Week 86: The days are getting longer (folk-rnn v2 + Sturm)

This reel was created by computer science professor Steve Benford using folkrnn.org, and is archived at themachinefolksession.org as No. 83216. He accompanies a MIDI performance of this and three other reels at MUSAiC Festival 2022, which he discusses in this blog post. I made a few changes to the melody, added a harmonic progression, and

Week 84: Chill the Chardonnay (folk-rnn v2 w/ beamsearch + Sturm)

This reel comes from folk-rnn (v2) sampled with beamsearch. I found it while creating my entry to the Ai Music Generation Challenge 2022. I learned it while awaiting a Christmas visit from my mother-in-law – who loves big oaky chilled California chardonnay wine. And then we all recorded it as a family!

Week 77: Beef Out (Tradformer + Sturm)

We learned this reel from Tradformer. The title comes from another malapropism by one of my PhD students. When we were reviewing a draft of his research paper he said, “I am going to beef out this section” when he meant, “beef up”. Just a slight change of proposition makes a big difference! And it

Week 73: Ping the Kvetch (Tradformer + Sturm)

We learned this nice reel from Tradformer, and then played it together over thousands of miles of separation! This was made possible by a cool program in development called Telejam (created by Mark in the video). Here’s the project website. I find it has better quality than other internet jamming software. I made the video

Week 72: Promenade in G with some Accidentals (Tradformer + Sturm)

A reel to accompanying slow walks in the sun of the coming Spring. But watch your step! The wintertime gravel is waiting to be collected. I am joined here by MUSAiC PhD student Laura Cros Vila on flute, who has crafted a nice second voice.

Week 48: The Fonserannes Staircase (folk-rnn v2 + Sturm)

[The Fonserannes Staircase] (L’escalier du Fonserannes) is a monumental stone staircase found at Hautdesert, in the Ardèche département of southern France. The stairs were found in 1853 by a farmer as he was plowing on his fields in the area. The Fonserannes is one of the oldest prehistoric monuments in the European region. Information courtesy

Week 39: Namloc’s (folk-rnn v2 + Sturm)

[Namloc’s is a tune that is] so simple yet so perfect in the sense that it gets you instantly hooked and keeps you bouncing around on it. This song is a great example of a song that takes nothing from the original but adds so much. For instance, there’s an added beat of sorts at

Week 38: Dress the Egg with a Hat (folk-rnn v2 + Sturm)

[Dress the egg with a hat]. Note: Do not overdo it. Too flippant? It might even break apart because of excess handling and glue creep!! Information courtesy of GPT-2 Inspiration comes from many different things. In this case, my friend Daniel sent me, unsolicited, the photo at left of his breakfast – an egg wearing

Week 30: Aloe Vera’s (folk-rnn v2 + Sturm)

[Aloe vera music] is very soothing for a child’s ears and calming for adult listeners as well. It has a soothing effect and is quite soothing. I like it especially when I take it with my medication. In view of the need to provide soothing sounds when I need it, I have selected Aloe vera

Week 26: The dog ate a raisin so call the vet (folk-rnn v2 + Sturm)

[A dog and a raisin] is better than a dog and a piece of cardboard. Information courtesy of GPT-2 True story: Carla got herself a nice big bowl of muesli and vanilla yogurt and then went to get a cup of tea. She came back to the table to find our dog Shoogee with her