Exploring the Needs of Practising Musicians in Co-Creative AI Through Co-Design

TL;DR

This paper investigates the needs of practicing musicians in co-creating AI music tools by involving them in the design process through workshops and ecological evaluation, revealing key insights for future development.

Contribution

It presents a case study demonstrating the importance of involving diverse musicians in co-designing AI music tools, highlighting practical design insights and integration strategies.

Findings

Diverse musicians provide valuable design insights.

Musicians suggest ways to integrate AI into existing practices.

Co-design process uncovers key usability and functionality needs.

Abstract

Recent advances in generative AI music have resulted in new technologies that are being framed as co-creative tools for musicians with early work demonstrating their potential to add to music practice. While the field has seen many valuable contributions, work that involves practising musicians in the design and development of these tools is limited, with the majority of work including them only once a tool has been developed. In this paper, we present a case study that explores the needs of practising musicians through the co-design of a musical variation system, highlighting the importance of involving a diverse range of musicians throughout the design process and uncovering various design insights. This was achieved through two workshops and a two week ecological evaluation, where musicians from different musical backgrounds offered valuable insights not only on a musical system's design but also on how a musical AI could be integrated into their musical practices.