What happens when a mad scientist’s musicbots rebel against their own precision? You get “Automatica”, the latest video from Nigel Stanford, who scored 15 million views controlling water, fire, and lightning with sound in his viral hit “Cymatics”. Stanford tells us “I’m trying to create an online version of Synethsesia – the brain disorder where people can see audio and hear light.”
Exclusively on TechCrunch, you can watch the world premiere of “Automatica” above.
You’ll see Stanford rocking out with his KUKA robots. These mechanical arms move with accuracy down to 0.03mm, and are programmed with software called Robot Animator. That allows them to strum a bass, scratch on a turntable, and tickle a synthesizer…until they get fed up doing what they’re told.
“I wanted to explore the concepts of robotics, the singularity, Artificial Intelligence etc” Stanford explains. “I also just thought it would be cool to see a robot explode a piano.”
“Automatica” is the first single off Stanford’s upcoming album of the same name. “I’m sure that in the future it will be possible for AI to write great music but it shouldn’t concern musicians or anyone else for that matters” Stanford notes. “There’s already a huge sea of great music, I don’t think that the AI composed music will find it any easier to get an audience than anyone else does.”
Well, if they make videos this cool, an AI Beethoven or Beatles might find themselves playing to millions of obsolete humans.