While fans of the iconic Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain are still alive today, the grunge vocalist would have been 52 years old if only he did not die from suicide, 30 years ago. Every February 20 on his birthday, fans would usually wonder what other songs could he write if he actually hadn't committed suicide. While the actuality of what he would write is unknown, an AI is now attempting to fill in the missing gaps.
Over the Bridge Google AI
A particular mental health organization known as Over the Bridge is now trying to use Google's very own Magenta AI, which is a generic neural network, in order to examine over two dozen songs that were written by Nirvana in attempts to create a somewhat "new" track coming from the band. The story by Engadget noted that "Drowned in the Sun" is the name of the song and it starts with a heavy reverb plucking before it finally turns into an assault of really solid power chords.
One of the Nirvana tribute band frontman known as Eric Hogan is the one singing the song's chorus. In execution, it really does sound quite similar to Nirvana's You Know You're Right which was one of the famous singer's last songs before Kurt Cobain's death back in 1994. Going to a segment of the website called the Lost Tapes of the 27 Club would then allow listeners to play "Drowned in the Sun."
AI to copy music?
Aside from the really similar voice of Hogan, everything else that listeners can hear in the song is actually generated by two different AI programs that were used by Over the Bridge. The official organization first started off by feeding the Magenta AI songs as basic MIDI files in order for the software to learn the specific notes as well as harmonies that actually made the band's tunes very iconic.
Quite humorously, Cobain's really loose as well as aggressive guitar playing style really did give Google's AI a bit of trouble. The AI most of the time outputted a wall of distortion instead of really making something that was akin to what were known as his signature melodies.
Changeling process
According to Over the Bridge board member known as Sean O'Connor in a statement that he had given Rolling Stones, the process really did take a lot of "trial and error." It was noted that once they were actually able to get some of the musical as well as lyrical samples, the whole creative team then picked out some of the best bits and pieces to record. Most of the instruments that can be heard are actually MIDI tracks along with different effects that were just layered on top.
The song can also be listened to on YouTube under Over the Bridge's Lost Tapes of the 27 Club channel.
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Written by Urian Buenconsejo
