wrhouseblog
To replace or not to replace, that is the question. In the last few years, we have seen an esponencially increase in AI tools, chatbots and codes that are being used as a new source of contents. Some people are ok with using them, others are not due to ethical reasons (which are totally valid). To help the debate, in this article I will discuss the pros and the cons of using AI in music production.
As a music producer myself, I wanted to try Suno to see how well would create a House track. At first I had to put a genre tag, description and what sounds AI should use, so I wrote: lofi house, uk garage, 128 bpm, E minor chords (you know, the usual stuff). Then it asked me to give it a name and, knowing that cars are iconic in UK Garage, I went with Subaru Impreza. Then I hit “create”. I waited 30 to 40 seconds (it was impressively fast) then two tracks appeared on my page.
I was thrilled to hear them: the first one was not what I was expecting since it didn’t really give off that bouncy bass that makes UK garage different from other genres. It was more on the lofi side of the spectrum. However, leads and pads were bouncy, nice to hear and very spacious. The instruments were actually great (nice kick, claps and hithats). There was no voice. I would give it 6/10 because it’s ok but it can be improved with more atmosphere sounds and effects. Also the chord progression is nice but perhaps too repetitive. The total time is 4:18 minutes. Apparently AI has never seen a Subaru Impresa. It looks like a Lexus missing a door on a rainy vaporwave dream night.
The second one was what caught my attention the most. It was still on the lofi side of the spectrum but the bouncy bass was very nice to hear. It was giving off deep house vibes which is a genre I didn’t ask for. Pads and leads dialogued really well with the bass and it was actually pleasing to listen to. The breakdown was nicely done. Towards the end sounds started to be a little too crispy (high frequencies). The total time is 4:53 minutes. Again, AI has never seen a Subaru Impreza. It would give it a 7/10 because of its bouncy vibe and I would improve it by adding maybe an acapella track on top. The progression of the chords are repetitive too but it doesn’t seem to impact the overall feeling of the track.
Now let’s consider the pros and cons of this “method”. One of the main con is that there is no personality into the tracks, they don’t give off human-made vibes even though they are decently made. Another con is that if used incorrectly, it wipes away all the creation process, the imagination, and sudden inspirations of the producers.
The most important pro of AI is that it can be used as a tool, not as the producer itself. I totally see future producers using AI to start a track and then adding personality to it. Or maybe they have an idea of a pad or lead or whatever but don’t have the sounds/plugins so they ask AI if it can make it. Then use it in their tracks. Furthermore, AI can be implemented in stem division to help producers remix a song or to re-master a track.
What do you think? Do you think AI will improve or fail in the music industry? Let me know down below 🙂
– Warehouse