What does the future hold in store for the way we will create and perform music?
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The rapid advancement of technology and its tremendous impact on all aspects of our society is evident. However, the article below takes an insightful look into how technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are ultimately reshaping the ways artists create and perform music. 20 years from now will the creation and delivery process of music be something that primarily comes from a virtual or digital source?
As we sit here in 2019, some of the artists profiled in this story and their fascinating uses of emerging technologies and trends to create and perform music is somewhat difficult to fathom. Is it true music? Does it cheat the creative process? Can an artist exist solely in the virtual realm? It’s a compelling thought yet a shock to my music senses. However, if one thinks back 20 years to the beginning of the century when multi-track digital audio workstation softwares such as ProTools and Cubase to name a few emerged as the industry standard for recording music, that too, was a shock to the standard at the time.
The use of these digital platforms once available to only entrenched music industry professionals and high profile studios were pushed into the consumer market. Music making softwares like Reason, Garage Band and FL Studio complemented their emergence. Then the cherry on top, digital plugin software which emulated the effects that a person would have to purchase hardware costing tens of thousands of dollars to create completely changed the way music was created and performed heading towards the current state of affairs which is taking another revolutionary turn.
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Musicians are already experimenting with AI, but there’s no set model for how this works yet. The musicians Holly Herndon and Darren Cunningham (who records as Actress) have both chosen to describe their AI in terms of collaborators. Herndon calls her “AI baby” Spawn; Cunningham’s alter ego is Young Paint. But there are many ways it could work. Musicians could feed their output to AI, and choose from the innumerable variations it produces; or they could use it to brainstorm new ideas. Or they could automate tasks that some find mind-numbingly dull – using ‘machine listening’ to mix their music, for example, rather than endlessly fiddling with pre-sets and levels.
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Kevin James has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry in various facets. He has worked as a recording artist, songwriter, producer, on-air radio personality, background actor and film director. Kevin is a Member of the National Writer's Union.