第二十九篇 Ill Be Bach1.Composer David Cope is the inventor of a computer program that writes original works of classical music. It took Cope 30 years to develop the software. Now most people cant tell the difference between music by the famous German composer J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and the Bach-like compositions from Copes computer.作曲家大衛(wèi)科普發(fā)明了一個電腦軟件,它能編寫出古典音樂的原創(chuàng)作品?？破栈?0年才完成這個軟件，現(xiàn)在，科普的電腦寫出的作品與德國著名作曲家J.S.巴赫寫的作品很相似，很少人能分辨出其中不同。2.It all started in 1980 in the United States, when Cope was trying to write an opera. He was having trouble thinking of new melodies, so he wrote a computer program to create the melodies. 這一切始于1980年的美國，那時科普正在寫一部戲劇，但是他無法創(chuàng)作出新的旋律，于是他編寫了一個電腦軟件來幫他編曲。At first this music was not easy to listen to. What did Cope do? 最開始的時候，軟件寫出的樂曲并不動聽?？破帐窃趺醋龅哪兀縃e began to rethink how human beings compose music. 他開始重新考慮人們作曲的方式。He realized that composers，brains work like big databases. First, they take in all the music that they have ever heard. Then they take out the music that they dislike. Finally, they make new music from what is left. 他認識到作曲家的大腦就像一個大數(shù)據(jù)庫，他們先吸收他們聽過的所有音樂，然后去除他們不喜歡的，最后再根據(jù)留下的音樂來創(chuàng)作出新的旋律。According to Cope, only the great composers are able to create the database accurately, remember it, and form new musical patterns from it.科普認為，只有偉大的作曲家才能建立好的數(shù)據(jù)庫，并且能熟記于心，從而創(chuàng)造出新的音樂。3.Cope built a huge database of existing music. He began with hundreds of works by Bach. The software analyzed the data：it broke it down into smaller pieces and looked for patterns. It then combined the pieces into new patterns. Before long, the program could compose short Bach-like works. They werent good, but it was a start.科普根據(jù)現(xiàn)有的音樂建立了龐大的數(shù)據(jù)庫，最開始的時候，數(shù)據(jù)庫包含了幾百部巴赫的作品。科普的軟件將這些數(shù)據(jù)進行分析：首先它講音樂拆解成小的片段，從中找出固定模式，然后將片段合成新的模式。不久，這個軟件就能夠?qū)懗龊桶秃诊L格很像的小曲子。它們并不完美，但這只是個開始。4.Cope knew he had more work to do-he had a whole opera to write. He continued to improve the software. Soon it could analyze more complex music. He also added many other composers, including his own work, to the database.科普知道，他要做的還有很多他得寫出一整部歌劇。他進一步完善他的軟件，不久它就能夠?qū)懗龈鼜?fù)雜的音樂了。他還在數(shù)據(jù)庫中加入了一些其他作曲家的作品，其中也包括他自己的作品。5.A few years later，Copes computer program, called “Emmy”，was ready to help him with his opera. The process required a lot of collaboration between the composer and Emmy. Cope listened to the computers musical ideas and used the ones that he liked. With Emmy, the opera took only two weeks to finish. It was called Cradle Falling, and it was a great success! Cope received some of the best reviews of his career, but no one knew exactly how he had composed the work.幾年后，科普的軟件“艾米”已經(jīng)能夠幫助他創(chuàng)作歌劇了。創(chuàng)作過程需要作曲家和艾米共同配合?？破振雎牥讓懗龅囊魳菲?，從中選取他認為好的。有了艾米的幫助，科普之用了兩個星期就完成了這部歌劇，叫做搖籃墜落。演出獲得巨大成功，科普也得到了他有生以來最高的評價，但是沒有人知道他究竟是怎樣創(chuàng)作出這部歌劇的。6.Since that first opera, Emmy has written thousands of compositions. Cope still gives Emmy feedback on what he likes and doesnt like of her music, but she is doing most of the hard work of composing these days!從那以后，艾米已經(jīng)寫了上千部作品?？破宅F(xiàn)在依然會給艾米反饋，告訴她自己哪些音樂是他喜歡的，哪些是不喜歡的，但是現(xiàn)在大部分艱巨的工作是由艾米來完成的！詞匯：original/rdnl / adj有獨創(chuàng)性的collaboration / klæbren / n合作review/ rvju:/ n評論feedback /fi:dbæk / n反饋注釋J. S. Bach約翰塞巴斯蒂安巴赫（德語：Johann Sebastian Bach，1685年3月31日一1750年7月28日），巴洛克時期的德國作曲家，杰出的管風琴、小提琴、大鍵琴演奏家，同作曲家亨德爾和泰勒曼齊名。巴赫被普遍認為是音樂史上最重要的作曲家之一，并被尊稱為“西方現(xiàn)代音樂之父”，也是西方文化史上最重要的人物之一。