AI gotta feeling: Mother-daughter duo create SG60 album that hits all the right notes
AI gotta feeling: Mother-daughter duo create SG60 album that hits all the right notes
A mother-daughter duo have released an original album to mark Singapore's 60th birthday.
Siv Gandi, 40, and her daughter Thashi, 14, composed the album using a blend of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and cloned vocals.
The duo's musical journey started when Thashi was in primary three.
"Her best friend had moved away, and to cope with the emotions, she wrote her very first song," Siv recounted.
"With encouragement from her music teacher, she composed it into a heartfelt piece. That moment ignited her passion for songwriting. Since then, she has remained deeply committed to developing her musical talents and eventually joined School Of The Arts to further pursue her artistic growth."
Without a background in music, Siv was initially unsure how to support Thashi's passion. But in June this year, they began exploring AI music tools.
"These tools enabled us to compose, customise and extract stems, making the production more accessible and manageable," Siv said.
The duo calls themselves "techbeats85," and their album, dubbed "SG60 Celebration," can be found on Spotify and YouTube .
"Each song is lovingly crafted to reflect community, pride, progress and unity, using music as a bridge that connects emotions, technology and identity for listeners to truly celebrate," Siv said.
When asked about the process of creating the songs, Siv told Stomp that it typically begins with a core idea or emotion.
"For this SG60 project, I led the lyric writing while Thashi helped define the mood and musical direction. Together, we input the lyrics and vocal references into the AI platform, adjusted parameters to align with our vision, and finalised each track with edits and mastering.
"The built-in AI mixing and mastering tools delivered surprisingly polished results. To enhance the sound further, we experimented with both live vocal recordings and AI voice cloning, allowing us to achieve clean, cohesive tracks."
To the duo, music is more than just melodies and words.
Siv shared: "It's a magical tool to express emotions, tell stories and inspire others. Whether it's joy, nostalgia, or national pride, we believe music has the power to connect generations, uplift spirits and bring people together.
"We see AI tools as a transformative force in music, opening new possibilities for artists to express themselves in unique and powerful ways."
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