A Report from Alessandra Bossa

I attended the IRCAM Forum Workshops in Paris, a four-day event held at IRCAM – one of the most important centers for electroacoustic music, experimentation, and new technologies.

The IRCAM Forum is a unique meeting point where artists, scientists, and technologists come together to explore the intersection of sound, research, and creativity.

During the workshops, I had the opportunity to try out new tools, including software and AI applications. I also had the chance to perform in a multichannel room using Somax2, an AI-based system for musical improvisation and composition. Somax2 uses machine listening, a cognitive memory activation model, and a multi-agent architecture to create real-time musical responses that interact meaningfully with both pre-selected musical styles and the live performance context. 

The event was particularly inspiring for my PhD research in Live Electronics. It offered valuable insights into how new methods and creative approaches are rapidly evolving.

One of the highlights was the presentation of Latent Terrain – an algorithmic technique for exploring the latent space of neural audio autoencoders. Instead of using traditional dimensionality reduction, Latent Terrain creates a steep and complex audio “landscape” that allows for richer spectral navigation and deeper musical expression.

It was a valuable occasion to experiment, learn, and exchange ideas with professionals from the international music and research community.

This year’s edition also included sessions from the international ContinuuCon conference and the SynthFest, which made the event even more dynamic and inspiring.

The experience offered not only technical and artistic growth, but also the chance to connect with a global and diverse community.