Robot rock: check out this worrying robot power trio's takes on Nirvana, Deep Purple and Metallica

Now that AI is coming to get us all, or at least offering to 'help' in all sorts of creative endeavors, including making music, the question has to be asked - what's the point of, well, you? 

That's an even more pressing query now that one diabolical genius enterprising engineer has taken things a step further by building a robot band that performs with physical instruments. 

The One Hacker Band project is a power trio, comprising guitar, bass and drums, and we have to say we're impressed with the results. The band isn't actually sentient (yet), consisting of DAW-triggered servos, though one of One Hacker Band's experiments below does see the band performing a series of entirely AI-generated riffs. 

Check out that Magenta Studio-powered session and key One Hacker Band covers here, including robotic versions of Smells Like Teen Spirit (above), Enter Sandman, the dreaded Smoke on the Water and Michael Jackson’s Beat It. While the band's stage-craft could use some work, they are unusually reliable.

To keep a beady eye on developments and check out more performances, check out One Hacker Band’s Instagram page

Enter Sandman

Smoke on the Water

Smoke on the Water

Original machine-learning generated riffs

head over to One Hacker Band’s Instagram page.

Will Groves
Editor-in-chief

I'm lucky enough to be MusicRadar's Editor-in-chief while being, by some considerable distance, the least proficient musician on the editorial team. An undeniably ropey but occasionally enthusiastic drummer, I've worked on the world's greatest music making website in one capacity or another since its launch in 2007. I hope you enjoy the site - we do.