Named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 class of 2018, Amper Music co-founder Drew Silverstein is at the cutting edge of the race to crack AI music.

Hot Press caught up with the Amper boss in Rome, after his recent TEDx Talk, to find out what AI means for our future music consumption, and how it will affect our approach to songwriting. You can read our full interview with Drew here.

AI Music
During the course the interview, the tech CEO explained the mechanics of the Amper software: “If you say ‘Amper, we need you to create a piece of orchestral hip hop that feels determined’, it will figure out how to write the sheet music that will feel determined, in the genre of orchestral hip hop.”

Intrigued by the idea, Mark Hogan took it as a challenge, following the interview! Putting the technology to the test, he tasked Amper to write and perform a piece of music that, in Drew’s words, "will feel determined, in the genre of orchestral hip hop”.

Speaking about the experiment, Mark said: "It was a straightforward process; I inputted the music duration, the structure (the points at which the intro, climax and outro would feature), and then chose the musical genre. Next, I selected from defined styles, opting for a high-fidelity sound with percussion, strings, synth and tubular bells."

From there, Mark says, it was as simple as pressing the ‘compose’ button: "Within a matter of seconds, the AI had composed and performed the music."

Although a classically trained musician in a former life, Mark didn't draw on any of this background to produce the piece... "Once the initial piece is composed, you can make changes. I simply left it as it was, so that people can hear the result of a two-minute process, and one without any significant musical input on my part”.

For musicians and composers, the potential to develop beyond those first steps is compelling – if not, perhaps, somewhat unnerving.

So, what is your verdict on the result? Here's the 3-minute piece of ‘determined orchestral hip hop’, as composed for Hot Press by Amper Music’s artificial intelligence:

Drew Silverstein appeared at TEDx Roma. Go to ampermusic.com to compose using artificial intelligence. Go to hotpress.com/aimusic for more.