osetinsky
Joined 14 years ago
Joined 14 years ago
also - i made you some sounds with Underscore:
chill / evolving harmonic thing: https://underscore.audio/s/cmp_f2b79a32-57e/chord_lantern
chaotic / glitchier thing: https://underscore.audio/s/cmp_6abde2c8-2d9/morseMind
they're LLM-generated, web-embeddable synths, and the real-time controllable parameters can be defined in the prompt — so your hand tracking could map directly onto whatever controls make sense for the instrument
you can also generate more structured compositions like this: https://underscore.audio/s/cmp_9175f7d2-fe0/drifter_glimmer
happy to help you wire one up / iterate on some sounds if you're interested
disclaimer: i'm building Underscore :)
I held off on sample support for the time being. It’s purely procedural code.
partially inspired by: https://www.thewayofcode.com/
It’s adaptive, so can evolve with gameplay. Happy to work with you to make it awesome
Disclaimer: I’m building Underscore :)
Karpathy’s point about the models not being able to easily audit their work is something I’m struggling with —- how can the audio output be made perceivable? Curious what people think about this question.
Here’s a synth to play with+remix
On-demand, procedural audio programs (w/LLMs). I’m working to make these embeddable in software such as games and health/wellness apps.
Would love to hear how developers might use it.
i've spent the last couple years experimenting with LLMs that write procedural, ambient music: instead of generating an audio file, we're using systems that write actual source code (supercollider synths) so the music runs live and can be embedded in and controlled in real time by software like games. a surprising amount of the work is taste -- prompt engineering and curating an aesthetic so the generated code reliably compiles and sounds good, with a compiler and automatic repair in the agent loop when it doesn't build. today, it produces single-synth musical systems, but I'm researching how to orchestrate multiple synths into fuller, evolving compositions with deep musical form and structure. LLMs make algorithmic music far more accessible to artists, and I'm eager to hear the new kinds of music that come out of it. hit me up if you're an audiophile interested in collaborating.
listen (or remix!) a couple examples:
https://underscore.audio/s/cmp_3d4ee881-1ec/elegy_lattice
https://underscore.audio/s/cmp_a2baeae6-3f2/supreme_ember
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2. Makespell - https://makespell.com/
a little suite of word games I've been building as the testbed for Underscore. every puzzle is generative: crosswords with LLM-written clues, a word ladder, a guess-as-it-draws game, and a deduction game scored on how few clues you need. the crossword grids come out of a Rust constraint-satisfaction solver — backtracking fill over a bitmask-indexed word list, enforcing 180-degree rotational symmetry and slot intersections. each generated puzzle gets its own generated, continuously-evolving soundtrack with no audio files involved. right now, the music is generated per puzzle, but it needs some work. it's currently too drone-y, and needs to be more magical/whimsical. where I want to take it is having it respond to the gameplay itself — which is really the whole point of Underscore
The basic idea is "music with source code." Instead of prompting for finished audio files, you use an LLM to help write and revise a SuperCollider-based system that runs in the browser via WebAssembly [1]. The result is executable music: inspectable, editable, versionable, and controllable at runtime.
I’m especially interested in adaptive sound for software: games, creative tools, meditation apps, AI agents, interactive art. Places where a static audio file feels too dead, but hiring a composer/sound designer for every variation is unrealistic.
It’s early, but the thesis is that LLMs make algorithmic music much more approachable because code becomes a conversational medium. I wrote a longer piece about the idea here: https://x.com/osetinsky/status/2053674503801028944?s=20
You can check it out here: https://underscore.audio
[1] shout outs to:
- Sam Aaron for building SuperSonic, allowing for SuperCollider in the browser as an AudioWorklet: https://sonic-pi.net/supersonic/demo.html. Earlier, pre-LLM versions of Underscore relied on low-latency WebRTC implementations for streaming SC synths running on servers to browsers in real-time
- James McCartney, creator of SuperCollider: https://supercollider.github.io/