“Our AI isn’t trained on other people’s catalogues”: AI-powered “meta-composition” software DAACI places the human at the centre of music-making
“It’d really be more accurate to say that DAACI has been taught rather than having learnt.”
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Among the dozens of AI-powered music composition softwares that have emerged in recent years, here’s one that promises to put human creativity back at the centre of music-making.
The software in question is DAACI, a music composition tool that sets itself apart from traditional generative AI models.
As CEO Rachel Lyske tells MusicRadar, “One of the major innovations with DAACI is that it isn’t just a generative AI that ingests loads of pre-existing music and puts out its idea of what that sounds like.”
Instead, the Abbey Road-backed team is made up of composers and musicians who respect the creative process and the rights of artists. She says that unlike most of the other systems that aim to produce full music tracks based on minimal user input – like a few seconds of music or a set of keywords like ‘happy’ and ‘classical’ – DAACI writes musical elements and textures directly by encoding musical ideas.
“Traditionally, composers have had to compose by inputting specific note choices in a DAW, which puts all kinds of limitations on their creative process. With DAACI composers still compose by encoding their musical choices, or ‘meta-composing’, allowing the AI to compose for them on the edge.”
“Our AI isn’t trained on other people’s catalogues,” Lyske explains. “Most of these systems rely on deep learning methods trained on large existing collections or, alternatively, play ‘musical Tetris’ with pre-composed loops or static elements. This takes human creativity almost fully out of the loop, and it’s actually ethically questionable.”
By contrast, “DAACI doesn’t rely on pre-recorded tracks or edited audio samples.” It “composes, arranges, orchestrates and produces music with authentic and high-quality output”.
Additionally, the software also ensures that artists and composers receive fair compensation for their work.
“Whether you’re using those AC/DC-inspired guitar riffs or a funky drum pattern inspired by Chad Smith, DAACI can trace where every note comes from and will circulate the rights back to the original source of inspiration,” says the executive, emphasising the platform’s commitment to their message of ‘created by composers, for composers’.
The firm has plans to roll out its technology in various forms by the end of the year.
Learn more at DAACI.
