VOA文化艺术2024--Country Singer Randy Travis Releases AI Song after Stroke

 

Country Singer Randy Travis Releases AI Song after Stroke

An American country music star has used artificial intelligence to make music again, years after suffering a stroke.

Randy Travis is 65 years old. He was a popular country music performer in the 1980s and 1990s and won several Grammy awards during his career. But in 2013, he went to the hospital with a heart problem and later had a stroke. The stroke made it hard for Travis to speak. He has not made music since his stroke - until now.

On May 3, Travis released a new song with the help of artificial intelligence, or AI. It is called Where That Came From. Nashville, Tennessee songwriters Scotty Emerick and John Scott Sherrill wrote the song.

Cris Lacy is co-president of Warner Music Nashville, the company that produces Travis' music. Lacy said she contacted Travis' wife Mary and asked "What if we could take Randy's voice and recreate it using AI?"

"We were all over that, so we were so excited," Mary Travis said about the chance to hear her husband's voice in a new song. "All I ever wanted since the day of the stroke was to hear that voice again."

Lacy talked with computer programmers in London about making an AI system that could recreate Travis' voice. They produced two models. One model used 12 vocal¹ samples from Travis' career and the other used 42 samples. There was a lot of material to work with; the singer's first big record, Storms of Life, came out in 1985.

Travis' long-time music producer is Kyle Lehning. He said Where That Came From was a song that fit Travis' way of singing. When Travis was at the top of his career, he was known for a more traditional kind of country music. It was a contrast to the pop-country songs that were popular in the late 1980s.

Lehning talked about the process of making the song. First, another singer recorded the song in what is known as a "demo." Then the AI system analyzed³ the song and applied⁴ Travis' voice to it.

"I really wish somebody had been here with a camera," Lehning said about the experience of watching the computer apply Travis' voice to the song. "And it was stunning⁵, to me, how good it was ... right off the bat."

Lehning said some parts of the sound created by the computer were "not authentic⁶ to Randy's performance." Lehning worked with Casey Wood, a recording⁷ engineer who knew Travis well, to get it right.

The two music professionals used sound parts from both vocal models. They made changes to the speed of some of the sounds. Lehning said Travis is "a laid-back singer," so they had to slow down some parts. They wanted to keep an "old soul quality" in Travis' voice.

Lehning said they were able to improve on the AI version. And Mary Travis said the final version of her husband's song is much different than what happens when a computer programmer uses AI to create something without permission.

She called the producers' and engineers' work on the project "the human element."

She added that her husband had a thoughtful look on his face when he first heard the song. "I think he went through every emotion there was in those three minutes of just hearing his voice again," Mary Travis said.

Words in This Story

stroke -n. a blood clot⁸ or blockage⁹ that prevents oxygen from reaching the brain, often causing damage

vocal -adj. having to do with the voice

contrast -n. something that allows one to see the difference between two things

analyze² -v. to study or examine something

apply -v. to put something on top of another surface

stunning -adj. surprising

right of the bat -expression. at the start, right away

authentic -adj. exactly right, a correct representation

1 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

2 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

3 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

6 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

9 blockage   

n.障碍物；封锁

参考例句：

• The logical treatment is to remove this blockage.合理的治疗方法就是清除堵塞物。
• If the blockage worked,they could retreat with dignity.如果封锁发生作用，他们可以体面地撤退。