Suspended Animation (2024)

Suspended Animation for flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola, and cello (2024)
Originally written for an ensemble of AI flutes as "Study No. II for AI Ensemble (2022)," this piece represents a culmination of Şahin Kureta's exploration into the fusion of artificial intelligence and music composition, a journey that began in 2017. Kureta’s work with deep learning techniques took a significant step forward with a presentation at IRCAM in March 2018. Since then, the rapid advancements in this field have continually shaped the composer’s methods and approach.

At the core of this piece is the use of a custom Neural Network written by the composer, based on Google Magenta's DDSP (Differentiable Digital Signal Processing), which models instrument sounds in innovative ways. This technology originally allowed Kureta to train his own models to create unique sounds from recordings of acoustic instruments like flute, viola, and cello, enabling the composition of new, complex layers of music through AI.

This piece has now been re-imagined for Ensemble Recherche as "Suspended Animation." This transformation has opened up new sonic possibilities and interactions, blending the futuristic with the traditional.

Kureta's composition process with AI involves poking and prodding the neural network to observe its responses to various inputs and drawing inspiration from it. He trains his networks on his own data, not necessarily seeking perfect outputs but rather embracing the unexpected results. This approach resembles circuit bending—an experimental technique where electronic circuits in devices are creatively short-circuited to produce new sounds and effects—but instead applies to Neural Networks. This method fosters a dialogue between composer and machine, creating a unique and evolving creative landscape.

Creating for AI instruments has influenced Kureta's compositional style in unexpected ways. The behaviors and nuances of these AI-driven sounds have become an integral part of the creative process, shaping the music and adding a dynamic, evolving quality to it.