Participants 2024
About the TEAM
Bernarda Castillo and Andrés Mondaca, both composers and hosts of La Coda Podcast—a show about music and creative processes—have been working on various projects for over 13 years. Onda Corta represents the culmination of their greatest passions: music and AI. Together, they blend composition, production, and post-production in extensive collaboration with diverse generative AI tools, becoming their new obsession in endless learning. They plan to release their first EP in 2025, an experimental album about collaborative and news technologies.
About the SONG
The song "Sudamérica" explores AI biases about our region. We asked various language models (LLM) for key concepts defining South America and found patterns like tango, soccer, and biodiversity, which revealed certain stereotypes. Using these terms, we generated audio with ElevenLabs and expanded the prompts to include a wide variety of terms and phrases, resulting in a rich and diverse sound palette. The results included unexpected sounds, such as a caveman's growl, which added a surprising twist to the composition. We carefully incorporated these elements to question and subvert existing expectations. In this way, we crafted a sound collage that not only challenges established perceptions of South American musical identity but also invites listeners to rethink the cultural and sonic stereotypes associated with the region.
About the HUMAN-AI PROCESS
To create our song, we integrated AI tools at every stage of the creative process. We started with three different language models (ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini) to generate the initial concept of "Sudamérica," gathering a wide range of ideas. We chose these models because they are the most widely used, allowing us to understand what a larger number of users are getting when they inquire about our region.
Key recurring themes like tango, soccer, and biodiversity were selected and filtered. Using ElevenLabs, we generated over 100 audio clips of 5-10 seconds based on these themes, as well as South American country names and traditional musical styles. We chose Eleven Labs for its ethical transparency in using its database and because it allowed us to explore brief audio clips instead of complete musical creations. This gave us greater control over the composition and allowed us to use varied sounds from prompts like "biodiversity" or "Bolivia" as sound textures in our song.
For the lyrics, we used Claude.ai to generate several options based on selected concepts. We curated the best verses and choruses for thematic and stylistic coherence. Andrés selected 23 audio clips for the song, using Moises.ai to separate one key sample into bass, percussion, and piano tracks, which became the song's foundation. He composed the song in a DAW, looping and layering samples, and recorded vocals, further enhanced with KITS.ai for a unique touch.
Lyrics
Uuuh Sudamérica
Tierra de pasión, Fútbol en las venas, samba en el corazón
Uhhh Sudamérica
Andes majestuosos, selva sin igual ¡un sueño tropical! Del Caribe al Cono Sur, la diversidad florece,
Culturas milenarias, el legado permanece,
Incas, mayas, guaraníes, su historia prevalece,
En cada rincón, la tradición se estremece. Selva amazónica, pulmón del planeta,
Cordillera andina, majestuosa silueta,
Lenguas que perduran, culturas que se unen,
En esta tierra donde los sueños se reúnen.
Uuuh Sudamérica
Tierra de pasión, Fútbol en las venas, samba en el corazón
Uhhh Sudamérica
Andes majestuosos, selva sin igual ¡un sueño tropical!
Fútbol en las venas, Pelé y Maradona,
Messi y Neymar, la pasión nos corona,
Del Orinoco al Río de la Plata, la vida fluye,