Let’s see what you think after trying it. I personally felt very distant from the end product. It was exactly as I expected. Could I fix up a piece from AIVA? Sure. But it wouldn’t be my music. I’ve done some generative music as well with VCV rack, and it felt like it was mine because of the connection between choosing rack components, wiring it, fiddling with knobs, etc. AIVA didn’t give me that feeling of having created anything.
I think perhaps the difference is the speed and quality of AIVA. It makes pretty complete songs in seconds. And while I’m critical of them, they aren’t awful. And better than just putting together some sounds from Splice.
So far, I’m not impressed with it. It’s nice to be able to tweak things in the editor, but the instrument quality is atrocious. I’ve heard better coming out of Soundblasters 35 years ago.
Like you say, I came away detached - which might seem odd, given my bent for experimenting. I’ll play with it a bit more tomorrow, after work, and see if I can create something that can be sample-flipped into being cool.
I play guitars, bass, penny whistles, Irish flute, percussion, low brass, alto sax, and limited keyboards. I’ve dabbled in electronic music, but it isn’t really my thing. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how hard some people have worked in creating their music, though.
Everything I’ve written (so far) has a ‘solo singer with guitar’ arrangement that’s what I perform live. They’ve also got their ‘album’ arrangements which are equally valid. I can barely schedule myself for a live performance - there’s no way I could get the people on the album together in the same place at the same time!
If you’re interested in the results of my creation, head over to my YouTube channel - Doug MacNaughton - YouTube . I have a video premiering tomorrow, Sat., June 24th, at 12 noon at this link - Nous (vidéoclip officiel) - YouTube - if you’d like to join me!
I’m listening and enjoying, especially “Ugh Not This Guy Again”. That sounds pretty much like a theme for a kender to me.
I’m curious about which software and plugins you’re using when you record these?
Coincidentally, I’ve got an EP out this week, too! It must be that time of year. Rainy Day Sh–e
I don’t always do electronica, or use it, either Earlier this week I took a break and fired up the ol’ guitar(s) and bass and record this stream-of-consciousness piece: Some Things Never Change
I’m looking forward to checking out your new video tomorrow!
“Ugh Not This Guy Again” was my composition professor’s favorite.
I’m using Ableton Live. The plugins are a very broad mix. “Ugh Not This Guy Again” uses instruments from Lumina for example. And I think Native Instruments Symphony. Actually I use NI Symphony a lot.
I’m not sure if I should be worried about my sharing an educated person’s taste or not - they might rescind my Rocker’s Union card!
I’ve used Live in the past, mostly for competitive analysis when I was on the ACID team. I did enjoy being able to mix the looping and DJ paradigms when using it. How hard or easy was it to learn for you? I’ve been thinking about picking it up again for sound design and more “modular” compositions for video games. Have you tried Reason?
I use Kontakt sometimes, mostly just the stock libs or Pianobook ones. Most of my work is built around EW libraries - I love being able to whip up my own orchestrations, whether they’re any good or not.
I’ve had my Tascam DP-01 for almost 20 years, and write instrumentals (drums - Ludwig Rockers, bass, piano, guitar, etc) but would love to use AI for vocals so that I might change my songwriting, since I get bored if it sounds similar to something I wrote in the past.
Learning Live was easy, but I learnt it primarily via a university “Computer Music” class. I’m not sure how difficult it would be without an instructor. I don’t think it would be that bad. Almost everything I use is Kontakt or Spitfire (Albion Colossus).
That’s cool, @MortSahlFan - sometimes I miss the immediacy of being DAWless. Different ways of working tend to lead to different ways of approaching a piece. Out of curiosity, what’s the main appeal of the DAWless approach for you?
There is a free vocal AI plugin you might enjoy playing with, Synthesizer V. Give it a whirl and see if it inspires you!
Good to hear it was easy for you to pick up Live! I’ve found the more DAWs you have under belt, the easier it is to switch between them, since the principles are all the same - it’s merely a question of where in the GUI they hid the tool you’re looking for.
Albion Colossus is a fun library to explore! I won a copy of it in January via a Braaam contest and used it in an slightly older version of ‘The Hand Of Man’. You also might want to check out Spitfire’s free LABS and BBSO libs. I find it very useful to mix-and-match different libs to get the timbres/textures I want.
Have you tried Pianobook or DecentSampler yet? I’m finding there are some waaaay cool freebies for Decent & Kontakt made by that community. Where else can you find a lyre made from a giant log?
I never thought about changing. Besides all the money I don’t have, I have no dissatisfaction with my Tascam since I can do everything I need to do and have for 18 years.
I don’t know what a plug-in is, but before I download a 500 MB program I don’t know about, I should mention I have the program Audacity, and the only thing I use it for is the occasional reverb (to disguise the cheapness of my ‘new’ instruments after my good ones were burglarized by my neighbor)
I think what they are talking about now are computer programs not so much for writing music, but for arranging recorded tracks and MIDI, editing them, mixing them, equalization and reverb and what not (this is where “plug-ins” can come in handy), and producing a master track. Problem is, not all of them are free, but you can try Ardour and Audacity, and there are loads of free effects plus you can program your own in, e.g., SuperCollider. The MIDI will presumably have to go into some instrument, which is where ‘plug-in’ synths come in handy, and you have to make sure the dynamics, articulation, etc. sound good, but if you can play all the piano + guitar + accordion + bodhran + … yourself, programming instrument modules is not an issue.
However, the exact same thing goes for an “AI” vocal plug-in, which is essentially a type of instrument. Maybe there are some demos available so you can see if any of them might work for you before forking over any money.
I’ve been using MuseScore to compose and arrange. It can synthesize whatever you write, so you can listen back in real time. When I have a complete score, I can export it as an .mp3 audio file. MuseScore is a free download. A free synthesizer for anyone who can write music notation. Experimentation is limitless. If you want to hear what 6 beats against 5 sounds like, it’s easy to achieve.
In real life I play nylon string classical guitar, cello, piano, frame drum, and djembe. Oftentimes stuff I compose on those instruments goes into MuseScore.
MuseScore comes with some “sound fonts” (typical choir + strings + woodwinds + brass + percussion + keyboards + harp), plus you can download more from their web site. It is only if you are not satisfied with what they have to offer that you need third-party plug-in instruments.
I decided to give East West Hollywood packs a try. They have a 1 month free trial ($20/month after that). I have to say, I’m deeply impressed with the Hollywood Fantasy series. I mainly write fantasy music (you might have noticed) and it has all the right sounds. Orchestral and a nice collection of traditional instruments (e.g. lutes). There’s a bunch of choirs too, although I’ve not checked them out yet.
“If it ain’t ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, I get that. It’s certainly worked for the Telecaster design all these years! @DPRK gave an excellent summary of plugins and their uses.
When you get around to the choirs, make sure you watch a tutorial or two about WordBuilder - it’s pretty powerful! Once you get to HW Orchestrator, you may recognize a trick or two I used in ‘The Hand Of Man’ Goliath is also useful for quick sketch work in many genres.
I just added the Fantasy Winds the other day (I’m a subscriber), haven’t had a chance to play with them much yet, due to life. But, based on the previous two offerings in the series, I’ll have uses for them, and they’re right up your alley!
Earlier this week I took a break and fired up the ol’ guitar(s) and bass and record this stream-of-consciousness piece: 