Blob Opera: a fun tool for creating machine learning-boosted vocal polyphonies
Did you know ? Google has set up a division called Google Arts & Culture which is entirely dedicated to the development of technologies and software related to, drum rolls, the world of art and culture. Creator David Li and the Google Art & Cultures team have developed Blob Opera, an online musical experimentation as funny as it is creative, which relies largely on advances in machine learning (IA). Better yet, this musical quirk is accessible for free through a simple browser.
The principle behind Blob Opera is as simple as it is fun: the user stretches colorful and deeply silly-looking blobs, resulting in opera vocals at different levels of modulation and tone. The purple blob has Frederick Tong’s bass voice, the blue blob sings like tenor Christian Joel (sort of), the green blob plays the ditty like Joanna Gamble’s mezzo soprano and finally the red blob has the soprano voice by Olivia Doutney. We start by stretching the blue blob (bass) to the red blob (soprano), the AI ​​arranging to ensure the overall harmony between the 4 blobs. The end result sometimes looks like Corsican polyphonies … from afar.
The software also allows the recording of his creations, and offers pre-recorded Christmas tunes. Charming, funny and intelligent, Blob Opera gave us a good laugh … which is rather precious in 2020.
