Roland Future Design Lab is dusting off its DIY playbook with Mission LYDIA, a {hardware} prototype constructed with AI audio startup Neutone that makes use of “neural sampling” to morph sounds in actual time.
Mission LYDIA (a nod to each “DIY” and “AI”) revives Roland’s AMDEK heritage from the Eighties, when the corporate bought build-it-yourself synth kits to encourage experimentation. This time, nonetheless, the wager is on synthetic intelligence as the brand new frontier for sonic exploration.
Introduced right now, the platform learns the tonal traits of any audio supply and applies these qualities to different sounds on the fly. Suppose transferring the timbre of a saxophone onto a synth pad, or making a drum loop sound prefer it’s being performed by a classic amp.
The tech runs on Neutone’s Morpho engine, which powers the neural sampling course of. Roland’s contribution is the {hardware} wrapper, using a Raspberry Pi 5-based prototype with a tactile management interface that goals to make AI audio manipulation stage-ready. Audio I/O at present routes by a USB-connected Roland Rubix interface, although the staff plans to combine every thing right into a single field, in line with a press launch.
Credit score: Roland Future Design Lab/NeutoneIt’s nonetheless a expertise preview, however the collaboration alerts the place Roland thinks music creation is headed: extra accessible AI instruments that don’t require a studio filled with VSTs or a pc science diploma. For music producers and stay performers bored with menu-diving, that may very well be a welcome shift.
To that finish, Mission LYDIA is a significant leap for Roland’s swelling AI ambitions. The corporate in 2024 joined forces with Common Music Group to introduce the Ideas for Music Creation with AI, a framework outlining shared commitments to moral and artist-centered innovation.
“Roland has taken a management position globally in training accountable improvement with AI for music creation,” mentioned Paul McCabe, Senior Vice President of Analysis and Innovation at Roland. “A part of being accountable is getting enter from creators on what they discover helpful, useful, or inspiring, and what concepts might not be welcome of their workflows. Releasing Mission LYDIA as a expertise preview permits us to show potentialities, search group enter, optimize, and enhance.”
You’ll find out extra about Mission LYDIA right here.
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