No Music Skill? You Can Compose Epic Film Soundtracks with AI! 

Underrated comment

Agree. But then came Udio. Which .... in about 3 yrs (maximum) from today (if not already) will be able of creating really great music, even for movies. Go and play with this "thing" a little, Nick. You'll end up in deep thoughts... (in my case, after experimenting with this "thing" for about three days and after about 400 attempts, I ended up with a song that is almost perfect (soundwise and musically) and extremely difficult to create and produce for the average composer out there right now ( symphony orchestra, soprano, excellent sound, harmonies, chord progressions, orchestration, etc.). And that got me thinking a lot about the future of music making.)

let them overflow the internet with similar tracks, then we will have an AI fatigue, the industry will act against it and it is an opportunity for composers who do not "fit" into this alreaduy homogenic field to be noticed. Udio etc generate the same things differently over and over. people have no copyright over it, they'll vbe exploited by other people by reuploading their AI music and companies will just steal. they'll be like hard workers exploited, making no money out of it. Will take a little time.

It is not only a problem for musicians; artists in every field are surprised by this new technology. Those who are not familiar with the new programs often claim that it is impossible for a machine to produce what a human mind can. However, they usually have never used any of these technologies themselves and have only heard of their existence. Most people who are not involved in art will never use them to produce any art anyway, as they are not interested.

I mean, I think there's "Wallpaper" music (Musak?) and then there's music. Both will always exist. Musicians, on a whole, I believe will be fine through the AI age. To be totally honest Musicians have been getting screwed over from the dawn of paid gigs, so they've developed a pretty keen instinct for survival. And ultimately, there's always the live gig. Sure, plenty of solo acts use backing tracks, but for the most part people want to see/hear a fully live band. And that's the same if its a mega Taylor Swift concert at a stadium, or if it's a punk rock band playing in a dive bar. Finally, if you watch the video really carefully, you'll see what I'm actually trying to do is trick people into learning how to write their own music. That's the real sneaky ploy: "Here look what AI can do. Now just learn some stuff about the Major Scale, see now you can change everything the AI wrote. Oh, learn some stuff about triads and key signatures...look, you're a composer now!"

I think the assumption that Ai will never crack the secret of diamonds is super naive. We are of course not even close as of today, but the potential should be undeniable.

bro is really complaining to a natural evolutionary process 💀 make the best out of the present, r u old?

It's not that deep. Clearly, AI is a long way from being able to replicate something even remotely close to Han Zimmer's work. I've been looking for AI that can generate quality music and found that only real people are capable. By the time it gets good enough, artists will use it to fast-track new compositions based on all their past work. The diamonds will be brighter than ever and the talentless will only be able to make glass. Instead of Han Zimmer or Nicholas Brittell producing just one masterpiece score in a year imagine 5. For now, as a human, you can always sense the difference. The artists we already love and admire are best suited to utilize this new technology. It becomes much easier to embrace once you understand how the technology works. Also, humans deserve more credit, all intuitively know quality when they see and hear it.

That's fantastic to hear! Yeah, Labs is stupid amazing. If you stop by the Discord, over the weekend I'll pop some links up in the AI Music section for some more amazing free instruments!

Haha, y'know that stupid short got over a half a million views! I am proud to say that I've been getting better on keys and can now do 7th chords on one hand at least! Obviously, with all the guitars hanging on the wall, that's my primary instrument-- but, I'll say since digging into keys, I really do visualize the fretboard differently. Not going to be playing in a jazz quartet any time soon-- but, I am glad that I finally connected with the ivories!

Can't say I disagree, but what I like to focus on is how AI can assist artists with creating, acting as an assistant, rather than "magically" prompting a full piece out of thin air. This particular method, to be honest, is kind of a backdoor into learning a bit about music theory. Yes, you are doing from material initially generated from AI, but I'm still encouraging people to create their own melodies via the Scale Mode that Ableton (and most other modern DAWs) has. Funny enough, the WGA strike didn't even start on AI. It was actually all about residual royalties from streaming (a whole other ball of wax that musicians have been screwed on for years-- I've collected about $75 from Spotify over 3 years!)-- but it was only when they put in the clause about AI, which they thought was going to be a "gimmie" and the AMPTP said "nope"-- well, that was when the AI fight started. To be honest, I don't think the AMPTP has a nefarious AI plan. From everything that I've seen, it's a bunch of 65 year olds who have no idea what AI can do...so, that whole thing is just a mess. Anyhow, I'm off track: Collab'ing with a machine from a music standpoint to me, is not a big deal-- and actually has some cool applications. As a guitar player, I think it would be amazing to have a AI Drummer trained on John Bonham and a AI Jaco Bass Player that would react in real time to what I'm playing. Like, an instant band of musicians WAY more talented than I am. It would be hours of fun to jam-- but at the end of the day, useless if my songs still sucked.

Oh, and to add: Yeah, the library guys are going to get screwed. But to be honest, there weren't very many of them making a full time living out of it. Those people are very talented, and smart folks-- since there is a lot of hats to juggle in that field. Composition, mixing, mastering-- plus all the administrative stuff that goes into marketing yourself to the various libraries and music supers. Anyone who has been doing it sees the writing on the wall, and I'm sure is already starting to branch out into other areas. To get to that level, I'm sure they've all factored in multiple sources of income by this point as well. Career musicians, as a whole, are some of the most resourceful artists around. Likely due to the fact that they've been getting screwed on payment since the dawn of music!

@@TheoreticallyMedia A good conversation to have for sure, thanks for the thoughtful reply. I am so glad you took the time. I guess I feel if I had to get somewhat esoteric for a moment, I would have to think the muse herself has her head in her phone, sits on the train and doesn't strike up conversations like she used to. She has an app. To be creating music, be it guitar licks in the 60's 70's, there were so many avenues open for creating. So many licks to be written. How many licks and chord changes are left? We can still be original for sure, but it seems to me perhaps [and I say perhaps, as I haven't fully thought this one out] we have had in popular music a departure from the sweet spot, bolstered along by technology; just in time to allow the algorithms to take over for our tastes to guide them. I agree we as musicians and composers have been boned for decades, and as Mick Jagger said when talking about Napster, that the Stones happened to be alive to make money in a brief time in human history when music was actually an industry. I think we are going back to the times when the function of a musician is to play live and bring the spirits of the room up. Perhaps I am idealistic in that, but I do think we are in a renaissance of some form. AI is part of it. I think it will divide the arts in a similar way that politics are dividing the people. It is all about compliance and convenience really, and yes helping people to create using AI seems to me on the surface a good thing, but on a deeper level we won't access that [IMO] human excellence quite so easily that Jaco and Bonham harvested from their influences and dedication. The worry I have as a composer of sorts, and as a musician is like the said politics; we won't know what is true, and not being able to trust the source could disable us from feel. It is already happening, and personally I feel it is a dangerous path. Tom Waits and Keith Richards wrote that song That Feel, they nailed it both sonically and lyrically. Creatively speaking, are we all frogs in heating water? If music is indeed the soundtrack to our lives, what does it say about this kind of creation? After all, performance has deep roots in shamanism, I just dropped a short film about this on my channel. The roots of the strike[s] are based on money for sure, but as we evolve in time and can reflect from being unemployed, the issues present themselves. France's protesting in the spring was sold as a protest about retirement age, but it turned into something massively bigger and complex, about the death of the middle class, and rise of globalism. I think we are barking up a similar tree here, but the faces we see in the tree house are those of the technocrats.

@@TheoreticallyMedia Yes, just as I am embarking on a library music hustle. Not great timing on my part, but I will still try. Can AI Adventure Record?

If you take it through Aiva, sure. You’re basically creating something that is inspired by the original track, not the actual chord progression or the instrumentation. It kinda comes down to, if a musician heard something they liked, and write a piece of music similar to it. That’s basically been happening since the dawn of music!

read their TOS, you can use it for commercial use but you have no copyright over it. Any one can reuse your AI music and you have absolute no rights to claim any copyright.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Haha, I only seem calm because I cut out all the swearing between takes when I mess up a line!

A lot of them are in beta, so by using it, you’re giving them feedback on how the system is working. I think the hope is, once they go paid, you’ll like it enough to fork over some money. Or, in the case of stuff on HuggingSpace, it’s made by a small team (l like to call it the “garage band”) who is hoping it’ll get big enough that a big time company will acquire it.

certainly. It is not out of converstion that at one point, when the internet will be overfolwed by their music, they change their TOS and claim the copyright of it. When it's free, you are the product.

not yet...I haven't seen anything that will sync to picture, but I'm sure that is coming at some point. Since I released this video, the newer model, Suno, is doing some VERY Impressive things from a Text-to-Music standpoint. You can check it out here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-29oa3YJ0ZvU.html

@@TheoreticallyMedia yeah, it seems like a logical next step. Thankks for the update on Suno

Thank you sooooo much!!

Thank you so much Will! I’m putting you in the show notes as an Ableton follow up guru! Just needed to post and dash, so when I get a minute I’ll pop you in! Did you post your AI one yet?

@@TheoreticallyMedia don’t sweat it bud! Not yet, just putting the research in!

Ayyyy, Ableton Gang! Funny enough, this channel actually started as “Ableton for Guitar Players. Although, those videos are fairly terrible, watch if you dare! (I still think the “put a wah in your DAW” one is pretty good though) On the non-free side, I like Scaler 2 a lot. When you get under the hood; there a LOT you can do with that one! Spotify’s basic pitch (free) is a lot better than Ableton’s Convert to Midi as well: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uDCxeDb-0Bw.html If you get a chance, swing over to the discord and we can chat music in the AI music channel, I’m going to be working on some links and resources there today:

Oh, a link might be handy: discord.gg/2qQg2rsY

Thank you sooooo much! And I’m sure that music gens are going to get there. I mean, music is language and math at the end of the day. Two things that AI is pretty good with. One thing I didn’t touch on here is how composers have to write to a scene. Y’know, a dramatic turn in a comedy scene and the music changes. That’s something I think will be interesting when AI catches up. It’ll have to “read” a scene (actor performances) and write accordingly. I still maintain AI is not going to be a very good film editor, so I don’t know how good of a scene composer it will be, but if the last year has taught me anything, it’s that AI will always surprise you!

Don't make me blush!! Don't you DO IT!!

Ahhh, I forgot to mention reaper!! That’s another really good free alternative! But yeah, it’s just a ton of fun. I mean, I get the “quickness” or AI music, but doing it this way builds a lot of new skills and personalizes the soundtrack. I will also admit to being the guy who drives around and listens to my own music. Haha. Someone has to be a fan!

@@TheoreticallyMedia My grandmother once told me, "If you aren't a fan of what you're doing, how can you expect anyone else to be?" Also, I really feel like the stuff that's going on with AI and generative tools right now is driving many people toward these other creative outlets. I've had so many people asking how to get started with things like After Effects, Photoshop, Blender, and other creative tools. And all because they were given the opportunity to start their journey because the barriers to entry have been broken down by these AI tools. Amazing and inspiring stuff.

@@coryreeve1 that’s kind of my sneaky trick with this lesson. A little AI bait, but once you’re in, you can’t help but start learning as well! It’ll be interesting in a few years when we’re all experts at the Adobe Suite because of AI!

I seriously love it. It’s like having a jam partner all the time!!

@15:38 movie starts 🔥

@@TheoreticallyMediathis was an incredible feat, and in opinion a genius hack to change the midi inputs in the software itself ❤

True. And I teach them piano at the end! but, watch the video and you’ll see: this is aimed more at folks whose life took them in another direction than music. I want to show, they can still express themselves via a DAW. Some will become inspired and pick up a midi keyboard, some won’t. But I can’t help but think, maybe 10 years from now, someone, somewhere in the world, they might look back and say: yeah; I got started because of that stupid video on RU-vid…

I learned piano myself for 3 years. I love to compose my own songs but many people I know learned also piano but can‘t/don’t like to compose. I think in close future ai can also improve my composed songs in dynamic, tone, style, extra sounds and i don’t have to edit anything after I play and record it.

@@sasbe1852 Obviously via the guitars in the background, I suck at keys. I've gotten better over the years, and I know just enough theory to get myself in trouble. But I've learned a LOT by using "dumb" AI like Scaler-- this new breed of AI Tools? I expect to learn a lot more!

Looks like his mama sent him to piano class forcefully

Who died at the very

Haha, Remember what Smokey The Bear says: Turn the volume down on Zimmer to prevent forest fires!

He keeps trying and they keep pulling him back in!! Haha, I think he changed his mind after this video was made. I'm all for it!

Thank you so much!! Stop by the Discord if you need any other Music tips! (The Music Channel is pretty slow...or...dead, rather...)

Oh, I haven’t heard that! Then again, I haven’t really been plugged into that scene for quite a while. That’s interesting about the Dmin thing- particularly considering that Nolan has such an issue with his dialogue mixes!

@@TheoreticallyMedia i made 3 films with Chris. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. The issue comes from long time ago with Dolby mixes……I’d say from 1999…..I can’t say more, you know why….

Yeah, Zimmer is such a household name, but if you mention him among composers you're bound to get some eye rolls. He's definitely a businessman first. Some of Zimmer's stuff I really do enjoy, like the organ theme from Interstellar is simple but very effective, but there's no way of knowing which of his stuff was in reality ghostwritten by people working under him, and he just put his name on it. John Williams on the other hand who you also mention, in my opinion: true genius. A John Williams theme is so memorable, iconic, unique and fitting for each film, just the right amount of melodic material.

The closest I've seen in Suno. I go over it in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3nV_JVZjPD8.html But, that is also tied to background music...

Really happy to hear that!!

Thank you 🙌

Thank you so much!! Glad you enjoyed it!!

Yup! Should have no problem at all with FL! I personally can’t help you too much with specific FL interface questions, but if you bump into any issues I might be able to point you to some folks who can!

Honest? I've been struggling with FL for over a year and, even after posting dozens of "help me" type messages on FL videos on RU-vid, have not been able to find a single person to kibitz with about it. If you have any referrals, I'd be grateful. I have over 40 songs I'm trying to lay tracks for. Thx - Wayne

Glad you dug it!! This was a fun one! Won’t stop people from yelling at me that my background music is too loud in other videos, but at least I can point here and say: this is why!

So, it might? I didn't get a chance to dig too much into Aiva for this video, but there is actually a lot of cool stuff you can do with it. It has a number of "preset" styles that it's been trained on. I didn't see Irish Folk, but it did have "Traditional Folk"-- but, yeah-- that might be a ways off. I would suspect that it would give you something kind of lively, but I will say: it does NOT handle percussion well. It might not really sound very Irish either. But, I always say: Keep an open mind to the results and give it a shot! By the way, if you want to get really nutty, Spitfire Labs does have a free Uilleann Pipes instrument! I swear, its insane the stuff they're just giving away!

@@TheoreticallyMedia Wow, that's wild! Thanks again Tim!

Excellent! Feel free to poke around and see some of the other videos! I try to keep things at a relatively explainable level- but if you ever have questions, please feel free to ask!!

Wellllll, I’ll say this: if you download the midi from Aiva, which is basically note/chord/drum data. You then change all the sounds, change the melody, and move the arrangement around…is it still “theirs?” It gets into a pretty weird copyright area for music. I’d say you’re more or less safe if you go this method. If you straight up use their instrumentation and arrangement? Then yes, they have a case against you. If you alter just about everything? You’ll be fine. Oh, and Hi Andy! Just looked at the username!

AVIA cannot make copyright laws up. This won't stand in court. The copyright law doesn't change because a company says "oh if you don't sign up for pro it's ours." Copyright does not work that way. So all you got to do is make your own arrangement, replace the musical instrument with different plugin instruments with far more superior sound, and you're done.

@@TheMediaMachine I think Avia is terrible, I've tried using it and the compositions are awful

according to Joe Russo (director of a bunch of Marvel Movies) in 2 years. I doubted for a bit, but there is no doubt he's seen technology demos that we haven't...so, I'm taking his word.

@@TheoreticallyMedia it cant be far off for animation quality stuff. Dreaming up our own movies from imagination will be an incredible experience. I think in the future no one will specialize in anything. We will all be artists, directors, authors etc.

I love that trick. Literally been fooling people for years with it. The sequel was going to be: only use the black keys. That also works, but for some reason people seem to notice it quicker!

@@TheoreticallyMedia and only black keys sounds a bit like a classical asian tune 😉

Ha! To be honest, that’s most AI sites and services! Most are either totally minimal or are overwhelming messes. In the AI world: tech first, user experience? Ehhh, they’ll figure it out.

Fantastic to hear!!

But did you BASH the subscribe? Haha, thanks!

@@TheoreticallyMedia I did that a few weeks ago. Great to have your channel as an asset!

Ah-- thank you. Keep screwing that up!

I noticed on that webpage that it was spelled both ways- "avia" and "aiva."

Haha. Winner of the chicken dinner!!

Haha, I know I’m being a little fresh there, but to be honest I’ve bumped into the “I don’t need Music Theory because it’ll ruin my feeling” person so many times. I often feel that response is based out of fear. Like, they’re afraid it’ll be too complex and they won’t be able to understand it, when in all honesty, it isn’t THAT hard. Yeah, it CAN get hard, and there is for sure a realm of music theory I will never understand, but I think there’s plenty anyone can do with some super simple intervalic knowledge, the major/minor scale, and how to construct a maj or min chord. At the end of the day, this was a sneaky lesson for non musicians to show that the can get started writing their own music. Not using loops, either. Some will keep going, others not, but no starter wants to hear: “this is impossible and you’ll never learn it. Anyway, let’s get started…”

That’s awesome to hear. To be honest, if I were you I’d focus on getting a crew together (local to your area) and just start shooting it. You’ll learn a ton just by doing it. If you ever get a chance check out the “making of” Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) first movie Bad Taste. Literally a group of nobody kids in NZ, shooting on the weekends. And they had the issue and cost of film to deal with. The doc is a bit dated (we’re talking the 80s) but it is always super inspiring: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-POXwP4ucPe4.html

A old pal pointed that out as well-- I kind of wonder though: If you download the midi from Avia, change out all the instrumentation with different VSTs, change the arrangement, and then add effects...is it still the same song? That for sure will be an argument in a future court date, but if I'm on the jury, I'm saying it is not.

@@TheoreticallyMedia If you're in the accused box i say its not. ;) But yeah, not sure if the musical arrangement itself isn't the copyrighted stuff. ^^" Good idea though, i think it might work under certain circumstances. I'm no lawyer however. Thanks again for the nice discovery and your channel. :)

Haha, well again, as I mention in the video: Hans is a world class composer, I’m a guy with some free software and 20 minutes.

@@TheoreticallyMedia I mean the render, the sounds, the music... really not confortable in my ears. That sounds scratchy. The melody also seems so randomly assembled that's weird.

It’s a lot of fun!!