Scope of Work: AI Creative Technologist

AIxDESIGN is looking for a creative technologist to design and build an AI-powered musicmaking tool that’ll help artist Lacuna explore archives of Kashmiri music. Our objective is to create a tool that introduces creative unpredictability to spark musical inspiration, offering unexpected discoveries rather than faster music-making.

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More about the project → Open Culture Tech 2.0

Open Culture Tech makes immersive technology more accessible to artists. We run residencies, publish open-source tools, and host showcases to share insights with the music industry. OCT is an initiative by Thunderboom and the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, in collaboration with six partners.

Sonic Shikara → ****At AIxD, we’re collaborating with artist-in-residence Mihir Raina to build an AI-powered music-making tool that explores the archives of Kashmiri music for creative inspiration, rather than production efficiency.

URL: https://www.thunderboomrecords.com/projects/2

TIME: Apr 2025 - Dec 2026

TEAM: Ploipailin Flynn (Project Lead), Nadia Piet (Creative Lead), Mihir Raina (Artist-in-residence)

LEADING PARTNERS: Thunderboom & Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision

FUNDING: Cultuurloket DigitALL

Photo from workshop by AIxDESIGN + Fabian Mosele

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Timeline + Budget

Budget: €4000* excluding VAT

Project start: Early August 2025

Project delivery: Winter 2025-2026

• ** About the budget*

Deliverables

The project sits at the intersection of AI research, cultural preservation, music technology, and live performance art, with a strong emphasis on ethical data practices and community-centered archiving.

→ AI-something something DAW

2.1 DELIVERABLE AI-powered DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) /plugin that helps Mihir ‘use’ his archive(s) in ways that’re helpful to his music-making

• Designed to inspire creative diversions rather than save time (introduces "helpful randomness")
• Might feed off both visual and sonic archives
• Could be a build on Thunderboom's existing tools like WAIVE

FORMAT 1: Web app? Plugin?

• Hosted by Thunderboom? AI credits?

FORMAT 2: Github repo

• *maybe?* ****UI sketches that didnt make the cut

FORMAT: Notion / doc / are.na / figma

• *maybe?* long-list of models we considered, hyperlinked

FORMAT: Notion / doc / are.na / figma

→ Show & Tell at projects’ end

At the end of the project we invite you to do a 30-minute show & tell about the project, the tech stack, and reflections - so others can learn from what we did.