Watch: New violin-playing robot specialises in Indian music

Read more news stories here

Violinist and composer Raghavasimhan Sankaranarayanan, a student at Georgia Tech College of Design in Atlanta, GA, US, has created an AI-powered robot violinist that specialises in performing Carnatic music. Sankaranarayanan has been completing his PhD in machine learning and robotics, focusing on on robotic musicianship, creating a robot violinist and an accompanying synthesiser capable of understanding, playing and improvising the classical music of southern India.

‘I always wanted to integrate technology, music and robotics because I love computers and machines that can move,’ said Sankaranarayanan. ‘There’s been little research on Indian music from a technological perspective, and the AI and music industries largely focus on Western music. This bias is something I wanted to address.’

As a violinist, Sankaranarayanan has performed on more than 200 albums and film soundtracks, and performed in over 2,000 concerts around the world. He has also composed music across multiple genres.

Sankaranarayanan built the robot in collaboration with Gil Weinberg, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology. The robot is made up of two parts, which he likens to the ‘brain’ and the ‘body’. The ‘body’ consists of mechanical systems that require algorithms to move accurately, including sliders that convert electric signals into motion to produce the sound of music. The ‘brain’ is made up of algorithms that enable the robot to understand and generate music.

Playing

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.