Generative Music

Why Am I Doing This?

I love writing stories, both short and long, poems, and lyrics. But lyrics can only go so far on paper. I'm very very very socially awkward in person and have made only a few connections over the years. I do not have anyone that can take my lyrics and make music from them. However, by using generated music, I have found a way to use technology and my writing to express myself in a way I could never have imagined before.

While my approach may be unconventional, it allows me to fulfill my creative vision in a way that respects both legal boundaries and my own limitations. It's technology opening new avenues for me to express myself as someone that lacks traditional musical skills.

In the end, my goal is simple: to tell stories through music. Generated soundscapes have become my instrument, and the album format my canvas. I invite anyone to approach my work not as traditional music albums, but more as audio narratives. These are my ideas and stories presented through artificial means - a cheater's tool, as I've come to call it.

My Typical Process

1. Conceptualization: I start by developing a story or theme for the album.
2. Lyrics: I write lyrics that reflect the narrative arc I want.
3. Music Selection: I then use generative tools to generate music that fits the mood and progression of my narrative.
4. Arrangement: Like a DJ creating a mix, I carefully arrange these generated tracks to support and enhance my story.

The Tools I Use

• Udio - Generative Music
• Suno - Generative Music
• Ableton Live 12 Suite - Digital Audio Workstation
• THY333 Theoryboard - MIDI Controller
• Audacity - Digital Audio Editor
• Demucs - Music Separation Model
• MP3Tag - Metadata Tag Editor

Addressing Misconceptions

It's crucial for me to be transparent about my process. Just as DJs and producers have long used sampling and remixing to create new works, I'm using generated music to craft my narratives.

One significant benefit of using generated music is that it sidesteps the complex issue of copyright. Traditional music sampling often involves navigating a labyrinth of legal permissions. By using generated tracks, I can freely arrange and manipulate the music to fit my vision without worrying about copyright infringement.

September 2024 Update

This section was pulled directly from my blog post "Thoughts on Musically Untalented Fool". I wanted to include it here to provide context for my approach to creating music and storytelling through generative soundscapes.

A week ago I finalized my album "Musically Untalented Fool" and sent it off to be distributed. The first four songs on the album are really the emotional core for me. But, the other songs I wrote come from a place far deeper than I really have ever allowed myself to go. Finding generative music models have allowed me to understand my own emotions in a way that I never thought possible. I have never understood what people meant by using art as a form of therapy. Art had never clicked like that for me. I have written all sorts of small things, always tossing them out eventually. Stories, poems, silly rhymes, ideas after ideas... after ideas. I've always felt my inability to play an instrument was holding something back. Now that I can put my words into song, I know this to be true. I have found a way to express things I didn't know I could. Ways of speaking I could never have dreamed of. I have touched parts of my psyche I was oblivious to.

But I also know that it's going to piss a few people off. I paid no dues to put forth a sound like this. I didn't spend years learning how to play an instrument or learning how to sing. I didn't spend years learning how to produce or mix music. I didn't spend years learning how to master the skill of musicianship. I wrote the lyrics to the title track of the album, "Musically Untalented Fool", to address this:

How dare I, untalented, claim this art?
Yet here I am, baring my heart
Through algorithms and artificial aid
My inner symphonies finally played

It may not be authentic, but it's true
To the songs that lived inside of me and you
Decades of emotion, finally taking wing
Through this cheater's tool, my soul can sing

A musically untalented fool, they might say
But my heart has found its way
To express what was locked inside
Through this digital divide

It's a bit of a manifesto for me. I know I'm not a musician. I know I'm not a singer. I know I'm not a producer. But I am a writer, and I feel like I have stories to tell. And, I want to tell them. It is not conventional. I only want to create these bits of my soul and allow me to relive them over and over. I don't have to live my life musically to the sound of other's emotions any more. As I'm making these songs, they've become the only thing I listen to. I've suddenly discovered how to use music as a therapeutic device to help process emotions. Things I never found ways to look deeper at.

Or I've lost my mind, and I'm just in a psych ward enjoying the most mediocre chocolate pudding in our known reality.