AI-Designed Musical Instruments

"Old Instruments From the Future, New Instruments From the Past" AI-Designed Musical Instruments is the project reimagines the relationship between music, the body, and artificial intelligence. Using generative AI (DALL-E and Stable Diffusion), a series of unusual and unintentionally striking images of musical instruments were created through various prompts. From these, four distinctive designs were selected and transformed into physical instruments, crafted with precision primarily using mainly wood. The instruments were not only realized materially but also accompanied by the invention of suitable playing methods. The project culminates in a presentation combining the instruments, an audio-visual installation, and live performances.

AI can generate images that resemble musical instruments, yet it lacks an understanding of their relationship to the human body. This project begins with the hypothesis that AI does not simply “fail to understand” this connection but rather understands it in a fundamentally different way. By developing ways to play these instruments that disregard conventional human ergonomics, the project aims to create music for AI, offering a critique of anthropocentrism in music and technology.
Musical instruments are interfaces linking the human body and music. For instance, the invention of the piano significantly shaped Romantic music rather than the reverse. Similarly, this project posits that instruments designed by AI could reveal forms of music conceptualized by AI itself. In doing so, it raises a question about the notion of AI's "body".

The selected images deliberately eschew the futuristic aesthetics often associated with AI art, instead evoking an antiquated, almost historical sensibility. This intentional choice challenges prevailing assumptions about AI's visual language and its place in contemporary artistic practice.

Full playlist 
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