Whether or not AI will fundamentally change the way we make and listen to music remains to be seen, but its impact on legacy artists and material is starting to become clear. The potential to re-use and adapt existing artists’ voices is already being exploited, such as in a new, Spanish version of Brenda Lee’s iconic Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree: Noche Buena y Navidad.
Originally recorded in 1958 by a then 13-year-old Lee, the song is a festive staple, and can now be heard with a new Spanish language vocal that was created using “responsibly-trained AI technology”.
It helps that Lee has given her blessing to the project: “I am so blown away by this new Spanish version of Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, which was created with the help of AI,” she says. “Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded Rockin’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do. To have this out now is pretty incredible and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”
The new version was created using SoundLabs AI’s MicDrop, an AI-powered plugin that can be used to transform a recorded voice into another voice or instrument. SoundLabs was founded by pioneering electronic musician BT, who says: “Training a model based on the 13-year-old Brenda Lee, using original masters, was both a rewarding challenge and a creative breakthrough. We’re thrilled with how this technology breathes new life into a beloved Christmas classic, blending innovation with tradition in a truly human way.”
Universal Music Group (UMG) says that this is the first time that one of its artists has used “ethically trained AI” to release a new language version of one of their songs, but we imagine it won’t be the last. The benefits of being able to attract a potentially huge new audience to an already popular song are obvious - more sales and streaming royalties - and it gives record companies a new way to monetise the music in their archives.
Noche Buena y Navidad was produced by Latin Grammy-winning producer and songwriter, Auero Baqueiro. After adapting and translating the lyrics, he brought in Chilean-born, LA-based vocalist Leyla Hoyle to sing them, asking her to mimic Brenda Lee’s pitching, tone breaths and phrasing.
The vocal stem was then given to SoundLabs, which had previously been granted access to many hours of isolated Brenda Lee vocal stems (including the one from Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree) which it used to create “a unique bespoke AI vocal model based on her voice”. This was applied to Hoyle’s vocal, leaving Baqueiro with a new Spanish stem that he could mix into the original musical bed.
Noche Buena y Navidad is out now.
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