Finis Musicae (The End Of Music) is a robotic collective building alien operas and Chernobyl quartets, whose namesake refers to the debut of the first electronic instrument. The theremin was met with scathing reviews in the 1910s, playing the part of a solo violinist, and shocking people with its unnatural sine wave sheen. The logical trajectory of that technological paradigm shift is the fear of automation and AI replacing human creativity, but Finis Musicae aim to prove we can coevolve with tech to become superhuman with telekinetic avatars and biometric symbiosis with machines.

Below, an irreverent AI trained on their data sets generates interview questions for the founding members, Fredrik Gran, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, and Sage Morei

Fredrik: You spent years researching robotic feedback pieces and cello in Sweden. How many times did you scream at it before you realized you were technically yelling at a metal tube?
“I just quietly sobbed those long times when I had no robot to mess with. For a long time I did not live with industrial robots in my home and had to stalk industrial premises and research facilities in the hope of borrowing machines temporarily relieved of their assembly line work.”

Kemp: You're planning to perform the Moonlight Sonata on the moon. Has no one ever told you there's no sound in space?
“Oh, I was thinking it was time for a remix of John Cage’s 4’33 of silence... but yes, this is something we’re working on, including testing string resonance in a vacuum and designing an atmospheric bag/ collapsible piano. Even with electric string instruments some vibration is required, and it’s interesting to speculate how that would react in low gravity. For the piano, perhaps Kurzweil would like to sponsor us, with specially weighted keys?”

Sage: How do you plan on solving for the zero-gravity problem of space performances? Are you infiltrating JPL to steal their lunar module blueprints?

““This project is actually just a front of our actual technological pursuit: Col Legno propulsion! We are fully committed to launching our robotic avatars to extraterrestrial realms to spread the cosmic word about this neat human craft that is music. After all, what good is a Golden Record when you can’t put a needle on it? (Let’s turn it platinum)” ”

Fredrik: How many times have you gotten the “Doesn’t a robot orchestra take the *soul* out of music?” question, and how often do you respond by playing human EDM pop on repeat until they leave?
“I haven't counted. The nuts and bolts in a piano also have soul, like the buttons of a saxophone, and polyphonic choral music which has been legal for quite some time now.”

Kemp: You had heart problems that originally inspired you to control Beethoven midi with medical electrodes. Have you ever thought, "What if I have a heart palpitation during a performance and accidentally turn it into dubstep?”
“I like to turn all weaknesses into a strength, and that’s part of the larger concept of this project - enabling people with handicaps to control physical avatars as transhuman extensions. For me, I always had a weak heart, so there is something poetic about utilizing the medical paraphernalia of that to make art. Perhaps I better not map mine to the percussion department though, unless we are going for Square Pusher, ha.”

Sage: You are the first test subject to control a cello bow with your brainwaves alone. Did you feel like Iron Man or the most anticlimactic one-man band?

“We used a technique called motor imaging to make evoke machine signals, which involves the human pilot envisioning pushing and pulling imaginary objects in various directions. How much fun you have playing droning cello monotony really depends on which kind of object you’re conceptualizing being dunked into a river!”

Fredrik: If you could bring Stravinsky back from the dead to see what you've done, how long before you think he’d try to strangle you with a piano wire?
“Stravinsky experienced riots against his experiments. Sounds like an unethical extended technique for the piano, I don't think he would try to accompany the music like that.”

Kemp: You guys built synthetic violins and trumpets in your kitchen. How much of that was technical know-how, and how much was just duct tape and Dunning Kruger effect?
“69% the latter, for sure. It’s a running joke how much duct tape I use on all the prototypes. It gives my fellow German Sage a face tick, since he likes everything to be perfect and clean. We also have been teaching ourselves how to code arduinos and servo motors and 3D printing end effector experiments while running to the 24 hour hardware store at 4am for plumbing parts and more tape to build our Pygmalion creatures. Finally they have been transformed into durable show-ready rigs thanks to some mech help from our friends Nader and Robb.”

Sage: Finis Musicae plans on performing with a robotic quartet at Chernobyl. Is this a cry for help, or just the best excuse ever to avoid having to invite anyone and make small talk?
“Although I must admit radiation eating fungi are a fascinating subject matter, I’m going to put my elephant foot down that a cybernetic orchestra will be the best remaining conversation starter in town. We are in fact looking to perform in various locations inaccessible to human players and thus spread the joys of harmonic minor beyond our immediate collective morphospace.”

Fredrik: If a robot suddenly rebels mid-performance, which one of you is responsible for calming it down—or are you just going to blame Elon Musk?
“I think I would feel excited and grateful to experience such a technological singularity punk moment.”

Kemp: So, let's get straight to it- we heard you guys ended up using a silicone anus repurposed from a sex toy for your trumpet embouchure? Were there any awkward conversations with suppliers about sourcing the specific silicone? Will you be using silicone organs across the whole orchestra?

“Silicone organs playing church pipe organs would be so funny. Prototyping involves a lot of trial and error of various materials, and I swear we’re using a professionally custom printed mouthpiece now but yes, the original apparatus that worked best was a flesh “mistress” from Amazon! We tried both the mouth and the anus orifices, but the anus immediately started shredding a Miles Davis solo.”

Sage: Have you ever wondered what Mozart would think if he knew part of your orchestra involved a sex toy as a trumpet mouthpiece? How do you think this particular piece of engineering reflects on your long term goals of performing on the moon- would NASA approve?

“As a fellow musical delinquent, I think this particular part of our pneumatic paraphernalia may have inspired more than one piece like Mozart’s K 231, ha. As far as the embouchure goes ... I think it’s considered soft robotics the moment you put an actuator on it.”

Fredrik: When you’re giving talks to music students about robotic instruments, how often do you stop and think, “Wow, I’m basically the Doctor Frankenstein of classical music?” And how do you balance being a mad scientist with also being the most dangerous person to hand a cup of coffee to?

“From one perspective, I play a robot that plays, for example, the cello. From another perspective, humans, robots and instruments have different unique characters. I believe we can love the elderly, Frankenstein and Lachenmann simultaneously. After a few spills, there are now well-sealed rugged coffee mugs with only a small hole. I usually have one of these in my pack.”

Kemp: As a director, how does working with robots vs humans compare?
“After surviving many incarnations of rock bands, I certainly love the lack of ego of machines. But there are still many great humans I get to work with who are all freaks, societal outliers and mad geniuses, and our BCI cult is swiftly growing! We also want to imbue the robots with an ability to improvise, so pretty soon they’ll be directing themselves. But I’d love to make a feature documentary film about this process and we’ll be releasing many videography pieces in addition to live shows and gallery installations.”

Sage: Do you ever look at the EEG cap and think, “This is it. I’ve officially become a supervillain”? If you could control one more thing with your brain, besides music, what would it be?
“Being a super villain never felt as cinematic as when you are autonomously generating your own super villain soundtrack via algorithmically attuned automatons, ha!  

To answer your second question, I have consulted the machine oracle about various applications for brain interfaces using my current edition of extracorporeal interface: Between telekinetic pillow fights, mind-controlled cat ears and emotion-based hair dyes, the choice for nekomimi is clear.
 
We are currently living in an era that is not living up to its potential to interface benevolently with our archaic human biology (I’ll speak for myself) but we are on the precipice of becoming more fluid in our interaction with the machine world via this new wave of exciting tech. Natural motion and thought should all but extinguish the barrier of entry to the technosphere and allow us to control the world around us as intuitively as breathing. That, to me, seems a lot less dystopian than staring down the barrel of the current iteration of smart phones and personal electronics.”

Fredrik: Have you ever accidentally created a sound so bizarre that even the robots were confused, or are they just too polite to tell you when you’ve gone too far? What new genres are you interested in exploring?
“Ive had emergency stops and accidental programming resulting in exploding cello bow end effectors. The robots didnt care much, this far. New genres dont have names yet, do they?”

Kemp: Let’s say aliens show up at one of your outer atmosphere performances. What’s your go-to piece to show them that Earthlings are both sophisticated *and* insane? (And is it all just a ruse to distract them from invading?)
“Moonlight Sonata on the moon feels like a full circle connection between human’s romantic past and technological future. But there are many other composers we share a love for, like Penderecki, Ligeti, Reich, Prokofiev, George Crumb, Vivaldi, Wendy Carlos and Mussorgsky. Also some pure beauty like Satie and Debussy. We eventually want to compose our own symphonies utilizing the capabilities of robots and new sounds/ techniques never before possible. We have access to a singing android that towers 8 feet tall which could do the most beautiful opera recital in space and convince any colonialist alien species to spare our lives.”

Sage: You have experience with meditation which helps you control EEG. But be honest—how often does your enlightened state just make the robot orchestra play elevator music?
“Looking back, I cannot attest to yogic entries in life making for the most avant-garde sonic explorations, but the nature of human-computer- interfaces makes it so that mental composure aids musical control. Next thing you know the echelon of irreverence is no longer fueled by sex, drugs & rock’n’roll but by Ashaganda, TM & infrared saunas.”

Fredrik: Sweden is known for IKEA and Abba. How long before we see flat-pack cellos and robots that sing “Dancing Queen”? -
“That is up to human demand to decide, just like IKEA and Abba.”

Kemp: When you contacted Fredrik to create an entire orchestra mécanique, did you realize how much work it would be? We hear you guys operate on a shoestring budget and live off fish stew and barely sleep.

“We live off natto and congee in NY and fish stew in Sweden, and I camp out in Fredrik’s daughter’s tiny bed or he crashes on my couch. We are all used to working with very little money and a lot of imagination and elbow grease. But we’re poised to start receiving outside funding because this technology has the capacity to be paradigm changing for every industry. We’ll be running a brain study on several hundred people out of my apartment soon; a lot of larger scientific institutions we collaborate with might have more funds but they are forced to move slower due to bureaucracy and red tape. We have already made significant discoveries and pipelines in a short amount of time.”

Sage: You come from a digital filmmaking and industrial music background. Do you ever get tired of classical sounds and just want the robot orchestra to scream like an angry vitamix blender for a few minutes?
“That’s actually one of the most exciting technological possibilities of playing with robots: It opens up entirely new techniques for composition. While our extranumerary extensions may be put on musical rails, the real time biometric data may also produce material and sounds that are entirely unfamiliar in their execution but may result in the emergence of unprecedented timbral palettes. Industrial music is truly industrial for the first time.”

Fredrik: Tell us about your particular style of making the robots “dance” like praying mantises or martial arts. Are there any ballet choreographers that inspire you?
“Oh yes, ballet and choreography is very exiting. I have gotten more and more into it while working with robotics. It’s fun, initially working on creating sounds with the robotics, and then end up with a choreography out of those movements. And then, starting from the other end with the choreography, and hear what sounds coming out from the ”dance” gestures. Back and forth. Alternative composition technique. Physicality and kinetic energy are great to get to explore, combining and varying expressions in stiff / soft, jerky / smooth, mechanical / organic, heavy / weightless, illogical / natural movement patterns. Have had nice discussions with dancers/choreographers Helena Franzén and Noah Hellwig, and checked out a lot of both newer, and classical ballets.”

Kemp: You made brainwave music with spectrographs. What type of brains make the best sonics?
“A close family member of mine suffers from Schizophrenia and acute bi- polar, so I’m particularly interested in exploring those brain types. But any wave can be converted into any other type of wave, like a sound wave. I love the universal geometry of it all.”

Sage: You have a lot of experience piloting drones. Do you plan on piloting an exo-suit for this project?
“Exo-suits, exo-cortices, exo-prostheses, exo-anything! Allowing for machine command over any distance and allowing the boundaries between self and projection of self to blur is the inevitable next step of humanity’s co-evolution with the technology we create. From smoke signals to Zoom to subglacially exploring Europa together with your partner as EELS. The dexterity required to successfully pilot player robots using both conscious and subconscious vitals seamlessly translates into various industries and allows us to map bodily parameters onto any physical and non-physical subject. We see it as the prototype to virtuosically extend your consciousness into any mechanical or biological vessel.”

Everyone: So, you're building an orchestra with bio-signals, robots, homemade automatons and a silicone anus. If aliens ever find out about this, do you think they'll wipe us out more quickly, or move to earth to start a band?  
Fredrik: “Band yes, if they can be indulgent to other phenomena on earth. There are worse things than art and orchestras, for which humans choose to use new technology.”

Kemp: “I’d be down for a Grey collab. I bet they like noise music. DARPA can be our record label.”  

Sage: “I don’t care what they do, as long as we get to re-sample their bio signals first!”