| Instructor | Hao-Wen (Herman) Dong (ude.hcimu@gnodwh) |
| Room | Moore 376 (Davis) or Zoom |
| Days & times | 1:30–3pm, Mondays & Wednesdays |
| Office hours | By appointment |
An introduction to generative AI and its applications to music and audio creation. Topics include music generation, audio synthesis and assistive music creation tools. Students work on a semester-long group project to gain hands-on experience on creating music using AI tools. Prior coding experience is recommended.
This course counts as a Flexible Technical Elective for CS-Eng and DS-Eng programs, and an approved course for the MIDAS GDSC program.
| Week | Date | Lecture | Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 7 | Introduction | |
| Background | |||
| 2 | Jan 12 | ├ Intro to AI Music | |
| Jan 14 | ├ Music Processing Fundamentals | ||
| 3 | ├ |
||
| Jan 21 | ├ Audio Processing Fundamentals | ||
| 4 | ├ |
PA 1 due | |
| ├ |
|||
| 5 | Feb 2 | └ Music Analysis | |
| Deep Generative Models | |||
| Feb 4 | ├ RNNs, LSTMs & Transformers | ||
| 6 | Feb 9 | ├ VAEs & GANs | |
| Feb 11 | └ Diffusion Models | ||
| Symbolic Music Generation | |||
| 7 | Feb 16 | ├ Language-based Music Generation | PA 2 due |
| Feb 18 | ├ Piano Roll-based Music Generation | ||
| 8 | Feb 23 | ├ PA 2 Walkthrough & Catch-up | |
| Feb 25 | └ Controllable Music Generation | ||
| 9 | |||
| Audio Synthesis | |||
| 10 | Mar 9 | ├ Time-domain Audio Synthesis | PA 3 due |
| Mar 11 | ├ PA 3 Walkthrough & Catch-up | ||
| 11 | Mar 16 | ├ Frequency-domain Audio Synthesis | |
| Mar 18 | ├ Project Pitch | ||
| 12 | Mar 23 | └ Latent-based Audio Synthesis | PA 4 due |
| AI-Assisted Music Creation Tools | |||
| Mar 25 | ├ Neural Audio Effects & Auto Mixing | ||
| 13 | Mar 30 | ├ Interactive & Multimodal Systems | |
| Apr 1 | └ Buffer | ||
| 14 | Apr 6 | Discussion | |
| Apr 8 | Challenges & Opportunities | ||
| 15 | Apr 13 | Project Consultation | |
| Apr 15 | Project Consultation | ||
| 16 | Apr 20 | Project Presentation |
All grading and regrade requests will be handled on Gradescope.
The final grading scale is as follows.
| A+ | >96 | B+ | 87–89 | C+ | 77–79 | D+ | 67–69 | F | <60 |
| A | 93–96 | B | 83–86 | C | 73–76 | D | 63–66 | ||
| A− | 90–92 | B− | 80–82 | C− | 70–72 | D− | 60–62 |
| Programming Assignment | Due |
|---|---|
| PA 1: Music & Audio Processing | TBD |
| PA 2: Musical Note Classification | TBD |
| PA 3: Symbolic Music Generation | TBD |
| PA 4: Audio Generation | TBD |
| Milestone | Due |
|---|---|
| Pitch | TBD |
| Presentation | TBD |
| Report | TBD |
There is no required reading. Here is some good optional reading:
The University of Michigan recognizes disability as an integral part of diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive and equitable educational environment for students with disabilities. Students who are experiencing a disability-related barrier should contact Services for Students with Disabilities ((734) 763-3000 or ssdoffice@umich.edu). For students who are connected with SSD, accommodation requests can be made in Accommodate. If you have any questions or concerns please contact your SSD Coordinator or visit SSD’s Current Student webpage. SSD considers aspects of the course design, course learning objects and the individual academic and course barriers experienced by the student. Further conversation with SSD, instructors, and the student may be warranted to ensure an accessible course experience.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sexual misconduct — including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We understand that sexual violence can undermine students’ academic success and we encourage anyone dealing with sexual misconduct to talk to someone about their experience, so they can get the support they need. Confidential support and academic advocacy can be found with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) on their 24-hour crisis line at (734) 936-3333. Alleged violations can be non-confidentially reported to the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE).
Students may experience stressors that can impact both their academic experience and their personal well-being. These may include academic pressure and challenges associated with relationships, mental health, alcohol or other drugs, identities, finances, etc. If you are experiencing concerns, seeking help is a courageous thing to do for yourself and those who care about you. If the source of your stressors is academic, please contact me so that we can find solutions together. For personal concerns, U-M offers many resources, some of which are listed at Resources for Students on the Well-being Collective website. You can also search for additional resources on that website.