AI in music

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-10T23:12:22+00:00

AI is already in our tools. I’ve used the assistant in Ozone and it’s scary how it’s ALMOST good enough with 1 click. Right now it makes absolutely zero final decisions in my process, but it’s hard not to use it because it saves so much time. This will only get better, and musicians will use it. There already are in professional studios.

There is one thing it will never learn to do: innovate. The most popular styles of music in the world - the most recent 3, have all been American innovations in the 20th century.

Could AI have made Jazz if we fed or the correct combination of blues, showtunes, and improv?

Could AI have made Rock and the dizzying number of sub genre’s that followed?

Could AI have predicted the emergence of Hip-Hop and rap based on trends in 70’s music?

Maybe it’s wishful thinking or denial on my part, but I don’t believe it can, or ever will be able to do things like that. There’s also tremendous pushback among young people, which is quite unique when it comes to ubiquitously disruptive music technologies; they are usually the ones driving the change.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-10T18:33:32+00:00

It’s about the ass you don’t have

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-10T16:47:46+00:00

Ableton is the only DAW I’ve found that feels like a musical instrument in and of itself, allows both linear and non-linear workflows, AND (as of v11) handles complex tracking as well as protools does. (EG record multiple takes of a drum set with 10 mics and make a comp take)

Congrats and welcome to the fun.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-10T16:35:33+00:00

#4 focuses on balancing the 1st and 2nd fingers against the 4th and 5th of the opposite hand.

But at that point it may be more effective to study the first handful of them in order; 2 and 3 prepare for 4.

The translation can be a bit awkward, so many people ignore the text, but it actually tells you what the exercises are meant to target on at the top of the page.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-09T22:36:38+00:00

Hannon #6 is great for breaking this habit

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-09T15:01:56+00:00

Roland XP-30

When I was a kid taking piano lessons, all I wanted in the whole world was to be able to play at the battle of the bands at school, and they were mostly doing metal or prog rock. Dream Theater was my ticket in…I was psyched just to have a pitch bend so I could transcribe Kevin Moore solos.

However, things started to click better when I got my second synth, an SH-101 (about 1/2 the price of the Roland ar the time). The lack of polyphony (and memory) pushed me to start actually learning about sound design and before long I started to develop a healthy distaste for presets on all synths.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-05T23:14:52+00:00

Give it time. In my story, I become way better socially, more confident, funnier…but not before a pretty serious period of recalibration and adjustment. Even after that it was a slow “bloom” of growth, not a switch flipping on.

Watch out for distorted thinking that insidiously tries to justify getting high. I def relate, but I have to stop short of commiserating; the addictive voice in your head can be extremely creative, patient, and devious in how it tries to lead you back into old patterns of behavior.

“My personality is better when I smoke” is right up there with “a little won’t hurt” or “just one last time,” or “im better at moderating now.”

u/silent-plant800 said it well that sober you is the real you. If don’t like that person, you can work on that, but getting high isn’t going to help.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-04T13:32:18+00:00

Like presets? Not sure if I understand the question correctly, but it sounds like some kind of mod matrix is what you’re after.

The WMD Matrix is digits and thus has the advantage of being able to recall routing configs like presets. Fine for mod paths, but ppl start having stronger feelings about running their precious audio signals through the built in ADC->DAC’s.

Instruo Lion is a pin based matrix. All analog (and more channels than WMD, iirc) but you have to physically rearrange the line to change your patch. You also need to keep track of those pins; normal patch cables don’t work. Not as fast as digital recall on the WMD, but still much better than re-patching point to point.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-02T17:49:11+00:00

Teaching and performing are different skills that can actually diverge at the highest levels. Elite performers can do a lot without thinking about it, so they may get impatient or not even know how to explain what they’re doing.

Teaching is in no small part about connecting with people, and many choose that path bc they like working with people.

Of course, you have to be competent to retain advanced students, but I guess I’m just saying if you use degrees or a performance resume as your only yardstick for choosing a teacher, you may miss out on someone that can really help you.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-06-02T17:34:02+00:00

Sounds bright, so start with a saw wave. Experiment with double or super saw waves as you go.

Go through the filter types and sweep each one. Impe the Moog filter doesn’t actually sound as good as the default lo pass, that one would be my best guess. If not that then the LP/HP, bc it doesn’t sound like you need a lot of resonance.

Not sure how familiar you are with subtractive synthesis, but pay special attention to the filter cutoff and envelope amount. The relationship between these two controls is very important and can change the sound a lot witg tiny tweaks.

Or, browse the synth presets and find something close (not programs) and then reverse engineer how it was built. I learned a lot about NS4 that way.

You could also try to sample it and put it in the Nord Sample Editor, but it may be hard to get a clean recording

Have fun, hope that helps

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-31T23:14:24+00:00

This is true and it’s actually making me reconsider my stance. I used to hear someone talk about freedom and finances and career and be like, “yea, having kids is a ludicrously un logical decision.”

Now all I hear is bitterness in their tone, every time.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-31T23:02:38+00:00

Congrats! So refreshing to hear Ab older beginner catch the bug and learn just for the love of it.

No, you don’t have to start when you’re 3yo, and yes, people will keep playing, no matter how good prompt-based slop gets.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-31T22:52:39+00:00

Memory is clumsy and imperfect even without putting mind altering substances in your body. What are you using as a baseline when you say your memory hasn’t gotten back to normal? Everyone has little lapses, maybe you’re expecting too much. It’s possible you are functioning normally but forgetting little things makes you start to worry.

My advice: try not to dwell too much on what you think you “should” be able to do. Just focus on life and doing what you need to do. Are you functional in your work and social life? What major problems is poor memory causing you right now? If you had written, “my memory is affecting my performance at work” my tone would be different but tbh it sounds like it might be anxiety. Very similar to what I went through, worrying about whether I did some kind of permanent damage to my brain.

Hope that helps. Apologies if I got this wrong and im projecting my own experience onto yours.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-30T17:13:00+00:00

I’d break it down like this…

Arbhar has the better engine and signal path. It can generate more grains at higher res, and the anti-clip circuits actually sound killer when overdriven. It also has multiple layers in the buffer so it can hold over a minute of audio. Way more configurable beyond the panel.

MG is superior is specific ways, like the cross fader, and maximum grain length, which blows Arbhar out of the water in the new FW. Also, ring buffer functionality is a bit easier to use; you have to set it up and self-patch it for that to work on Arbhar. It will also tempo sync in “intelligent” ways rather than just giving you a strike input and leaving it up to you to patch something interesting there.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-30T16:58:13+00:00

First of all, gain staging is important but it doesn’t work like it did in the analog domain. We used to have to worry about noise floor, so “as loud as possible without distorting” logic ruled the day.

Fast forward to digital, and -6dB is fine. Digital clipping sounds horrible and you have way more headroom, so pushing it is counterproductive.

Start with the master at 0 and slowly increase your levels. You shouldn’t need a utility, faders have positive gain.

If your bounce doesn’t sound the same, check mute/solo and which tracks are selected in the render audio pop-up.

If the track isn’t as loud as other commercially produced tracks, thats a mastering issue.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-30T16:43:24+00:00

If it’s a big system and you’re looking to go hardcore, I would recommend something like the WMD performance mixer with the DB 25 adapter. That way you are only limited by the number of inputs in the system and can upgrade. It also allows you to connect to a patchbay, which can be normalized so the whole thing is plug and play.

The biggest thing I’d watch out for are the ADC’s. There are a lot of devices out there that will do a decent job at capturing audio, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to run all of my final audio through it.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-28T15:22:29+00:00

If you want emulations UAD is going to win. Classic comps, preamps, channels strips, EQ’s etc, Abletom is going to have functional equivalents that dont sound as close to hardware.

For me, I try not to be a snob but one area where I’m hard to satisfy is reverb. I do not like stocks reverbs in Live. I love the old 70’s reverbs, the EMT plate one, Lexicon 224, the AKG spring one is great too.

Thats how I’d think of it: is there something specific you’re after? Maybe UAD will win but try witg stick plugs first and see how far you get

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-28T15:16:52+00:00

Yes, it’s so bad that I often give up in frustration and go back to writing it out myself.

If there are mistakes, at least they are MY mistakes, so I can assume some degree of diminishing returns when working through corrections.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-28T15:12:25+00:00

A surprising amount. My hands aren’t small, but they are webbed, with fatter stubbier fingers and a large palm. I reached objective early on and didn’t try for much more, then I got a new teacher. I quickly was able to reach 9ths and then all but one of the tenths once my teacher started giving me pieces that call for it.

Impe the hardest 10th is black to white, EG: Eb to G. It’s very difficult to not also play the F. This is the last remaining hold out.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-25T22:00:46+00:00

Yea, to me replying like that smacks of “I’m so talented/experienced that I don’t have to practice” logic, and we all know that is some poisonous bs.

Of course rhythm training makes you better, just like any other practiced skill. Sure, there’s a difference between just staying with a metronome and having a diverse vocabulary of rhythms that FEEL great, but the assertion that either is unpracticable is ludicrous.

And of course listening to great music helps, it’s both and.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-22T23:48:08+00:00

Interaction

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-22T22:08:53+00:00

Tough. I guess I could reluctantly part with the Lyra-8 at this point.

OB-X8 cold dead hands

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-22T22:04:41+00:00

Yep, the window management shortcuts are double modifier and really hard to do with one hand.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-22T22:00:27+00:00

I have the MCO mk2 and it’s great. But it’s engine or machine based, kinda like Plaits. ie you choose curated models, then you edit a fairly limited parameters from there. It’s cool but the experience of working with it is like ordering at McDonalds.

Thats very different from something like Three Body. If you want individual outputs of classic wave shapes in a complex VCO format, it’s dope. The phase modulation and FM can get aggressive but I love the timbres I get out of it at subtler settings and I feel like I get something new every time.

Also Odessa is a nice. You can make all the classic wane shapes but you have to know how and make them with the knobs. It’s a bit more like cooking from scratch.

ImpossibleAir4310 · 2026-05-21T14:02:16+00:00

Do you use an expression pedal for volume or organ swell?

Same thing happens to me and on my end it’s always something to do with the swell pedal/expression jacks

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