AI-Powered 'GPU Organ' Creates Ethereal Music Using Computer Fans

Artists teach a choir of GPU fans to sing with AI and the result is not as soulless as you might think

(Image credit: Leon Chew, The Call, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst with sub, Serpentine, 2024) From simulating online social interactions to generating entire podcast episodes based on whatever data you feed it, AI is depressingly inescapable in our present moment. Now, AI has been harnessed to create a 'GPU pipe organ' (via Tom's Hardware) -- or rather, a wall of fans that acoustically emits a choral sound thanks to a diffusion model minutely adjusting the RPM of each blower. When you consider the totally justified ethical concerns surrounding how many AI projects gather their data sets (ie, often by stealing from other creators), this art project is bound to raise some hackles. However, there's a twist in this tale, so reel your shoulder blades in. In order to build their own data set to train the AI, the art project's co-authors, artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, first put together a songbook of hymnals that cumulatively express every phoneme in the English language. Then, they took that songbook on tour alongside the Serpentine Arts Technologies team to record 15 different community choirs across the UK on a voluntary basis. Holly Herndon elaborated on the ownership of those recordings, writing on X, "This dataset is owned by the choirs in question through a new IP structure we created alongside [Serpentine's] Future Art Ecosystems team to allow for common ownership of AI data." This suggests the contributing choristers have more of a say in how their performances are used - which is miles better than the all too common fate of many a voice actor discovering their voice has been cloned without their permission. The choirs' performances were recorded ambisonically, and then used to create "a new polyphonic call and response model." Titled 'The Call,' the result is an interactive art installation that encourages audience participation; make some noise, and The Call responds. The Call is currently installed at the Serpentine North Gallery in Hyde Park, London and you can experience it for yourself for free until February 2nd, 2025. Presented in a stunning white and gold frame with a central unit made from embossed brass, the 'organ' is striking to look at even if you're still feeling a bit dubious about how its sonic output was created. Still, it's a more pleasing sound than my rig's overtaxed fans.

Musical 'GPU organ' powers its pipes using PWM fans

Listen to its AI-driven performances in London until February. AI-embracing musicians and audiovisual artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst have a new exhibition where you can see and hear their "GPU organ" in action. Herndon explains that the new-fangled pipe organ "plays music acoustically by controlling the RPM of each fan." In the embedded Tweet, above, you can listen to a sample of the GPU organ playing. Images show an ornately designed pipe organ with a wall of fans that control the airflow and thus audio output of the instrument. The hardware isn't explained in any proper detail, but we don't see any GPUs. Rather, we think that the GPU organ is just a catchy name for a PWM fan-powered pipe organ. Some GPUs may well have been used in this art project though, as the music you hear is based on AI modeling techniques. The Serpentine site explains that "To train the AI, Herndon and Dryhurst have composed a songbook of hymnals, singing exercises, and a recording protocol, traveling with the Serpentine Arts Technologies team to record fifteen community choirs across the UK." The spatial audio installation (i.e. the GPU organ) uses these trained models to create the audioscape you hear. In some further informative Tweets, Herndon discusses the training, and says that the music is generated from a diffusion model, creating new songs based on the training data and "can generate infinite scores." For some exhibition user interactivity, Herndon says there is "a new polyphonic call and response model, developed with @Ircam, that allows you to sing to the model and receive a response back." There is also a video demo of this in the Tweet thread if you wish to witness some haunting-sounding AI choir call-and-response audio action. If your interest in the GPU organ has been piqued, and you are visiting London, you can go and experience The Call at the Serpentine Galleries in Kensington. The exhibit is open to the public until February 2025. Let us know if you see any GPUs.

This organ plays music using GPU fans and creates the most heavenly tunes you'll ever hear

Key Takeaways Mat Dryhurst demonstrated an organ that uses GPU fans to play music acoustically. The angelic choir sounds in the music were created by an AI model using sample choir sets fed into it. Music is generated using AI within the organ, with GPU fans controlling the RPM to play notes. Here at XDA, we love it when people do amazing things with computer hardware. Whether it involves creating a retro console using a Raspberry Pi or building a portable charger using nothing but lithium-ion vape batteries, it's cool when someone thinks about technology outside the box and creates something stunning. Now, someone has shown off their church-like organ that uses GPU fans to play its music, and it's absolutely stunning. Related Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 series: All of the rumors so far Interested in the new Blackwell GPUs? Here's everything you need to know about them Mat Dryhurst demonstrates the "GPU organ" that plays tunes using fans This awesome feat was demonstrated by Mat Dryhurst on X (formerly Twitter), who shows the organ playing in the post below. We're not sure if GPUs have their own afterlife, but I like to think that this is what they hear after they render their last pixel. You may have heard some angelic choruses in there, and those aren't created by GPU fans. Those were created by feeding sample sets of 15 choruses into an AI model which then constructed a song and had the chorus sing along. The organ-like sounds, however, are made by GPU fans. So, how does the music get made? It turns out that you can adjust the sound a GPU fan makes by adjusting its RPM. The organ generates music using AI using a core hidden within the brass case, and then the GPU fans play the note by spinning at a specific RPM. The end result is a divine melody using the power of whirring fans.