It’s Friday and you know what that means.
Jackto here
In a previous post I spoke about my take on AI and Superficial Creativity particularly in music. As part of that discussion I sat down with my dad, who was a session drummer through the 80s. As with many of our discussions it took twists and turns over multiple hours and even more cups of tea but as always conversations with dad are fascinating. An interesting focus of our conversation was whether the introduction of AI in the current day is comparable at all to the introduction of DAWs (Recording Software), Digital instruments and sampling.
On the whole, we agreed that the issue isn’t so much the existence of AI. As with many tools they can be useful but at the same time completely misused. For example a clever tool that uses AI to speed up quantization of a part that you have programmed. Is completely different to prompting AI to create a drum part for you. Let alone a complete song. One is aiding the creative process and the other is replacing it!
Jackto’s dad performing as a session drummer during the 1980’s
What a lot of people do not realize is, that even in programmed music the human touch is vital for the track to feel alive.
Jack: “Pure” (Lightning Seeds) for example the drums are entirely programmed but it ends up sounding like you played it.
Dad: “That’s because it took months! Not a single note was untouched. Everything was adjusted and fettled. Your brain as a drummer is still involved with that.”
He went on to explain that it would have been far quicker to track acoustic drums in the traditional way. Programming actually took longer and was harder work.
We agreed that the graft is a necessary part of the creative process. More than that, it is where the magic is and removing this is something that causes the final product to suffer. From calling a song finished when you’ve only just barely got the structure together neglecting to add any details or finesse. To the most extreme example of this, using AI services that will allow you to prompt entire songs.
“I think the real problem is that the people that are using it (AI) are already tone deaf to the problem”
Without being sanctimonious, pop music as a whole is becoming more and more homogenized. Harmonically, Structurally and Lyrically simpler. As well as being ‘produced’ to the point of removing the majority of the human element. So there is this downward spiral. AI that has been trained on this stuff is creating generic pastiches of generic music. Which more and more people are already accustomed to. So we’re getting to the point where the general public can struggle to tell the difference.
The Lucid Liars Rehearsal/Recording Den (2024)
The thing is that the tech we have access to these days would have be astonishing back in the day. Literally anyone with a laptop and minimal equipment can start making music. It is wonderful! There has never been a better time to be a creative! Lucid Liars thrives on remote collaboration. Where we as individuals are able to record at home and work on new songs/recordings without having to rent studio space or even be in the same room. The entirety of “Hard Times” was recorded and mixed in our homes.
The caveat to that is that it removes a natural gatekeeping to recording and releasing music. Where previously you had to be serious about the project and your craft as recording required significant financial investment.
“For any local band to do their demos. You know, it was like you’d need to be putting all your money in the pot for a long time. And have to really mean it.”
Before recording you had to be sure that you were on top of your game and that the songs and performances would warrant the cost. The Danger with that no longer being a barrier is that the stakes are lower which if you’re not careful can lead to standards slipping. It takes discipline to hold yourself to a higher standard and produce the work you are capable of not just “That’s Good Enough”.
I think the common theme here is that problem lies with looking for an easy way out. Trying to shortcut the process and then expecting the fun bit to just magically happy. The irony from my perspective is. The graft is the fun part! The struggle and frustrations giving away to alchemy or those glorious moments of catching lightning in a bottle. It only happens on the long road. I just don’t understand why you would want to rob yourself of that by outsourcing the creation.
“It is simply a matter of work” – Brian Eno, Oblique Strategies