Students make application to compose traditional music

đờn ca tài tử - Ảnh 1. — Nhat Bao and Tan Duc discuss issues in the research project - Photo: MY DUNG

That is the product "Application of deep learning in automatic music composition, orientation for preservation and development of Southern amateur music" by the pair Nguyen Tan Duc and Ha Nhat Bao, grade 11 specialized in IT 1, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City.

The product has just won first prize in the National Science and Technology Competition for the 2024-2025 school year.

Many times we did not know where to start, but the final tool received the nod from experts in the field of Southern folk music, making us burst into tears. We were really happy.

Nhat Bao

6 months with many sleepless nights

Nguyen Tan Duc and Ha Nhat Bao are classmates who have a passion for music and especially want to preserve, conserve and promote traditional Vietnamese music in the context of increasingly modern life and young people having fewer and fewer opportunities to access traditional ethnic music.

Along with that passion, Tan Duc also has a background in music knowledge as he was born into a family with a tradition of playing music, so he has a certain understanding of music theory to be able to fulfill this difficult desire.

"We want to create a tool that everyone can use to create music without having to understand music theory in depth. The reason we chose to create a tool that can create Southern folk music is because this is also the genre of music that we love and want to preserve," Ha Nhat Bao said about the reason the two friends first came to the project.

Although the pair have both musical knowledge and are IT students who have been exposed to coding and AI for a long time, creating a tool that can compose Southern Vietnamese traditional music is a difficult task with many challenges.

"A big difficulty for us is that data on Southern amateur music is very limited and scattered, so finding data for AI to learn is a challenge. On the other hand, the Southern amateur music pieces are also very long, so many technical factors are needed, and a complex processing process is required. Furthermore, to be able to create this tool, we need a very powerful server," said Tan Duc.

Not discouraged by those difficulties and challenges, Tan Duc and Nhat Bao divided the work and sought out people with deep expertise in traditional music and Southern amateur music such as Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi My Liem to add materials and test the product.

So from September 2024, with many sleepless nights, Tan Duc and Nhat Bao overcame one challenge after another with a series of trials and errors to create a tool to compose Southern Vietnamese traditional music.

Bringing Southern amateur music to young people

After six months of work, Tan Duc and Nhat Bao have released an application for composing Southern Vietnamese traditional music. Although this is a great success, the couple is still not satisfied.

"In the upcoming research direction, we will focus on two main issues. First, allowing the AI model to create music with vocals. Because vocals are very important in the Southern folk music genre. And second, allowing the model to create mixes that combine ancient and modern music so that young people can access ancient music, so that anyone can create such mixes.

Our wish is that the AI model can contribute to preserving this traditional music genre of the nation, so that it will have more and more vitality in modern life" - Tan Duc shared.

With such wishes, Tan Duc and Nhat Bao said that after they complete the AI model with the above features, they plan to create a free application.

"In the process of implementing this tool, a big difficulty for us was having to have a very strong server to complete the research. Luckily, we received financial support partly from the school and partly from our families.

In particular, we received very necessary and important instructions from our supervisor throughout the research process. We are extremely grateful," Nhat Bao and Tan Duc said together.

Not afraid of difficulties

The project stemmed from the students’ and their instructor’s passion for music. Both students were talented, knew what they had to do, and were responsible for completing the assigned work.

Nowadays, when it comes to deep learning, everyone is familiar with it, but the things that the application team is doing are all new, there are techniques that have not been applied in practice, so it is necessary to program and test many times. However, the students are not afraid of difficulties, always looking for ways to achieve the best results for the project.

When working together and with instructors, students always listen, respect and follow the rules set out.

Mr. Do Quoc Anh Triet (Information Technology teacher, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted - instructor)

MY DUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoc-sinh-lam-ung-dung-sang-tac-don-ca-tai-tu-20250327102512579.htm