Mahesh

This is true. I'm not sure how any feedback CAN be incorporated back into the song. Like.. do you prompt the AI differently or something? Nevertheless, I agree that it seems more appropriate for the musician's lounge than in the critique board!

Fair enough, but that's just you I guess I've heard songwriting workshops conducted by record labels will have stuff similar to this. You are given a bunch of words as "prompts" & are to write a song using that as inspiration. I'm pretty sure this is a creative writing activity in film schools as well. Some people like the challenge

Hey @Dan Tyler, I get where you’re coming from, but I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding here about the cut-up technique. It’s not about taking full lines or phrases and rearranging them to create something that mimics the original work. The idea is more about taking words out of their usual context, to break through creative blocks and spark new ideas. The randomness of it forces your brain to make connections that it might not have made otherwise. It’s a brainstorming tool, kind of like free-writing or using writing prompts. You’re still creating something original because you’re interpreting the random associations that come up and weaving them into something new. It’s not about copying someone else’s work; it’s about letting randomness inspire your creativity. I haven’t tried it myself yet, but I can see how it would be useful for getting out of a rut. It’s more about the process of discovery than it is about lazily reusing old material. Besides, if you think about it, many forms of music, especially in hip-hop, involve sampling existing tracks and incorporating them into new works. That’s widely accepted as a form of creative exploration and experimentation. So, I don’t see how using the cut-up technique for songwriting is any more of plagiarism than that. If it’s okay to sample in hip-hop, why not use this technique to spark fresh ideas and help overcome writer’s block?

All well here

Nice to have you back @jhanover!

I've been on a very early 90s RnB space currently. And this earworm has been on my repeat playlist. Those backing harmonies in the chorus makes me feel weak in the knees.

Great mood choice @VoiceEx! POTF takes me back to the 2010s with lots of nostalgia. The mix on this is soo clear and lush. Timeless stuff

It’s interesting to see how DAW preferences are changing in 2024! I’ve been an Apple Logic Pro user for a while now, and it’s been great for my workflow. But I was surprised to see Studio One ranked higher than a music industry standard like Cubase.. I've always loved Studio One and not trying to take a dig at it, it's a solid tool. I just didn’t realize it had gained such momentum. It’s always nice to see Reaper being recognized and up there in the rankings. I used to use Reaper in the past, and have always been a fan. Even though I’ve moved on to Logic Pro for my needs now, Reaper will always hold a special place in my heart.

I'm a professional musician, but I have transitioned to being a vocal coach now more than a live performer, especially since the pandemic. Before the pandemic, I would spend pretty much full-time, every single day, working on music. Now, it's maybe about two to three hours a day that I dedicate to actually making or playing music. I would like to put more time into it and release music more often. But that's a conversation for another day lol The rest of my time is consumed by my responsibilities as a vocal coach, Songstuff, my duties at home, and other personal commitments. Regarding spending time or sacrificing certain things for music, there are times when I delay chores or get consumed by an idea, which might even delay dinner. But I really try my best to avoid that these days. I've been married only for a year, so I'm still figuring out how to balance everything. lol

F**k yeah! I'd love to have a freestyle conversation with you man!

If you follow Rick Beato on youtube, you know that he talks quite a bit about the status of modern music (and how it is bad). He recently put a new video out, actually two, where he talked about this topic once more. And it riled up a lot of people on the internet. I do relate with the sentiments expressed here but maybe Rick has the habit of taking it too far. Because of the controversial nature of this topic, many (from the younger generation) made response videos to him. This is one of them I must admit that I relate to some of the points mentioned in this video as well! There's ALWAYS been bad music regardless of the decade. Just that the bad ones fade over time and the good ones continue to shine. Does that mean the era in which the good music was made was ALL good? Of course not. In fact, I would say that bad music is soo much more easily accessible now than it used to be then. Or maybe as a millennial, maybe I relate to both sides. What are your thoughts?

@HoboSage David, I hope you are doing well brother! Thank you for these thoughts! This is a very useful point - finishing the instrumental arrangement of the new instrument you've introduced all the way through the song before introducing more sounds into the arrangement. This sounds so much more organised and avoids things being too busy - something I'm guilty of while arranging my songs. Sometimes it helps to cram all the ideas that you're hearing in the moment and go the subtractive approach by sculpting things out you don't need. Though sometimes useful, I see now that it adds more time to the clock. 48 hours? Damn son. I hope to gain enough experience with arranging my own music overtime such that I can draft arrangement ideas in such a short period of time. Thank you for sharing your process, David! What both of you have described was exactly the kinda stuff I was hoping to hear more of. So thank you! I totally resonate with this. I find the voice to be my main weapon when it comes to writing and producing songs. At the same time, I want to use it in a tasteful and unique manner as opposed to it being used as if in a standard band arrangement. Bon Iver is a good example of someone who uses the voice with very interesting layering - almost as if it is a plugin or Synth. Besides, using the voice as a voice, I think it can be a useful tool for creating new ideas by humming/singing parts as you'll have described. In this regard, I found a free open source plugin recently called NeuralNote which converts audio into midi. I've just started using it but being able to sing some parts and then converting it into midi to experiment with new sounds and instruments has been super fun! Just in case someone is interested: https://github.com/DamRsn/NeuralNote This means much to me David. Thank you for your words of motivation! That's very kind of you!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts @john The biggest take away for me from your response is about the separation you were defining between the technical aspects of the production from the ideation process. I am guilty of getting carried away or digressing while searching for sounds or the right kind of instrumentation that will fit the context. Because there are endless possibilities when it comes to this, you've got to have a clear line and time limit that you'd not cross. It helps to be mindful about this. On the other hand, I've found it useful to take a break from ideating in order to listen to some music that may inspire or induce new directions to the song I may be working on. Or it could be a snare sound or a bass tone that I really liked which is leading me to achieving a similar tone within my own track. Thanks again, this is very insightful!

Hey everyone! I'm diving into some arranging work of my upcoming 3 song EP at home, and it's got me curious about everyone's process when it comes to arrangement. For those of you who arrange your music, what sparks the initial fire? If you had the song in 1+1 (vocals + accompaniment) format, where would you go from there? Do you find yourselves building the arrangement around a vibe or specific instruments? Do you build it section by section in sequence? Or would you go from somewhere in the middle and build forward and backwards? I guess what I'm asking broadly is - is there a specific workflow you follow, or is it a more free-flowing, inspiration-driven journey?

Thank you for the shout out here and the post @john!