Do You Know? A new music device called Engram is designed to use AI hallucinations as a creative tool, producing experimental sounds rather than polished, radio-ready songs.
What is Engram?
Engram is a sampler and groovebox from music startup Thoughtful Things. The company says the device can mangle incoming audio with AI and generate entirely new sounds.
Thoughtful Things describes Engram as a “field recorder for latent space.” Its focus is experimental sound design and uncanny audio, not a push-button system that automatically creates finished songs.
How Engram uses AI
Engram is not connected to the internet. Instead, it runs a “tiny AI” locally, according to the Kickstarter listing. The company says the model was designed in-house and custom-trained.
In the campaign video, founder Evan King uses his voice to ask for “piano,” after which Engram produces a glitchy, vaguely piano-like sound. The device is also inspired by circuit bending, allowing users to tweak or even break its small AI models.
What changed and what happens next?
Thoughtful Things has launched a Kickstarter campaign for a limited run of Engram units. Campaign pledges start at $675. The company has not announced a final retail price; the source reports that the pledge is listed as a 30 percent discount and suggests a likely range of $850 to $900.
The company also plans to open Engram’s firmware so users can modify it or load their own custom models. That plan is not described as an already available feature in the source.
Training-data claim
Thoughtful Things says it trained its audio models on open datasets containing audio licensed for commercial use, such as CC-BY or similar licenses. The company also says it has not trained, and will not train, its models on non-commercial, pirated or stolen data. These statements are company claims.
Who is Engram for?
- Musicians interested in experimental sampling and sound design.
- Users who want local AI processing rather than an internet-connected music device.
- Artists interested in modifying hardware or software inspired by circuit bending.
FAQ
Does Engram create complete songs?
No. The source describes it as an experimental sampler and groovebox rather than a “push-button, get-song” device.
Does Engram require an internet connection?
No. The source says it runs a small AI model locally and is not connected to the internet.
How much does Engram cost?
Kickstarter pledges start at $675. A final retail price has not been announced.
Can users load their own AI models?
Thoughtful Things plans to open the firmware so users can tweak Engram or load custom models, according to the source.
Bottom Line
Engram treats AI’s strange and imperfect output as a musical material. Its local AI approach, experimental focus and planned open firmware could appeal to sound designers, although the device remains a Kickstarter project and its final retail price is not confirmed.
Source
This report is based on information published by The Verge.
