ULYSSES 2: Hybrid Composition for Violin and Responsive AI Systems by Eleonora Sofia Podestà and Roberto Maria Cipollina.

Composition mixte generative ai Improvisation, generativity and co-creative interaction Somax2 violin

Ulysses 2 is a project conceived by composer Roberto Cipollina and performed by violinist Eleonora Podestà. The work serves both as a performative and technological exploration of real-time performer-machine interaction, emphasizing the role of AI not as a passive tool, but as an active and adaptive musical agent within the creative process.

Ulysses 2 is the outcome of a collaborative process between composer Roberto Maria Cipollina and violinist Eleonora Sofia Podestà. The work is conceived as a closed-form improvisational  structure for acoustic instrument and real-time interactive electronics, developed specifically to explore the creative potential of artificial intelligence in relation to the performer’s improvisation. 

At the core of Ulysses 2 is the integration of Somax2, a real-time generative system  developed within the Max environment, which enables responsive electronic behavior through the analysis and transformation of live performance data.

While the project fully embraces aleatory elements and  the concept of extemporaneity, it also adheres to an organized formal structure that guides its overall development. In fact, the performer engages with a series of prompts provided by the composer, ensuring a coherent trajectory. 

The electronic component, built from a database of sampled sounds, responds and adapt to the performer’s expressive gestures in real-time. Through Somax2’s processing, the system generates musically congruent textures and transformations. 

This piece highlights the software’s ability to translate performance parameters into musically coherent electronic answers, fostering a dynamic and co-creative dialogue between human performer and machine intelligence.

 

 

 This talk is part of IRCAM Forum Workshops Hors-les-Murs 2025 Rīga-Liepāja (Latvia)