ASSA offers Radiohead harmonies at the touch of a button

Many artists are described as having a 'formula' – often in a derogatory context (i.e. all their songs sound the same). Someone once famously produced a stereo mix blending two Nickelback songs in an effort to prove they were near-identical, for example.A new tool called ASSA doesn't do that, but it does effectively boil down the formula of top artists, generating harmonies in their style for any melody. It stands for 'Automatic Style Specific Accompaniment', and is the work of a team at the University of Southern California. Listening Post has the full explanation: “Amateur musicians should eventually be able to use similar technology create entire songs using only a vocal melody and an idea of which band – or mix of bands – would sound right playing the accompaniment. Want a backing track for your Somewhere Over the Rainbow cover that sounds like a mix of Radiohead and Green Day? Soon, you could be able to click a button and make it so.” It could be a boon for bedroom artists, anyway. We're looking forward to the first track made using harmonies from Slipknot, Coldplay, Grandmaster Flash and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band…