New Google Tool Allows You to Compose like Mozart and Beethoven

The program "Assisted Melody" was updated recently for World Music Day through Google Arts and Culture, where you can create harmonies with no musical knowledge required

This tool was originally launched over a year ago by Simon Doury, Artist in Residence at Google Arts & Culture Lab with Google Magenta. 

The initial experiment submitted to Google allowed the user to compose like Bach, but for this year’s World Music Day on June 21, it was updated to include algorithms to compose like two additional maestros: Mozart and Beethoven. 

The tool involves three sections, representing each of the musicians that you can select to compose as. In each section, you can compose directly on their favorite instruments — with Bach, your melody can be heard on an organ; with Mozart, on the harpsichord; and with Beethoven, your notes can be heard on piano. 

In the four bars presented, you can plug in any notes to form a melody, and the tool will present a fully harmonized version of your melody in the style of the composer you selected. You can also click "harmonize again" for a different stylized version of your tune. 

"Assisted Melody" is easily accessible and also includes fun facts about the composers as you interact with it. For its development, a machine learning model was trained on the composers’ quartets and chorale cantatas to harmonize short melodies in the related style.

"Not only will you be able to compose directly on each maestro’s favorite instrument (Mozart's harpsichord, for example), you can also hear your stylized output on a wide range of modern instruments from the flute to the synthesizer," said Doury.

You can try the program here.