Is Making Music With The Machine The Same As Writing With The Machine?

Music Machine
Music Machine flickr photo by Dogtrax shared under a Creative Commons (BY-SA) license

My connected friend, Maha Bali, shared a post about thinking through how to navigate the world of citation in the age of ChatGPT and AI-generated text, particularly if a writer uses the AI chat for parts of their own writing and/or research. Maha suggested a citation format, but I was particularly intrigued by Alan Levine’s thoughtful response in the comments, and when Alan referenced Jonathan Portiz’ insights about how or whether to reference machines in the act of writing, using the use of music software for songwriting as an example, something perked up for me.

(See Maha’s post and the comments at the bottom and then her follow-up post)

I like to write and produce music, mostly at the hobby level. Although I do play real instruments (saxophone and rhythm guitar, and I also dabble with bass and keyboards), I also often turn to apps and platforms like Garageband and Soundtrap, and use sound loops and other elements of the computer to create music.

When I have shared those pieces out, I have often wrestled with how to make sure anyone listening (if anyone is even listening) would know it wasn’t me playing those instruments, but some musical loops. Often, of course, it’s obvious, mostly because the music comes out rather way too flawless and always exactly on the beat, like a droning metronome. That said, it’s not always obvious that technology has been used. If I am layering in my own singing voice, or my saxophone, or guitar into the mix, then the hybrid pieces are a bit of both things — the human musician and the algorithmic loops.

I have yet to come to a suitable system for letting anyone listening know that a piece of music is more computer loop than musician me. To be honest, I often travel the lazy route — no mentions of the software.

Here’s an example of what I mean. A music friend had sent me some lyrics and asked for a song, which I then built musically in Garageband after adding some lyrics to his words myself, so it’s a human-human-machine collaboration. When I shared the final version with him, he admired my guitar playing, to which I let him know the reality – none of it was me.

So this topic of leaning on the machine for creativity, and whether to make that kind of technical support more visible to others in any published content through citations or some other methods, has long been at the back of my mind.

This has been made more pertinent in recent years as my teenage son has been producing his own music tracks using another (more advanced) digital music software platform, collaborating with hiphop singers and writers from around the world. He doesn’t play an instrument. He plays the platform. He doesn’t cite the platform when he posts his music on the major streaming services.

Should he be considered a musician, even though he didn’t make any of the original loops himself? What about if he edits and changes the loops, as he does? Should every loop he uses be cited somehow?

All this brings us to ChatGPT and its brethren, and Maha’s exploration of how to make citations when using AI chat platforms for writing pieces.

Is it necessary to cite the machine?

My initial impulse is that Maha’s discussion about writing and citation feels different from making songs because it is writing of words through predictive text of the AI and not music composition with prerecorded loops. Writing a poem or a story or an essay also feels different than writing a song that layers words over music.

Even as I write that, though, I realize: that statement doesn’t seem to sit well with me at all — all are creative acts that begin with nothing but an idea and lead to something that others can experience. Maybe my conflicted feelings stem from being so used to technology being integrated so fully into the modern field of music production, and I am not yet used to its use in the field of writing.

Not yet, anyway. Will time and experience change that?

Garageband and Soundtrap and others don’t cite the musicians where the original loops came from. Do we expect that ChatGPT and others will cite where their words come scraped from? I believe that to be a strong yes in my view – that such information about original sources should be baked into the chart system (even as I understand the technical aspects will make such a thing nearly impossible). If this were done, then a writer could cite the sources of their AI-influenced writing.

Right? Hmm.

How confusing is all this? Pretty.

And how interesting to grapple with it? Very much so.

Peace (in the machine),
Kevin

From Song To Poem: Slow Walking Through Sleep

I was working on a song the other day, started early after a restless night (not all that unusual for me), and needed a title. I came up with Slow Walking Through Sleep, and as I was pulling the music beneath an image, words to a poem began to filter in. So I added that, too. I debated about whether I should add my voice, reading the poem, but opted against it, to allow the music that started it all to shimmer through.

Peace (and Song),
Kevin

Holiday Song: A Gift Of Peace

A few years ago, my friend John and I wrote and went into a studio, recording an original Christmas song, and each year, I bring it back out, and try to add some new remix elements as promotion. The song is called A Gift Of Peace (for Christmas) and I hope, if you listen, it brings you some joy.

This year, I followed some instructions from Eric Curts on making words light up as animation inside Google Slides. The original video – produced by my elder son, Colin – and full song is down below.

And if you want to help us earn nearly nothing but parts of pennies from streaming services, the song is on:

Peace (as Gift),
Kevin

CLMOOC Calendar: December Soundtrack

CLMOOC friends gathered and created artwork for a collective calendar for the 2022 year nearly a year ago now. Download it for free, if interested.  I composed a short piece of music for each month as my contribution, and I am sharing out each month’s track at the start of each month.

In my last composition for the calendar project, I spliced in a sax solo from a holiday song that my friend, John, and I wrote and recorded in the studio.

Here is December:Gifts of Peace

Peace (listening in),
Kevin

Book Review: This Is What It Sounds Like (What The Music You Love Says About You)

This Is What It Sounds Like Cover

Give me a book about music, and I am a happy reader.

This new book by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas goes beyond that. This Is What It Sounds Like is a tour de force, a well-written invitation to think about our choices in the music we listen to and that we love in the moment and over time, and Rogers (who is the primary voice here) is the perfect tour guide.

Rogers’ background is impressive, beginning as someone who helped build recording studios, to a stretch of time as a producer/engineer with Prince, to a producer of many other artists, to her time now as a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Ogas is a published author of books about the brain and the way we think.

The book weaves in and out of Rogers’ stories in the music recording field, but finds it anchors in some key areas as the book explores why we love the music we do, why everyone’s tastes in music will be different, and how we can expand our ideas of not just what art is but how art provides an opportunity to enrich our lives.

The chapter titles give an overview of the topics of music listening:

  • Authenticity
  • Realism
  • Novelty
  • Melody
  • Lyrics
  • Rhythm
  • Timbre
  • Form and Function
  • Falling In Love

In each section, the reader is given insights on the listening to music that is intriguing, with “Record Pulls” — the sharing of songs with others that gives an insight to someone else on your own personality. The songs we share with others say something about ourselves, and Rogers believes in the idea of “Record Pulls” to shine a light on not just our listening but aspect of our personalities. (You can even join the online Record Pull that they have set up at their website: https://www.thisiswhatitsoundslike.com/record-pull)

All in all, this book was beautifully written (a few sections veer deeper into brain science, in relation to music, but it was definitely approachable to the general reader) and the insights had me thinking in new ways on songs and artists and music that have defined who I am for years.

I highly recommend This Is What It Sounds Like. Plus, you can listen in to the Virtual Jukebox of songs referenced in the book.

Peace (and song),
Kevin

My Son Drops An Album: Good Time

Rowan Album Drop: Good Time

My youngest son is a talented music producer and he just dropped his latest album today — Good Time. It is available on all of the main streaming services and showcases collaborations with other artists. My son, Rowan, did all of the music production. (note: there are explicit songs, so be warned.)

Good Time by Rowan on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6fSSBbzCIsyNhX7mGa4zTx

Good Time on Amazon Music: https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0BK6K6G1S?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_PaiHGSQMhKWhMA37ym2xi2Y0F 

Peace (listening),
Kevin

CLMOOC Calendar: November Soundtrack

CLMOOC friends gathered and created artwork for a collective calendar for the 2022 year nearly a year ago now. Download it for free, if interested.  I composed a short piece of music for each month as my contribution, and I am sharing out each month’s track at the start of each month.

Here is November: Amid Uncertainty

Peace (listening in),
Kevin

CLMOOC Calendar: September (The Coming Changes)

CLMOOC friends gathered and created artwork for a collective calendar for the 2022 year. Download it for free, if interested.  I composed a short piece of music for each month as my contribution, and I am sharing out each month’s track at the start of each month.

Here is September: The Coming Changes

Peace (listening in),
Kevin