Computer Generated Music Composition
 

With today's virtual instruments, audio editing programs...there's no limit...
But what's about Composing music, how to create new song/melody/theme...? Composing music with computers is almost norm? Pro Et Contra?

what

Me no verb, that unpossible.

my own views on the issue....

composing with computers is not the norm. musicians using computers to compose on is. there's a subtle but significant difference in those two statements. the human composer is still the source of the music, the rhythms and melodies still originate from within the person sitting behind the computer.

i think it's foolish to limit oneself to archaic methods in hopes of maintaining the 'purity' of an ideal from one's youth; it's a recipe for stagnation. a lot of the negativity surrounding technology in music stems more from poor musicians shifting the blame for their own shortcomings onto the technology they believed would elevate their skill beyond what it truly was.

pro et contra...

pro - it makes if far simpler for the composer to get immediate results from their music. modern software applications allow for rough playbacks of all the instruments almost instantly. automation can also be beneficial when it comes to mixing large numbers of tracks. i've even heard of systems that will write out tablature for guitar and bass parts. depending on how well that actually works it would make it a lot simpler for the composer to generate sheet music for their band. it also allows for the creation of music that is beyond the capacity for a single human to play during the creative process but that can be subdivided afterwards for performance (see alarm will sound and their covers of aphex twin material)

contra - lots of poor musicians think the default settings are good enough and then blame the technology for the fact that they ran out of steam a long time ago (if they even had any to begin with). on the other hand it also allows for some people to incorrectly call themselves musicians because they plotted the notes for a virtual instrument with no capacity to actually reproduce the music on a real instrument regardless of complexity. then there's also the public misconception that music created with any form of technology involved is somehow inferior or less pure than traditional methods.

.

it's not that complicated.

what are your opinions on music composed with computers? and the pros and cons (advantages/disadvantages) associated with it.

you people claim to be elitists. tell me you can do more than just list off obscure bands and argue semantics.

computer generated compositions can be quite interesting, like doctor nerve's nervewares. i don't think it would be too hard to write a program that generated pop tunes, but aesthetics is hard to program, and it would probably still require some producer sorting through hundreds of scores to find the catchiest one, which seems harder than just doing it yourself.

I think its great we have computer generated compositions. Like you said no limits and its less expensive than hiring a bunch of people to play your compositions.

You can get just as creative with "computer" generated compositions as you do with "human" generated compositions. I think the big difference, though, is that "computer" generated compositions tend to lose that personal touch that a "human" generated composition can bring.

Hmmm..maybe this whole computer generated argument is the same concept as computer generated animations vs. hand-drawn animations. Both are creative artistic forms. Yet, each one was popular during a certain time-frame. Computer generated animations are the norm now and fully acceptable. They are great forms of art but I do miss the hand-drawn animations of yesterday.

Computer generated music still feels like computer generated music. While it's still an art form and a skill but does not have much appeal to me as a consumer.

It bumps me right from the get go, over production in music makes bad songs tolerable yes, but makes it much more difficult to produce a great song. It takes the natural "flaws" and unique characteristics of the artist out of the equation, or at least reduces them.

Mod tracker. That brings me back.

Anyone remember Tracks in space????

I compose bits of music on my computer all the time. The advantages are, say, if you are rubbish at guitar or keyboards or whatever you can still make good music by programming the notes on music composition software. I wouldnt agree though that all computer-composed music sounds unhuman. I always try to add a human touch when composing, such as deliberate ad-libs or by using as human-sounding patterns as possible.

I think this thread shoud be in the artists corner though.

Yeah, I was hoping to download one of those programs but don't have enough disc space.

I need to get an external hard drive so I can.

Reason ftw

First of all i would like to say: obviously I didn't make it clear enough ("Computer Generated Music").
Today's "composing music" is - almost - manipulation by combining and mixing with already exiting loops and patterns.
But, what's about the melody, tune...???
It's not too simple, so, why shouldn't we accept the help of IT?
Probably, you'll be surprised by the amount of software that you will find: Apple Computer's GarageBand software, Classical Music Composer, Easy Music Composer, FlexiMusic Composer, Fractal Music Composer, Jump, Magix Music Maker, Virtual Music Composer,... Yes, all these programs compose new music. And really important notice:
they doesn't require any special knowledge or/and skills of composition. Just click a couple of buttons and listen to the music, new songs. And it belongs to you!...

while it's true that anyone can create new music with the default presets and generic loop samples provided with 'composition' software. the vast majority of times (especially when created by people without knowledge or skill) it's complete and utter garbage that no one besides the author will voluntarily listen to a second time.

It wasn’t a long time ago, with the appearance of computers...
"...computers will never defeat humans in the game of chess..."
"...Robert Moog: a dangerous anarchist out to destroy music as we know it..."
There's no area of art, science... that hasn't been compared in this or any other similar way.
Now, try to imagine musicians today who had never used the computer or chess analysis without comp assistance or...

So what is my point here you ask?

A couple of days ago, I have started in this, as well as in some other popular and well visited forums, a new thread titled "Computer Generated Music Composition". The topic for general discussion was a question "Pro Et Contra" on subject: programs for virtual composing / virtual music composers.

Too often the feedback is the same as in the sentences above mentioned.

So, do we have to wait again for several more years before we admit to ourselves that computers have become an inevitable and helpful tool while composing music. Whether we like it or not, it is reality.
The human touch will never be replaced, but that does not neccessarily mean that it can not be pushed and helped by IT. IT can do it also!

Probably you'll say now: He's one of them (developer, author...). Yes, I'm one of them. But, I have never mentioned any fact which would point to it. So, it is not an advertising. I'm just curious about this topic...

you're missing my point.

i never said that using a computer as a tool was wrong. i said the majority of people who use it as their only compositional tool generally create garbage. there's a substantial difference in quality between music created by someone who understands and is capable of creating music with real instruments and uses a computer as a tool and someone who simply fools around with presets, loops, and trackers who believes their use of a software application makes them a 'musician'.

best example i can think of was back in my college days. we had an assignment to do for an AV class - to make a simple radio commercial. my friend and i made a minute long spot for the burning man festival. for a soundtrack we recorded four 1 minute long instrument tracks on my computer, two bass, two guitar. one of each track was reversed and then all 4 tracks were layered over each other. it was SUPER psychedelic and impossible for us to do on our own without the use of software BUT everything originated from our personal abilities with our instruments. the teacher came close to reprimanding us in class because he believed we had stolen the music until we explained to him that we made it on my computer.

another pair of students had a way over the top piano piece playing for their soundtrack, like oscar peterson on a fistful of blow and a third hand without any soul. on top of that they had a sausage fingered guy claiming the piano piece was his own. it a took a few probing questions before he confessed to having created it solely using a tracker. does that make him a musician? he couldn't have played a single passage from his 'piece' had he sat in front of a real piano.

now do you understand my distinction between people who use software as a tool and people who only use software?