SERIOUS AI QUESTION FOR MUSICIANS/PRODUCERS/MUSIC HOUSES
If you've been a studio rat like I have over the past 40 years, especially in computer audio/midi studio recording (although I did many years of reel-to-reel and tape as well), the whole AI backlash feels a bit disingenuous to me. I acknowledge the normies not understanding really what happens to emulate and manipulate sound in studio and what's been employed over the last half century to construct the songs they enjoy... but musicians/producers who suddenly get all self-righteous about "AI" have been "cheating" for decades.
The tech has been gradually building for a looooong time and only seems emergent because of the straight upward trend to singularity we're on. I guess I'm trying to find that line where ethically its "not art/music" or not to be enjoyed. Honest question, because there is a line (and a grey area) on either side of that line. Let me remind you of some things that apparently have been ok and didnt cross that line:
- Drum Machines + and wavetable synthesis of ANY kind.
- Sample packs/Samplers: Full orchestras at your finger tips, any world instrument you cant afford and customizable choirs (men/women/children) that will sing what you type... this was 20 years ago btw.
- Auto-tune + harmonizers hardware/software (or any emulated fx and spaces like reverb), autotune maybe being the lone example of previous fx abuse and public backlash... and then finaly acceptance as a "genre".
- Looping, drop/drag/copy DAW editing (play 8 measures and you're done).
- And to take it to a logical extreme, any multitracking/overdubbing beyond one stereo take (cant have yourself playing over yourself now can we?... that includes vocal doubling).
- Accompaniment features on your grandmas back bedroom Casio that she never touches.
- Impulse Responses (IR's) for guitar head/cab/mic/fx emulation.... for ANYTHING you want.
- Quantization tools for MIDI (cleans up piano/synth playing) and audio (corrects timing and aligns backup singers to sound in unison... and in tune).
Basically, how analog does it have to be? Sorta reminds of when Britain tried to ban synthesizers when they first came out (yes...BAN, look it up). Same echos I'm hearing today, devalue and demonetization to total ban. But I do recognize there are some differences... THATS the gray area I want to explore... and most of that gray are I believe will be blamed on our inability to catch up where in the past we've had that breathing room.
Where do YOU draw the line? Musicians/producers can offer a more pinpoint perspective probably, but normies who have no studio knowledge and consider themselves just consumers have a value here as well. I have been a professional musician on and off all these years, so I do have a dog in the fight as well. I do know ignoring or banning it is a dumb answer (ask the British Musicians Union) and trying to answer an evolving question is difficult... but lets try.
P.S. That studio isn't mine (mine is much cleaner), I just wanted to illustrate to some normies what us synth geeks have been doing since, well at least Window 98 by the pic... but out of fear of dating myself, I have been working with computer recording/synth midi outfits since the 80's... on an Atari ST 1040 using Saw... the Fred Flintstone of DAWs.
