AI and the future state of music creation

[Mr. Torture]

Is anyone else worried about this new AI that can create songs within minutes? There are some really really good songs out there created entirely by AI. They are fully mixed fully mastered and performed way better than I could ever do. It makes me wonder what is the point of even continuing on, when by the simple push of a button I can have a perfect song created without any work at all. Thoughts? 

Edited Tuesday at 02:01 PM by Mr. Torture
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[Gswitz]

I never enjoyed perfect songs. 

[Mr. Torture]

1 hour ago, Gswitz said:

I never enjoyed perfect songs. 

Neither do I, but the songs being created are nearly impossible to tell the difference between real and AI. Plus. Most non musician music lovers really don’t seem to care.

[Gswitz]

I guess I'm not really scared. For a long time, photography could have replaced painting, but it hasn't. 

That said, I don't expect to make money. 

[Starship Krupa]

2 hours ago, Gswitz said:

I guess I'm not really scared. For a long time, photography could have replaced painting, but it hasn't. 

That is an excellent analogy.

6 hours ago, Gswitz said:

I never enjoyed perfect songs.

If my music can be equaled or bested by algorithms, then I have no reason for doing them. My goal is always to create something with the stamp of my own personality/taste/creativity.

I listen to some genres that to most people, all the songs sound alike. Ambient drone, for instance. And I understand why that is. However, I can be listening to Drone Zone and then suddenly sit up and have to make a note of the artist and song. It just has something.

That something is more difficult for an algorithm to do.

[SuperFreq]

2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

That is an excellent analogy.

If my music can be equaled or bested by algorithms, then I have no reason for doing them. My goal is always to create something with the stamp of my own personality/taste/creativity.

I listen to some genres that to most people, all the songs sound alike. Ambient drone, for instance. And I understand why that is. However, I can be listening to Drone Zone and then suddenly sit up and have to make a note of the artist and song. It just has something.

That something is more difficult for an algorithm to do.

 

Totally man. Yes, AI can crank out some good stuff. But that just forces us real humans to up the game.

I consider it a worthy challenge. Now I have to do even better, if I'm worth my salt.

If it gets to the point that AI is creating something better than I can imagine or produce, well then I'm not a good musician and I should go back to being the doorman at the Oasis Hotel.

[craigb]

19 hours ago, Gswitz said:

I never enjoyed perfect songs. 

There's only one perfect song!  John Cage's 4'33".  😁

[Notes_Norton]

Mozart supposedly threw dice to get ideas to write songs. So many songs have had pieces of those before included. I suspect AI is just the latest in the road to a new song.

I'm not a very good songwriter, since I often don't pay attention to the lyrics, and when I do, it's usually after every nuance of the musical performance has been noticed and analyzed. Thus, every attempt at writing lyrics by me just sounds dumb.

No matter how a song is written, if I like it, it doesn't matter to me.  And if it's appropriate, I'll learn it and play it on a gig.

As the future comes racing towards me, I just try to adapt to the changes the best I can. If I were a songwriter, I'd be embracing AI, and using it as Mozart used the dice.

[Amberwolf]

12 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

Mozart supposedly threw dice to get ideas to write songs

I do something similar someitmes, dropping bits I want to experiment with into my template's tracks, not in any particular place or time.     Listen to it, move things, arrange, trim, cut, add, play/record/draw new stuff, edit, add, edit, etc.   

Sometimes I get a really good track that way, like Drywater, Mars.

[Shane_B.]

I predicted here a while ago that there would come a time when we could make our voices sound like famous entertainers within our daw with an ai type vst.

We don't have that yet, but I've heard a lot of new so gs by Elvis recently done by AI. So it's here. Just a matter of time. 

There's a time and a place for that kind of thing, but real musicians will always be here. We'll start seeing "human" remakes of AI generated songs before long. I'm sure we already have heard that already actually. All this pop music that sounds all the same is probably ai generated and someone fleshes them out. 

[Notes_Norton]

When we were working for Motown, back in the day, Berry Gordy gave us the same advice he gave others. Don't write anything new, write what's already out there.

That's pretty much what AI is supposed to be doing, at least if I understand what I've read about it.

As far as making my voice sound like someone else? That could be an improvement, depending on who gets chosen. 

But I'm a believer that expression is more important than voice. If voice were more important than expression, Doctor John, Stevie Nicks, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bjork, and so many others wouldn't have sold many records.