The future of music is here and it’s brought to you by robots.

   Nigel Stanford, an up and coming artist from Wellington, New Zealand, is thriving in the music industry.

He produces music in the genre “ambient,” which is a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm

   His recent hit single, Automatica, has reached almost three million views on YouTube, while gaining attention from many media outlets.

   Stanford says he uses robots to create music that reinforces it in a visual way.

   “I like to hear a sound and then see a corresponding visual that emphasizes sound,” said Stanford.

   In his music video, Stanford is seen using Kuka robots, which are multi-use programmable robots that are usually used for building cars and welding metal. He programs the coordinated movements of Kuka robots to make the sounds that he wants.

   To program the robots, he used a 3D software called Maya. “I would program the moves in Maya and export a text file containing the move,” he said. “I’d then run the move to see if it worked. If not, I’d make adjustments and try again.”

   There are five main instruments playing in the music video: drums, bass, piano, synth, and the turntables.

   Stanford films each robot playing an instrument individually, then puts them together in a production room.

   In the beginning of the video, he controls the Kuka robots’ movements to make the sound he wants. But, at the end of the video, the Kuka robots start to make music for themselves, where they pick up tempo and rock out.

   With sparks flying and music blaring, the video ends with the robots smashing the instruments.

   Stanford explores the possibility of using artificial intelligence in the video, and would like to use artificial intelligence in future videos.

   “In real life, these robots just make the moves you program them to do,” said Stanford.  “Although it would be possible to connect them to learning algorithms and I think that would be very interesting.”

   In the future, Stanford wants to use the robots for live performances. However, his immediate focus is making more videos for the rest of his album.

  “I have already shot footage for each one,” said Stanford. “I’m excited for people to see them.”