{"678375":{"#nid":"678375","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bridging Tradition and Technology: Robotics and AI Open a New Path for Classical Indian Music","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERaghavasimhan Sankaranarayanan has over 200 album and film soundtrack credits to his name, and he has performed in more than 2,000 concerts across the globe. He has composed music across many genres and received numerous awards for his technical artistry on the violin.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe is also a student at Georgia Tech, finishing up his Ph.D. in machine learning and robotics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne might wonder why a successful professional musician would choose to become a student again.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI always wanted to integrate technology, music, and robotics because I love computers and machines that can move,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s been little research on Indian music from a technological perspective, and the AI and music industries largely focus on Western music. This bias is something I wanted to address.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/techitunes.com\/\u0022\u003ESankaranarayanan\u003C\/a\u003E, who began playing the violin at age 4, has focused his academic studies on bridging the musically technical with the deeply technological. Over the past six years at Georgia Tech, he has explored robotic musicianship, creating a robot violinist and an accompanying synthesizer capable of understanding, playing, and improvising the music closest to his heart: classical South Indian music.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Essence of Carnatic Music\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarnatic music, a classical form of South Indian music, is believed to have originated in the Vedas, or ancient sacred Hindu texts. The genre has remained faithful to its historic form, with performers often using non-amplified sound or only a single mic. A typical performance includes improvisations and musical interaction between musicians in which violinists play a crucial role.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarnatic music is characterized by intricate microtonal pitch variations known as gamakas \u2014 musical embellishments that modify a single note\u2019s pitch or \u003Ca\u003Eseamlessly\u003C\/a\u003E transition between notes. In contrast, Western music typically treats successive notes as distinct entities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOut of a desire to contribute technological advancements to the genre, Sankaranarayanan set out to innovate. When he joined the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtcmt.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Music Technology\u003C\/a\u003E program under \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/music.gatech.edu\/gil-weinberg\u0022\u003EGil Weinberg\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and the Center\u2019s director, no one at Georgia Tech had ever attempted to create a string-based robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn our work, we develop physical robots that can understand music, apply logic to it, and then play, improvise, and inspire humans,\u201d said Weinberg. \u201cThe goal is to foster meaningful interactions between robots and human musicians that foster creativity and the kind of musical discoveries that may not have happened otherwise.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Brain and the Body\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESankaranarayanan conceptualizes the robot as comprising two parts: the brain and the body. The \u201cbody\u201d consists of mechanical systems that require algorithms to move accurately, including sliders and actuators that convert electric signals into motion to produce the sound of music. The \u201cbrain\u201d consists of algorithms that enable the robot to understand and generate music.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn robotic musicianship, algorithms interpret and perform music, but building these algorithms for non-Western music is challenging; far less data is available for these forms. This lack of representation limits the capabilities of robotic musicianship and diminishes the cultural richness diverse musical forms can offer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClassical algorithms would struggle to capture the nuances of Carnatic music. To address this, Sankaranarayanan collected data specifically to model gamakas in Carnatic music. Then, using audio from performances by human musicians, he developed a machine-learning model to learn those gamakas.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou may ask, \u2018Why not just use a computer?\u2019 A computer can respond with algorithms, but music\u2019s physicality is vital,\u201d Weinberg said. \u201cWhen musicians collaborate, they rely on the visual cues of movement, which make the interaction feel alive. Moreover, acoustic sound created by a physical instrument is richer and more expressive than computer-generated sound, and a robot musician provides this.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESankaranarayanan built the robot incrementally. Initially, he developed a bow mechanism that moved across wheels; now, the robot violin uses a real bow for authentic sound production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeveloping a New Musical Language\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother challenge involves technologies like MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), a protocol that enables electronic musical instruments and devices to communicate and sync by sending digital information about musical notes and performances. MIDI, however, is based on Western music systems and is limited in its application to music with microtonal pitch variations such as Carnatic music.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo Sankaranarayanan and Weinberg developed their own system. Using audio files of human violin performances, the system extracts musical \u003Ca\u003Efeatures\u003C\/a\u003E that inform the robot on bowing techniques, left-hand movements, and pressure on strings. The software synthesizer then listens to Sankaranarayanan\u2019s playing, responding and improvising in real time and creating a dynamic interplay between human and robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLike in many other fields, bias also exists in the area of music AI, with many researchers and companies focusing on Western music and using AI to understand tonal systems,\u201d Weinberg said. \u201cRaghav\u2019s work aims to showcase how AI can also generate and understand non-Western music, which he has achieved beautifully.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGiving Back to the Community\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarnatic music and its community of musicians shaped Sankaranarayanan\u0027s musical sensibility, motivating him to give back. He is developing an app to teach Carnatic music to help make the genre more appealing to younger audiences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy merging tradition with technology, we can expand the reach of traditional Carnatic music to younger musicians and listeners who desire more technological engagement,\u201d Sankaranarayanan said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough his innovative work, he is not just preserving Carnatic music but also reshaping its future for a digital age, inviting a new generation to engage with its deep heritage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, one student\u2019s pioneering research in robotic musicianship breathes new life into the rich traditions of Carnatic music.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"At Georgia Tech, one student\u2019s pioneering research in robotic musicianship breathes new life into the rich traditions of Carnatic music."}],"uid":"36123","created_gmt":"2024-11-12 19:10:39","changed_gmt":"2024-11-15 19:21:23","author":"Catherine Barzler","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2024-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675600":{"id":"675600","type":"image","title":"Raghav violin.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. student Raghav Sankaranarayanan with Hathaani, his violin-playing robot. (Credit: Wes McRae)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1731438878","gmt_created":"2024-11-12 19:14:38","changed":"1731541024","gmt_changed":"2024-11-13 23:37:04","alt":"Raghav Sankaranarayanan and the robot violin","file":{"fid":"259241","name":"Raghav violin.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/12\/Raghav%20violin.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/11\/12\/Raghav%20violin.png","mime":"image\/png","size":4996959,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/11\/12\/Raghav%20violin.png?itok=AG1HjIEJ"}},"675627":{"id":"675627","type":"video","title":"Performance: Raghavasimhan Sankaranarayanan (Ph.D. Dissertation - School of Music)","body":null,"created":"1731521211","gmt_created":"2024-11-13 18:06:51","changed":"1731521211","gmt_changed":"2024-11-13 18:06:51","video":{"youtube_id":"FqmN4rwdL7E","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FqmN4rwdL7E"}}},"media_ids":["675600","675627"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECatherine Barzler, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:catherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecatherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["barzlerc@gmail.com"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}