Ask HN: Could deep learning be used to restore old musical recordings?

1 points by argimenes ↗ HN
Let's say we limit the problem to old recordings of classical pianists from the early 20th century, could a deep learning algorithm be trained on pristine recordings of piano tones (or entire pieces) to restore the quality of an old recording? I mean more than just removing pops, scratches and surface noise -- I mean, adding a dynamic range to the recording that was never there, but would have been there if it had been recorded with modern technology.

1 comment

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I'm not sure that changing the dynamic range and tuning the notes constitutes restoration. Artists work in a medium and for some artists the medium is as much the recording technology as anything else. For example, replacing a photograph with a hologram or a video is not restoring it.

Another example is applying deep learning to old recordings to do the things mentioned might be a new medium for contemporary artists.