(Inside Science) — When a song plays on the radio, there are invisible forces at work that go beyond the creative scope of the writing, performing and producing of the song. One of those ineffable qualities is audio mastering, a process that smooths out the song and optimizes the listening experience on any device. Now, artificial intelligence algorithms are starting to work their way into this undertaking.
“Mastering is a bit of a black art,” explained Thomas Birtchnell, a researcher at the University of Wollongong in Australia. “While it’s not always clear what mastering does, the music comes back and it sounds better.” Birtchnell, a musician himself, was intrigued when he heard about AI-based mastering services like LANDR that offer inexpensive alternatives to human-based mastering. Many younger and newer artists use LANDR to master tracks they are releasing to launch their careers (they offer a monthly service that costs $9 for four tracks). He decided to investigate AI’s uses and trends of algorithm-based audio mastering in a new paper released in November.
