Google Doodle celebrates Johann Sebastian Bach with incredible AI music game

Google is celebrating Johann Sebastian Bach with a special, artificial-intelligence-powered Doodle enabling users to make their own music inspired by the composer's. Google's Bach-themed Doodle centres on the concept of four-part harmony, a hallmark of Bach's compositions.

The animated Google Doodle shows the composer playing an organ in celebration of his March 21, 1685, birthday under the old Julian calendar. It encourages users to compose their own two-measure melody.

Made in partnership with the Google Magenta and Google PAIR teams, the Doodle is an interactive experience encouraging players to compose a two measure melody of their choice. With the press of a button, the Doodle then uses machine learning to harmonize the custom melody into Bach's signature music style.

The model used in today's Doodle was developed by Magenta Team AI Resident Anna Huang, who developed Coconet: a versatile model that can be used in a wide range of musical tasks-such as harmonising melodies or composing from scratch.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in the small German town of Eisenach on this day in 1685 (under the old Julian calendar). He grew up in a large musical family: his father played multiple instruments and also worked as director of the town's musicians. His eldest brother, also a musician, raised young Bach from the age of 10 after his father's passing.

Primarily known as an exceptional organist during his lifetime, Bach also understood how to build and repair the complex inner mechanisms of pipe organs (which are depicted in today's interactive Doodle).