Recu si e specula ion
Vincenzo Madaghiele
Depa men o Musicology
Uni e si y o Oslo
[email p o ec ed]
Kelsey Co on
Chalme s Uni e si y o Technology
and Uni e si y o Go henbu g
[email p o ec ed]
Abs ac
Recu si e Specula ion is an imp o ised ocal pe o mance ha ea u es a ocalis
and he Mul i-Agen Au onomous Loope (MAAL), a co-c ea i e sample /loope
based on a mul i-agen logic algo i hm and machine lis ening. The MAAL is
composed o se e al agen s, each con olling a loop ack, which can au onomously
decide o sample and play back segmen s o a li e ocal pe o mance by lis ening
o each o he . The pe o mance e ol es as a dialogue be ween he musician and
he sys em, in which he machine ac s as specula i e mi o able o au onomously
selec and epea segmen s o he pe o me ’s oice, laye ing hem o cons uc
e ol ing musical s uc u es. The sys em app op ia es ocal segmen s, i disembod-
ies hem h ough epe i ion, eimagining hei meaning and hei musical unc ion
by ecombina ion and associa ion. The musician and he sys em a e in a co-c ea i e
eedback whe e he musician gene a es he ma e ial he sys em selec s, and a he
same ime she mus espond o he sys em’s au onomous choices h oughou he
pe o mance.
1 P ojec desc ip ion
Recu si e Specula ion is an imp o ised ocal pe o mance ha ea u es a ocalis and he Mul i-
Agen Au onomous Loope (MAAL), a co-c ea i e sample and loope based on a mul i-agen logic
algo i hm and machine lis ening. This pe o mance imagines he au onomous machine as a ool o
explo ing and unde s anding onesel , imagining new possibili ies. Th oughou he pe o mance, he
musician imp o ises employing a wide ange o ex ended ocal echniques, which a e sampled and
laye ed by he MAAL as he piece p oceeds, o ming in e locking, con inuously e ol ing musical
s uc u es. The musician adap s o he s uc u es p o ided by he MAAL, a he same ime imp o ising
new ma e ials ha a e la e used as elemen s o he ollowing s uc u es. This peculia co-c ea i e
ela ionship, oge he wi h he mul i-agen na u e o he MAAL, gene a es a complex e e -e ol ing
sound en i onmen in which momen s o eme gen equilib ium al e na e o appa en diso de 1.
The MAAL is a esponsi e in e ac i e music sys em inspi ed by a li e loope , in which se e al agen s,
each con olling a loop ack, can au onomously decide o sample and play back segmen s o a ocal
pe o mance. Each agen lis ens o he concu en ly looping segmen s in he o he loop acks, and
akes decisions based on global musical p ope ies and i s indi idual objec i e, p e iously se by
he musician. In his way, he agen s a e mu ually in e dependen because hey lis en o each o he ,
and hei ac ions a e bound o he musical con ex hey a e imme sed in. The in e dependence o he
agen s makes he MAAL capable o highly complex beha io al esponses s emming om simple
ins uc ions, while main aining s ylis ic cohe ence o he pe o me ’s inpu . Each agen ’s beha io
is go e ned by a ule-based algo i hm, employing ules based on machine lis ening. The agen s
e alua e he compa ibili y o a candida e segmen om he li e pe o mance wi h o he concu en ly
looping segmen s based on hy hmical, ha monic and melodic ela ions compu ed h ough machine
lis ening desc ip o s. The design and implemen a ion o he MAAL a e p esen ed in he pape MAAL:
a mul i-agen au onomous li e loope o imp o ised co-c ea ion o musical s uc u es, p esen ed a
AI and Music C ea i i y con e ence 2025 (Madaghiele e al., 2025).
1A ease ideo o he pe o mance is a ailable a h ps://www.you ube.com/wa ch? =4TMo1WsA-JI.
P oceedings o he 6 h Con e ence on AI Music C ea i i y (AIMC 2025),
B ussels, Belgium, Sep embe 10 h-12 h
Figu e 1: Kelsey Co on pe o ming Recu si e Specula ion.
The composi ional app oach o his pe o mance is based on he ex u al and uncanny quali ies
o ex ended ocal echniques, and he use o epe i ion. Repe i ion is a undamen al aspec o
music (Ma gulis, 2013), and i is pe cei ed di e en ly a di e en ime scales. This piece explo es
he epe i ion and manipula ion o mesos uc u al elemen s such as melodies and hy hms (Roads,
2015) in he o m o loops, o c ea e ha monic, hy hmic and ex u al ela ionships (Wisha , 1994).
Repea ing ex ended ocal samples has he e ec o emphasizing hem—p omo ing educed lis ening
o hei sonic p ope ies (Chion, 2012)—and a he same ime disembodying hem, es anging om
hei embodied o igin o be pe cei ed as sound objec s wi h a musical unc ion wi hin hei con ex .
The MAAL in e locks segmen s au onomously based on p ede ined c i e ia, gene a ing ha monic and
hy hmic ela ions ha would be unachie able by a human pe o me con olling a sample /loope .
The mac o-s uc u e o he pe o mance is cons an ly e ol ing, howe e he cha ac e is ic beha io
o he mul i-agen sys em ends o al e na e momen s o elease (when he sys em is in a s a e o
equilib ium) and ension (when he equilib ium is b oken by he in oduc ion o a new ocal segmen
in he in e locking loops).
Concep ually, he piece imagines his echnology as a wis ed mi o (Ka pashe ich e al., 2022),
a machine o specula ion. “Specula ing” can mean aking isks, bu i can also signi y imagining
di e en e sions o onesel , o he u u e. The wo d comes om he La in speculum, which means
mi o —an ex e nal objec ha helps us in es iga e and unde s and ou sel es. In his p ojec , he
machine ac s as an imagina i e mi o , specula ing on possible u u e sonic pa hways, e ealing
al e na i e po en ials o he pe o me ’s in en ions, possibly opening up unimaginable pa hs. By
cohe en ly e-combining and laye ing segmen s o a ocalis ’s imp o ised pe o mance, he machine
ac s as a ool o specula ion on he pe o me ’s ocal in en ions and he u u e, building a musical
s uc u e and ajec o y composed o agmen s om he pas . The in e ac ion be ween human and
he MAAL is co-c ea i e: he agen e-combines segmen s o he singe ’s imp o isa ion, whils he
he singe adap s and esponds o he agen —p o iding u he ma e ials o po en ial e olu ion o he
imp o isa ion.
Acknowledgmen s and Disclosu e o Funding
This wo k is unded by he Depa men o Musicology a he Uni e si y o Oslo as pa o he i s
au ho ’s p ojec o his doc o al esea ch ellowship. This p ojec elies on open-sou ce coding
amewo ks, and i would no ha e been possible wi hou he Pu e Da a and Py hon open-sou ce
so wa e and online communi ies. This wo k was suppo ed by he Wallenbe g AI, Au onomous
Sys ems and So wa e P og am – Humani ies and Socie y (WASP-HS) unded by he Ma ianne and
Ma cus Wallenbe g Founda ion and he Ma cus and Amalia Wallenbe g Founda ion. The au ho s
epo no con lic s o in e es .
2
Re e ences
Chion, M. (2012). The h ee lis ening modes. The sound s udies eade , 1.
Ka pashe ich, P., Sanches, P., Ga e , R., Lu , Y., Co on, K., Tsaknaki, V., and Höök, K. (2022).
Touching ou b ea hing h ough shape-change: Mons e , o ganic o he , o wis ed mi o . ACM
T ansac ions on Compu e -Human In e ac ion (TOCHI), 29(3):1–40.
Madaghiele, V., Fasciani, S., Kelka , T., and E dem, Ç. (2025). MAAL: a mul i-agen au onomous
li e loope o imp o ised co-c ea ion o musical s uc u es. In P oceedings o AI and Music
C ea i i y Con e ence (AIMC), B uxellses (BE).
Ma gulis, E. H. (2013). On Repea : How Music Plays he Mind. Ox o d Uni e si y P ess.
Roads, C. (2015). Composing elec onic music: a new aes he ic. Ox o d Uni e si y P ess.
Wisha , T. (1994). Audible design. O pheus he Pan omime Yo k.
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