted Lotus Garden (4:02)
9. Raindrops (3:28)
10. Fox on Fire (2:26)
11. Computer Radio 3 (0:14)
12. Rainbow Run (2:13)
13. Adrift in Alien Soup (4:37)
14. Heart Hosono (2:19)
15. Computer Radio 4 (0:19)
16. Patience, My Friend (2:56)
17. Hot Rivet Rodeo (2:13)
18. Dark City Skyline (17:20)

About This Album
A decade before generative AI emerged, Art by Machine was one of the first albums composed and substantially produced by an artificial intelligence. The album was created by a computer program named Oldfield 1 which Mark developed as an experimental addition to his proprietary synthesizer and sequencer software, Prometheus. The music Oldfield 1 has created here is largely indistinguishable from music created by a human.

For each track, a selection of instruments is provided to the program, with a selection of possible pitches and possible timings. The program applies these across each track independently; bass, drums, lead etc. choosing different options for the start of a pattern, the middle, and the end. As Oldfield 1 is a subsystem of a studio-quality synthesizer and sequencer, it has the power to create a high quality song in a single click with minimal need for external processing.

Musically, Oldfield 1 creates repeating melodic structures that fit into chord sequences that are known to fit together in a pleasing way. The music is akin to a geometrical abstract artwork, perhaps the audio embodiment of Piet Mondrian or Kandinsky.

Art By Machine
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Art By Machine
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