Are we going to be replaced?

[Juan Luis Vidal]

First of all, this very interesting video from Mr. Beato Channel:

I think he is a right at many levels...are "live/real musicians" going to become a rare thing for old school enthusiasts? I think there is definitely a trend, at least at the mainstream, that musicians can be fixed and replaced.

Last summer, our own Spanish sensation, Rosalia, was in the headlines for not using any musicians on her otherwise staggering and wildly successful live shows. In fact, one of the highlights of her gig is the moment she plays (not sure if faking it or not) a black LP in one or two songs, and that's the only instrument you'll get to see in 2 hours. When asked about this, she just replied something like "that's a very old school point of view" and "you are missing the point: people don't come to my shows because of that".

So...music generated by AI, music stars putting musicians aside...where is this leading us folks?

 

[Gtrbldr]

First of all, this very interesting video from Mr. Beato Channel:

I think he is a right at many levels...are "live/real musicians" going to become a rare thing for old school enthusiasts? I think there is definitely a trend, at least at the mainstream, that musicians can be fixed and replaced.

Last summer, our own Spanish sensation, Rosalia, was in the headlines for not using any musicians on her otherwise staggering and wildly successful live shows. In fact, one of the highlights of her gig is the moment she plays (not sure if faking it or not) a black LP in one or two songs, and that's the only instrument you'll get to see in 2 hours. When asked about this, she just replied something like "that's a very old school point of view" and "you are missing the point: people don't come to my shows because of that".

So...music generated by AI, music stars putting musicians aside...where is this leading us folks?

Trigger n tracks my friend. We are hired hands for the studio, but also in church this is a thing. All those layered, very much overproduced songs only ask for minor guitar parts on my end during a service.

Makes me sad.

 

[dmatthews]

Sadly, I think he's right. And it's really rather depressing...

 

[Tom Bradovich]

...where is this leading us folks?

Down a black hole, and this is just the beginning. When 13 current and former employees of AI companies (Open AI, Anthropic, Google Deep Mind) sign a letter saying AI technology poses grave risks to humanity, does anybody really believe this will end well? Especially when we appear to be ruled by the overarching pursuit for wealth and power at any cost?

Inevitably, there will be those that will say, "But there will be great things that can come as a result of this new technology." Or, "Oh, the luddites are always anti-tech and are fear mongers."

Time, of course, will tell. Put me in the camp that says it's going to suck. Big time.

 

[bodia]

Not at all happy about this.

 

[tdroid]

No one is going to pop shows for the backing band. Those musicians can disappear and not a single person will miss them.

However, rock, blues, jazz and funk fans do want to hear live music, and guitarists will survive in that environment.

Art is a hobby for the vast majority of people and you have to win a lottery to make a living creating it. AI won't affect the lives of most players, but may take jobs away from a significant percentage of session and backing crew.

 

[Bogner]

I Am All For Going Back In Time To The Real Things On All Levels. All This Tech Stuff Does Is Isolate People And Stifle Them On Virtually (No Pun Intended) Every Level. Virtual Friends, Virtual Relationships, AI Music, Auto Tune, And On And On And On. People Are Addicted To Tech And Have Lost The Ability To Think, Communicate, Interact, Etc. I Am NOT A Fan.

Music Lovers, Musicians, Instrument Makers, Etc All Need To Be Vocal And Reject This Nonsense And Don't Quit Doing What You Do Musically And Cave Into This Tech. My $.02 YMMV

 

[Moondog Wily]

This whole topic has been shaping my musical direction to some extent for the past few years, as in going in the opposite direction of AI/autotune/automation and trying to make my music 100% "real" and in real time. The album I will be launching in the next few weeks (hopefully) will be a testament to this philosophy. I admit that I have been a total slut on the AI when it comes to artwork, so I am a bit of a hypocrite in that sense, but that is a different topic for many reasons!! More thoughts on this soon ;~))

 

[Huggy Love]

AI music is just the next step in the evolution of modern Popular music just like Midi, Drum Machines, and "track shows" where singers perform to a prerecorded backing track. Really nothing new as this trend has been going this way since the 80's.

It says as much about the music industry as it does about society in general. Look at film, where nowadays a majority of films are CGI loaded (which at this point to me are almost like cartoons), or comic book super hero flicks. Even cuisine, where unless you live in a major city with a culinary scene, most of the restaurants are fast food or fast/casual chains/franchises masquerading as mom & pop eateries. We can thank the power of metrics/marketing and the corporations that spend millions to determine what will sell.

In the 80's I gigged fairly often and made a few bucks doing studio work, in the 90's I only gigged every once in a while in eclectic music settings and maybe got a studio gig every other year, by the 2000's I turned to Jazz & songwriting. So these recent turns of events in music don't hit me as hard since I gave up the rock star dreams long ago.

All you can do is be true to your heart & soul of music. Figuratively order a quality meal at a local eatery instead of the combo at Sonic or McD, watch an independent film instead of all the computer generated dribble Hollywood puts out, and support music made by musicians.

Old man rant over.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

AI has brought me peace of mind.

I now realize that all of my creativity and effort wasn’t wasted by my continuous failures as an artist.

It’s all been and will continue to be used to train AI, and thus given my life’s work meaning again.

 

[Prs Mods too]

Most musicians don't get paid crap. Just imagine being a porno star!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Most musicians don't get paid crap. Just imagine being a porno star!

“All the best things in life are free” finally makes sense

 

[Bogner]

Most musicians don't get paid crap. Just imagine being a porno star!

Guy Or Girl?

 

[Prs Mods too]

Guy Or Girl?

Maybe something in the middle?....

 

[Mike J.]

Trigger n tracks my friend. We are hired hands for the studio, but also in church this is a thing. All those layered, very much overproduced songs only ask for minor guitar parts on my end during a service.

Makes me sad.

There was a time at out church when we used the Prime tracks but it was a matter of necessity because we were lacking musicians big time. Now we have a decent amount of players to have a full band on any given Sunday.

We take on some of those overly produced songs you mentioned and we just do the best we can. But I come up with a lot of my own guitar parts because as I'm learning the songs I know what elements are going to be missing. I'm not trying to overplay, just trying to fill in the gaps and to help things build.

Can't give an opinion about anything else out there. Haven't been to a concert in about 10 years and I don't go to clubs to check out bands. Reason being is because of my vision. It's getting to the point where I will not drive at night unless it's an absolute necessity and as long as I'm in familiar territory.

Yeah, sometimes getting older sucks!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Maybe something in the middle?....

Exciting!

 

[Bogner]

Maybe something in the middle?....

This Could Quickly Go A Lot Of Places...

 

[Moondog Wily]

This Could Quickly Go A Lot Of Places...

Mostly in the middle!

 

[Scooterjohn]

First of all, this very interesting video from Mr. Beato Channel:

I think he is a right at many levels...are "live/real musicians" going to become a rare thing for old school enthusiasts? I think there is definitely a trend, at least at the mainstream, that musicians can be fixed and replaced.

Last summer, our own Spanish sensation, Rosalia, was in the headlines for not using any musicians on her otherwise staggering and wildly successful live shows. In fact, one of the highlights of her gig is the moment she plays (not sure if faking it or not) a black LP in one or two songs, and that's the only instrument you'll get to see in 2 hours. When asked about this, she just replied something like "that's a very old school point of view" and "you are missing the point: people don't come to my shows because of that".

So...music generated by AI, music stars putting musicians aside...where is this leading us folks?

Vote with your wallet.

 

[László]

I’ll look at a brighter side.

Live human being theater still exists. People are still excited about it; I go to packed, sold out shows. Hi, Omi!

We’re at my daughter’s watching the Tony Awards as I write this, the family is truly excited about this stuff. It’s being done by live humans.

Watching people do their art on stage raises the hairs on the backs of our necks.

Live human music concerts are still happening in all genres. Lots of them sell out. My son performs in some on occasion. My daughters go to a lot of concerts, and have eclectic tastes.

These are events to celebrate.

Live human beings are going to replace the sampled tracks on as many of my orchestral pieces over time as possible, if all goes as planned. It’s going to be expensive but will be worth it. I can’t wait! Of course, I’m the human being that created the compositions.

My brother’s human artwork is far more interesting than AI because it reflects human intention and human creativity, not machine learning.

The ability to program a computer to create AI music is certainly a human achievement, but the resulting music?

It’s a nice trick, of course. It’s also empty.

Without humans creating art, there’s no human accomplishment in its creation that’s worth celebrating.

However there is much to celebrate in music and art, still. I’m optimistic.