Thanks for your thoughtful response. I appreciate your optimism too.
I think you're right on the question of "soul" and its place as a basic ingredient in music that affects us. The last time I really got deep into any contemporary movement in music was in the 90s with jungle. Incredibly innovative stuff sonically, and it relied heavily o…
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I appreciate your optimism too.
I think you're right on the question of "soul" and its place as a basic ingredient in music that affects us. The last time I really got deep into any contemporary movement in music was in the 90s with jungle. Incredibly innovative stuff sonically, and it relied heavily on the tools of the time, but in the end I felt there was a ceiling on it because it lacked that human element.
On your point that a typical audience can discern between a track and a live drummer's interpretation, and will often prefer the feel of the latter, I've seen it go both ways. Indeed, sometimes the drummer's organic flavor is no match for the energy of the machine or its "clean" aesthetic.
It's impossible to know exactly where AI will lead us in terms of our own creativity, but one thing I would note about the difference between the drum machine technology and AI is that the former is relatively simple. I have always believed that operating within certain limitations, as in the case of early drum machines, spurs the greatest advances in innovation.
Finally, I would return to my first argument and state that although I believe music to be an essential part of humanity, in the future it may not figure as dynamically into our culture. We humans are constrained by time and space, and I worry that the "production line" will get much longer as soon as AI can easily query and reproduce all music that has ever been conceived. (Keen students of history will be able to listen to history in real time and fill their lives with content.) I also see a related analogy to something like the institution of baseball, where a pastime that was once so deeply "felt" by much of the country is in danger of being replaced by social media and gambling interests -- apparently because they appeal to a lower common denominator and sell more. To be sure, pure forms of baseball still exist, but they are not experienced by the population at large.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. I appreciate your optimism too.
I think you're right on the question of "soul" and its place as a basic ingredient in music that affects us. The last time I really got deep into any contemporary movement in music was in the 90s with jungle. Incredibly innovative stuff sonically, and it relied heavily on the tools of the time, but in the end I felt there was a ceiling on it because it lacked that human element.
On your point that a typical audience can discern between a track and a live drummer's interpretation, and will often prefer the feel of the latter, I've seen it go both ways. Indeed, sometimes the drummer's organic flavor is no match for the energy of the machine or its "clean" aesthetic.
It's impossible to know exactly where AI will lead us in terms of our own creativity, but one thing I would note about the difference between the drum machine technology and AI is that the former is relatively simple. I have always believed that operating within certain limitations, as in the case of early drum machines, spurs the greatest advances in innovation.
Finally, I would return to my first argument and state that although I believe music to be an essential part of humanity, in the future it may not figure as dynamically into our culture. We humans are constrained by time and space, and I worry that the "production line" will get much longer as soon as AI can easily query and reproduce all music that has ever been conceived. (Keen students of history will be able to listen to history in real time and fill their lives with content.) I also see a related analogy to something like the institution of baseball, where a pastime that was once so deeply "felt" by much of the country is in danger of being replaced by social media and gambling interests -- apparently because they appeal to a lower common denominator and sell more. To be sure, pure forms of baseball still exist, but they are not experienced by the population at large.
I dunno. Keep on banging', my friend.