Credit: AWS/TechCrunch
That’s a musical keyboard, not a typing one.
At the re:Invent event today, Amazon Web Services announced DeepComposer, a developer-focused machine-learning musical keyboard. There’s all sorts of neat kits and programs out there to teach fledgling developers about the wonders of machine learning, but AWS hopes that something music-centric could make the process a little more fun, and as everyone knows (or should know), learning is easier when it’s fun.
“AWS DeepComposer is a 32-key, 2-octave keyboard designed for developers to get hands on with Generative AI, with either pretrained models or your own,” AWS rep Julien Simon explained in a blog post about DeepComposer. Utilizing a specific subset of artificial intelligence known as “generative AI,” developers can effectively teach computers how to make and understand music. “Developers, regardless of their background in ML or music, can get started with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). This Generative AI technique pits two different neural networks against each other to produce new and original digital works based on sample inputs. With AWS DeepComposer, you can train and optimize GAN models to create original music.”
Amazon has tinkered with machine-learning aids before, with 2017’s DeepLens camera and 2018’s DeepRacer racing cars. Hopefully, DeepComposer will have a lower bar of entry, and with any luck, produce some interesting music. No word on when the keyboard will be available, but you can sign up for a preview and notifications here.
