Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hetfield vs. Science

In mid 1981, Danish-born drummer Lars Ulrich put a classified ad in a Los Angeles newspaper, 'looking for other metal musicians to jam with.' One of the respondents was 18-year-old guitarist and singer James Hetfield, then in the band Leather Charm. In October, they officially formed Metallica, a thrash metal band.

In 2009, popular software company Microsoft launched Songsmith, a musical accompaniment program. The first program of its kind, Songsmith allows users to enter a vocal track, to which the program automatically generates what it thinks is the most appropriate backing music.

That same year, Hetfield the metal singer met Songsmith the digital accompaniment program. The resulting 'jam', which you can hear below, pairs Hetfield's desperate howl about a man facing the electric chair with a decidedly upbeat midi groove.

If you listen closely, it sounds as if Hetfield is lost in the machine, and the machine is telling him: 'You're at the fair, James! Why not just enjoy yourself! Why do you keep screaming?' But Hetfield, alas, cannot hear the machine: he knows, somewhere deep inside him, that the machine is trying to kill him.

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