Shiraz Uppal creates 1st ‘Indian-Pakistani’ AI Singer
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Shiraz Uppal creates 1st ‘Indian-Pakistani’ AI Singer
Pakistani musician Shiraz Uppal has created the first ‘Indian-Pakistani’ AI singer Neha Gupta after believing there was a “dearth of good female voices” in the country.
The renowned singer-songwriter has launched several musical hits over the past 25 years.
Some of his top songs, which are loved in both Pakistan and India, include ‘Roya Re’ and ‘Raanjhanaa’.
He owns SU Studios in Lahore and it was here that he merged music and technology to create Neha Gupta, an AI entity capable of producing music and vocals.
Shiraz utilised the AI’s capabilities for his son Haadi Uppal’s latest track ‘Cheti Aa’.
Explaining his approach, Shiraz Uppal said:
“There is a dearth of good female voices in Pakistan while India is full of female voices.
“So, I decided to create a unique [female] voice that I can use as per my will. This hasn’t been done in India yet.”
Despite the political tensions between Pakistan and India, Shiraz believes Neha’s voice resonates wherever Urdu is spoken, emphasising that “art has no boundaries”.
He elaborated: “If it was a Pakistani, Indians wouldn’t have gotten her to sing for them.
“If it was an Indian, Pakistanis would not have gotten her to sing for them, given the situation between the two countries.
“For me, art has no boundaries.”
The artist said Pakistani singers face a dilemma where their appeal increases tenfold when they work in India, which is why he decided on the surname Gupta.
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Shiraz began work on the AI singer in 2023 and involved months of training the AI to capture the essence of a female singer’s tone.
He said he avoided mimicking popular voices like Shreya Ghoshal and instead opted for a “raw voice” like other Indian singers Rekha Bhardwaj and Sunidhi Chauhan.
Interestingly, Shiraz Uppal used a male voice to create Neha’s sound.
He said: “A male friend of mine sang in falsetto to mimic a female’s voice that was converted to Neha Gupta’s through AI.
“Gupta represents a middle-aged woman in her early 30s.”
He added that listeners appreciated Neha’s first song and it has prompted Shiraz to consider creating more AI singers.
Shiraz said: “I can create 10 more voices but right now, I am waiting for the response I get for Neha Gupta.
“If it’s very good, I would love to create new male and female voices.”
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