The Human Robotic Ensemble

Four human and four robotic musicians playing together.

A challenge: What happens when intuition, impulsiveness and emotionality meet algorithms, deep learning and programmed codes?

The HUMAN ROBOTIC ENSEMBLE attempts a dialogue at eye level. The
result is an encounter in which the boundaries between artificial intelligence
and human creativity blur. In which no distinction is made between what is felt, conceived, conceived by humans or analyzed, calculated and calculated by software. An encounter in which the joint audible result is clearly more than the sum of the individual parts.

The live interaction raises questions: How creative can robots be? How quickly do they “understand” and read the resulting musical situations? What can AI mean for our creativity
in the future? And: What does artificial intelligence actually sound like? In the interaction of man and machine, a joint piece of music full of autonomous creativity develops ¬- respectfully, attentively and with subtle depth.

Human Musicians:
Lotte Anker – Saxophones
Nicola L. Hein – Guitar
Sebastian Gramss – Bass
Philip Zoubek – Piano

Robotic Musicians:
Helio (Logos Foundation)
Vitello (Logos Foundation)
Tubo (Logos Foundation)
Yamaha Disklavier

Software/ Composition: Nicola L. Hein
Concept/ Composition: Sebastian Gramss

Project Management: Hanna Behr
Robot Engineering: Godfried-Willem Raes (https://logosfoundation.org/)
Robot Maintenance: Kristof Lauwers

Premiere: October 3rd, 2020, Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne

Supported by: Musikfonds, Kulturstiftung des Bundes, NRW Kultursekretariat, Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft NRW