[ad_1]
Artificial Intelligence systems have always had their fair share of concerns, ranging from mimicking other’s work to training on copyrighted data. However, one such AI system is now responsible for the debut of the Beatles’ final song, “Now and Then.”
How did AI make the song possible?
According to the reports, before John Lennon’s untimely passing, he recorded three songs—Free As a Bird, Real Love, and Now and Then—on a cassette in the late 1970s. While McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison successfully finished and released the first two songs, limited technology at the time prevented them from separating Lennon’s vocals and piano from the third song.
However, everything changed when Peter Jackson used AI in the Beatles documentary “Get Back” to isolate instruments, vocals, and conversations, thereby paving the way for the completion of the final song. This is because by employing this technology, the team succeeded in isolating Lennon’s original vocal performance from his piano, enabling other members to complete the song by incorporating new elements. These elements included guitar parts recorded by Harrison in 1995, a string arrangement by McCartney, Giles Martin, and Ben Foster, and backing vocals sourced from original recordings of famous Beatles tracks.
After first hearing the song, Paul McCartney stated, “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it. It’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023, to still be working on Beatles music and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.”
Concerns about AI
Despite concerns about AI’s involvement in regenerating Lennon’s performance, McCartney reassured fans that nothing synthetic was added, emphasizing that the process primarily involved refining existing recordings. Moreover, it is also important to note that this process of cleaning up audio has been an industry standard for years.
“It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us,” said Ringo Starr.
[ad_2]
Source link