Shaping Sound in Real Time

Inside Audio Militia’s Journey on Classics on Turf.

There are moments in the evolution of sound where the role of music shifts, from something that is delivered, to something that is experienced, influenced, and shaped in real time. Classics on Turf became one of those moments.

What began as an ambitious idea quickly evolved into a complex creative challenge: how do you take something as subjective and fluid as human emotion, translate it into data, and turn that into music that can be performed live by an orchestra?

In collaboration with Telkom Business ZA and Injozi, the vision was to create a live experience where the audience was no longer just listening, they were actively contributing to the outcome. Through a custom-built app, guests were invited to respond to a series of prompts based on how they were feeling. These responses became the foundation for a system that would generate musical ideas in real time, but the introduction of AI into a live performance raised an important question: how do you ensure that the output remains musically coherent, emotionally resonant, and performable?

This is where Audio Militia’s role became critical.

Rather than allowing AI to operate independently, our approach was to treat it as a creative tool, one that required direction, interpretation, and refinement. The goal was never to replace the composer or the musician, but to extend the creative process into something more dynamic and responsive.

As the audience inputs informed the system, AI generated musical ideas that reflected the collective mood of the room. These ideas, however, were not final. They needed to be shaped, structured into something that an orchestra could interpret and perform with confidence.

Audio Militia stepped in at this intersection between data and artistry. We guided the musical direction, refined the output, and ensured that what emerged retained both technical integrity and emotional depth. Every decision required careful consideration: how much control to maintain, how much unpredictability to allow, and how to ensure that the music still felt intentional.

The result was a live performance that existed in a constant state of evolution. No two shows were the same. Each city: Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town, brought its own energy, its own audience, and ultimately its own version of the music.

Running from November 2025 to February 2026, the project became a series of unique moments where audience, AI, and orchestra were in continuous dialogue. The orchestra brought a human sensitivity and interpretation that grounded the technology, while the system introduced an element of spontaneity that challenged traditional approaches to composition and performance.

For Audio Militia, this project represents more than a single execution. It reflects a broader intention in how we approach sound.

We are increasingly interested in building experiences, not just delivering audio. In exploring how sound can respond to its environment. In designing systems where creativity is not fixed, but adaptive.

Classics on Turf pushed us into that space, where composition, technology, and live performance intersect in new ways. It required us to rethink our role, not just as creators of sound, but as curators of a process that allows sound to emerge in collaboration with others whether that be audiences, machines, or musicians.

It’s a direction we are continuing to explore.

If you’d like to experience the project for yourself, you can watch the full case study on here, where we unpack the process and the performance in more detail.

https://vimeo.com/1182416237