...or nearly. New approach - I have a pool of riffs, maybe 2-3 tracks each, maybe 8-16 measures. When I settle on one I force myself to work on that project alone and nothing else until the idea is completed enough to at least be in 'demo form.' At which point I'm pretty sick of hearing it, so it then goes into the demo pool and I go make some more starters or pick one I already have. Current end goal is to get 10 to 15 of these to demo form (could just need mixing, could still need some polishing, but big ideas should all be there) then swing back, whittle down to a solid 8-10, then set about completing it as a package.

Been a fairly solid approach so far. Actually writing for a change. Anywho, here is the latest to come of my forced approach..

https://whyp.it/tracks/290364/lantern-in-the-tunnel

little bit of industrial, touch of any means necessary, dash of smooth jazz to cleanse the palette.

 

Last edited: Jun 26, 2025 at 2:57 AM

Whatever works

 

I don't think you like making music at all. I've never had to force myself to do anything that I like doing. Nor I have heard anyone else say something similar.

Just an observation.

 

I don't think you like reading at all. No such indication of not enjoying music in any of its facets in any form was indicated. I'd reiterate and restate perhaps even expand if I saw the use, but I don't see the point if you've so grossly mischaracterized the quite explicit and narrowly defined text of this thread.

Just an observation.

 

There's a good analogy with art here, artists keep sketchbooks of ideas and pick the best ones to work on but they keep sketching other subjects while working on actual pieces. I kind of do the same thing with music. One day AI will be able to look at all of my unfinished music and suggest which could be pieced together in a harmonic and rhythmic cohesive way. It could probably already do that if I kept notes of each piece's musical structure, which is something I should start doing.

 

Huh, yeah I suppose that is exactly what I'm doing. Kinda humoring, given that I have -100 visual arts abilities. I can't even draw stick people. It's truly an amazement to behold.

I take a less charitable view on that. With the way "AI" currently performs (and will, I suppose, until such time someone has a breakthrough and actually sets us on the path of a thinking machine in another 100 years or whatever) its a probabilistic coin counter. So if you want to produce top 40, its suggestions would probably be pretty right on, as by the nature of it being top 40 it would necessarily have the most positive points of any reference... you just gotta hope its one of the years something retro is 'in' as there could be no confidence of future trend predictions given how it works and how fickle and strange new pop trends often emerge. If you want to make expressive art that's more digestible than Merzbow but stops short of outright pop for profit, you might as well consult tea leaves. At least you get a drink out of that. If you just want to tie pieces together, its just gonna spit out the circle of fifths or something at you. Can do that on your own now.

With current 'ai' models your consulting the masses with little to no ability to sensibly weight authoritative voices in a manner that is unique to you from the drooling masses .... the same masses that can never find the 2 when they clap, mind you. Even if you gave it 1 gazillion processors and 20 fluffabittensmeklebytes of consumed data I just don't see the coinflipper models being able to reliably move on from static repeatable output to a quality of something 'other' that arts need. Could be wrong. I'm wrong all the time. Though I haven't yet seen the path that leads there. So if its Forward! you wish to go musically, best make those notes for the benefit of your own future reading.

 

Thanks @Usr4321 for your "Lantern in the Tunnel" song. I quite like it, even a bit socially critical.
Do you have a free SoundCloud account?

 

What art needs is freedom, not enslavement to ever more machines. Art needs time and a clear head. You should go out into nature and read books instead of allowing yourself to be enslaved by the AI hype and the oh-so-great AI tools.

Technology is both a blessing and a curse; you just have to use it sensibly and moderately.
Anyone who is uncritical about this information overload will end up becoming a digital slave.

It's advisable to learn how all this, and what's coming next, is changing our lives and thinking.
We won't stop progress, but we can stop what we install, use, or read at home.

 

is the antithesis of good music

 

Well, not really. I've written songs blazing on hallucinogens in the time it took to play them. My head was not clear but rather hyper focused. It almost impossible to decider my handwriting in the aftermath as well as actually holding the pencil during the scribing. Time has not meaning nor holds no sway while creating in the moment.

 

Perhaps, but as you know it is arguably easier to listen to music than to make it. Therefore this topic is about discipline and each person finding their own way to beat procrastination. I've been reading a lot about this topic (from Rick Rubin to others) and forcing oneself to sketch and then to actually complete something is key to reaching a stage where you can at some point create "good music" in a more spontaneous way.

Stick to your plan OP and good luck in the process!

 

Thanks @Lois Lane for your real-life example of creativity.

I have two more favorite sayings.
"Art is shitting in the corner of a round room."
"Art is when you don't know beforehand what the outcome will be."

I once read a book about Dadaism, which was about cutting up information, newspapers, and images with scissors and reassembling them. A lot of things changed with the internet, and digital photography and image editing programs changed the way we work. Many things became easier and cheaper.

What is Dada? - A Short Introduction

 

There is no gun to my head. This isn't happening in a vacuum. It's about task focusing and working through barriers (if any), creating solutions I would not have otherwise. Learning new skills if necessary at unexpected intervals. Not making some shitty song just for the sake of an exercise.

 

I am frankly dumbfounded by some of the brain dead takes to this. ... as you note about your reading, this is not remotely a rare concept. It is an intentional and purposeful exercise of which the entire purpose is to think of new solutions and apply and maybe learn new skills you might otherwise have not. It has nothing to do with finishing a song just for the sake of finishing it regardless of how much polish you had to put on that turd.

@PulseWave
No, not atm. Given that they recently changed terms to force or quit your consent to sell your data to the llm's I'm not too keen on using them either. There are some more demos in that link if you click the collections button though.

 

Last edited: Jun 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM

That's a good method; I do something similar. I like the sound bites you used in the song. It's a good message for these times: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop!”

 

Thanks.

The last bit is fairly consequential too. "....And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it -- that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!! -- Mario Savio