EXPLORING SAMPLING STRATEGIES IN LATENT SPACES FOR MUSIC GENERATION

Abstract

This paper investigates sampling strategies within latent spaces for music generation, focusing on (chordified) J.S. Bach Chorales and utilizing MusicVAE as the generative model. We conduct an experiment comparing three sampling and interpolation strategies within the latent space to generate chord progressions - from a discrete vocabulary of Bach's chords - to Bach's original chord sequences. Given a three-chord sequence from an original Bach chorale, we assess sampling strategies for replacing the middle chord. In detail, we adopt the following sampling strategies: (1) traditional linear interpolation, (2) k-nearest neighbors, and (3) k-nearest neighbors combined with angular alignment. The study evaluates their alignment with music theory principles of functional harmony embedding and voice-leading to mirror Bach's original chord sequences. Preliminary findings suggest that knearest neighbors and k-nearest neighbors combined with angular alignment closely align with the tonal function of the original chord, with k-nearest neighbors excelling in bass line interpolation and the combined strategy potentially enhancing voice-leading in upper voices. Linear interpolation maintains aspects of voice-leading but confines selections within defined tonal spaces, reflecting the nonlinear characteristics of the original sequences. Our study contributes to the dynamics of latent space sampling for music generation, offering potential avenues for enhancing explainable creative strategies. (c) 2024. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original.