Doodle with AI sauce

Doodle. © Google.

To celebrate the birthday of composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach on March 21 1685, Google created its first Doodle using artificial intelligence technologies. Designed in partnership with the Google Magenta and Google PAIR teams, the Doodle offers a charming, interactive experience that encourages the user to compose a simple two-bar melody. Then, just click a button to get a harmonization worthy of the Cantor of Leipzig. Behind the magic lies machine learning, of course. A model called Coconet, created by Google Magenta, was formed with the harmonization of 306 Bach chorales. The four-voice harmonization process (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) takes place on the browser with Tensorflow.js. However, in case the computer or device is not powerful enough to run the Doodle using TensorFlow.js, the model runs on Google Cloud with the new Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).

Play with the Doodle here. Tip: if you click on the amplifier on the right, you will get a more ’80s sound.

⇨ Google Magenta, “Coconet: the ML model behind today’s Bach Doodle.”

⇨ Google Blog, “Honoring J.S. Bach with our first AI-powered Doodle.”