Last Performance of the Beatles: A Memorable Tune ETched in Time
The Beatles, one of the most iconic bands in music history, are set to release a "final" song titled "Now and Then." This long-unfinished track, initially conceived by John Lennon in the late 1970s, has been brought to life with the help of artificial intelligence.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have completed John Lennon's 1978 demo of the song with the help of AI technology. The process began by using an AI model trained on an extensive dataset of Lennon's voice recordings, ranging from studio albums to live performances. This model meticulously studied Lennon's unique vocal characteristics, such as tone, pitch, and phrasing, to create a highly accurate replica of his voice.
The AI model was then used to extract and clean Lennon's voice from the 1978 demo recording. Peter Jackson, the filmmaker behind the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back, provided the machine-learning-assisted audio restoration technology for this purpose. This AI-assisted sound source separation allowed McCartney and the band to build a full new Beatles track around Lennon's cleaned-up vocal, supplemented with additional lyrics by McCartney and new instrumentation from the other band members.
It's important to note that no artificial or synthetic vocals were created. The AI was used to clean up and separate existing audio recordings to enable finishing the song with all four Beatles playing together. The AI-generated vocals were then fine-tuned by a team of musicians and sound engineers to match Lennon's distinctive style.
The collaboration between human expertise and AI technology played a crucial role in refining Lennon's voice. Modern neural network architectures such as Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) were used to train the AI model to mimic Lennon's voice.
The final product, "Now and Then," was released as the Beatles' final record in 2023. The song was widely acclaimed as a worthy finale for the band, topping charts in multiple countries and winning a Grammy for Best Rock Performance. This marks a significant milestone at the intersection of AI and music.
Peter Jackson also directed the music video for the song. The track represents a novel use of AI in music production, enabling a long-unfinished Beatles song to be completed decades later with the original voices and instruments preserved authentically. The use of AI in music production opens up possibilities for musicians to collaborate with artists from past generations and breathe new life into unfinished works.
In summary, "Now and Then" is a testament to the power of AI in music production. It showcases the ability to resurrect the voice of a beloved artist and complete a long-unfinished work with the original instruments and voices preserved authentically. The song is set for release at the end of 2023, and it's a must-listen for any Beatles fan or anyone interested in the intersection of AI and music.
The AI-generated vocals, mimicking John Lennon's distinctive style, were refined by a team of musicians and sound engineers, creating a blend of technological advancement and traditional artistry that contributed to the final product. The unique collaboration between artificial intelligence and the legendary Beatles, as seen in their song "Now and Then," has set a new standard in the intersection of AI and entertainment, particularly music.
