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Thread: Steven Wilson new song & video: December Skies

  1. #1
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    Steven Wilson new song & video: December Skies

    Challenged by a friend last week on why I’d never done a Christmas song, I protested it wasn't really me, and besides I didn’t think I had it in me to write suitably Christmassy lyrics. "No problem”, he said, "we’ll get ChatGPT to do it for you!", upon which he instructed the AI to generate Christmas lyrics in the style of Steven Wilson. Which it proceeded to do so. By the yard, in fact, I was shocked at how instantaneous and easy it was to guide it ("don’t actually mention Christmas" we said to it, "make it feel more lonely”…etc)

    I’m still not entirely sure what I think about AI, the knee-jerk reaction is to consider it a threat to a musician like me, but it’s clearly not going away, so this is my experiment to try embracing it and using it as a tool in the creative process. And of course also to have some fun doing something I would never normally have thought about doing, the archetypal seasonal song. December Skies is the result, swiftly recorded last weekend and written in collaboration with an Artificial Intelligence version of myself. I wonder what people will make of it. I wonder what I make of it.

    In keeping with the artificial intelligence theme, the visualiser for December Skies has also been generated using a purpose built AI system created by Miles Skarin. The video is based on imagery drawn from some of my previous videos then placed into 2D and 3D backdrops.

    Music by Steven Wilson, guitar solo and backing vocals by Randy McStine.




  2. #2
    Member BobM's Avatar
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    It's a good song. I hate the threat of AI generated music and art though, but it isn't going away. The reality that artists of all types require years of practice, lessons, effort, sacrifice, practice, and luck, etc. to become proficient and actually make a little money to just begin to cover the costs of all thos intervening years - well, it makes me cringe to think that the computer will do it all in about a minute, and maybe better.
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    cunning linguist 3LockBox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobM View Post
    It's a good song. I hate the threat of AI generated music and art though, but it isn't going away. The reality that artists of all types require years of practice, lessons, effort, sacrifice, practice, and luck, etc. to become proficient and actually make a little money to just begin to cover the costs of all thos intervening years - well, it makes me cringe to think that the computer will do it all in about a minute, and maybe better.
    It's startling how good this turned out. I'm not terribly surprised that AI can generate lyrical content on the level of some humans but damn if that doesn't sound like something Steven Wilson would write. I really don't want to like this.

    Think of the old piano and guitar masters that grimaced at the sight and sound of electrical instruments and then later synthesizers, Moogs and the like; things I accepted without reservations. I get that this new tech is being embraced by people that will roll their eyes at its detractors. As much flack as autotune got 20 years ago its obviously still around. All the time I usually spent questioning the talent of the humans that performed in the past I'll spend wondering if it's human or AI content. Yes, it seems that I'll have plenty of things to shake my head at in my twilight years (if I'm lucky enough to have twilight years).

  4. #4
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    The lyrics are even better than Wislon's usual fare.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by 3LockBox View Post
    Think of the old piano and guitar masters that grimaced at the sight and sound of electrical instruments and then later synthesizers, Moogs and the like; things I accepted without reservations. I get that this new tech is being embraced by people that will roll their eyes at its detractors. As much flack as autotune got 20 years ago its obviously still around. All the time I usually spent questioning the talent of the humans that performed in the past I'll spend wondering if it's human or AI content. Yes, it seems that I'll have plenty of things to shake my head at in my twilight years (if I'm lucky enough to have twilight years).
    Despite some awkward exchanges elsewhere about AI...I'm actually not a fan and the various new AI "helpers" that are added to new apps, it's the first feature I disable. Not out of existential distaste...I just don't particularly have interest in using them in my workflows.

    The only observation I'll make is a soft one: speaking as a nobody artist, I don't fear AI will take away my music income because my music income was wiped out long ago. However tiny my audience is, I'm comfortable that they'll not go off and replace me with an AI equivalent because it turns out my audience is mostly like me

    I thought the AI Wilson tune was amusing mostly, and in all sincerity kudos to him for rolling with the joke.
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    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    I hate how much I like this song.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    I like it. Shall we start listing artists that could benefit from having AI write their lyrics?
    <sig out of order>

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Plasmatopia View Post
    I like it. Shall we start listing artists that could benefit from having AI write their lyrics?
    OMG PLEASE pull that thread

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    I have no problem with the AI lyrics, we wouldn't know if he hadn't told us. I would have a problem with AI generated music/vocals though, that would have no value. Taken on its own merits this is a really nice song.

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    OMG PLEASE pull that thread
    I think I'll keep my thoughts to myself, lol.
    <sig out of order>

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Plasmatopia View Post
    I think I'll keep my thoughts to myself, lol.

  12. #12
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    AI-generated reply:

    Because nothing says 'heartfelt holiday spirit' quite like letting a machine generate your Christmas song lyrics – because, really, who needs the warmth of genuine human creativity during the festive season?

  13. #13
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    This is really neat!

    At his "The Harmony Codex" album playback at the Curzon Bloomsbury two weeks ago, a member of the audience asked him about AI/ML and its impact on music. He talked about it for a few minutes, and I had the impression that he had some trepidation with the concept. So, it's interesting that he did this experiment. The lyrics aren't bad. The music was written by him; at first I thought that the whole thing was AI-generated. I think that it worked out pretty well.

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    Member clivey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefftiger View Post
    This is really neat!

    At his "The Harmony Codex" album playback at the Curzon Bloomsbury two weeks ago, a member of the audience asked him about AI/ML and its impact on music. He talked about it for a few minutes, and I had the impression that he had some trepidation with the concept. So, it's interesting that he did this experiment. The lyrics aren't bad. The music was written by him; at first I thought that the whole thing was AI-generated. I think that it worked out pretty well.
    Yeah I liked it too but could not make it all the way through as it felt just toooo perfect. Not just the AI lyrics but perhaps the vibe. I can't put a finger on it. Perhaps the project was a pilot I just don't know. The secret to this AI if there is going to be any art is how to con the listener into believing a real soul expression was involved.

    Seriously though the big publishers and labels are just going to wet themselves over how cheaply their content is going to cost them initially .Then once everything sounds the same wherever it emits from . A counter culture will emerge from the youngers. We just need to watch the car crash first. In very slow mo.
    Will be listening again with an ale in another 30 minutes.
    Last edited by clivey; 12-15-2023 at 03:26 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Bails View Post
    I hate how much I like this song.
    My exact same reaction.

  16. #16
    I commented on the YouTube video when I saw it pop up in my feed saying I really think the music is quite good, but the lyrics are so hackneyed that it sounds like they were written in just a few minutes or by ChatGPT. It wasn’t until later that I read about the song and learned I was exactly right. There’s something uncanny about all the ChatGPT lyrics I‘ve seen that I can’t put my finger on. But you can just feel something off about them.

  17. #17
    A.I. might be controversial but so was sampling once upon a time.
    Mongrel dog soils actor's feet

  18. #18
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    I liked it just fine, now play it at at the supermarket.
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  19. #19
    Who will collect the royalties for the lyrics?

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by rickm View Post
    Who will collect the royalties for the lyrics?
    Sam Altman's PayPal address probably
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    How long before someone suggests that the whole of The Harmony Codex was produced by AI?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Le Master View Post
    I commented on the YouTube video when I saw it pop up in my feed saying I really think the music is quite good, but the lyrics are so hackneyed that it sounds like they were written in just a few minutes or by ChatGPT. It wasn’t until later that I read about the song and learned I was exactly right. There’s something uncanny about all the ChatGPT lyrics I‘ve seen that I can’t put my finger on. But you can just feel something off about them.
    Interesting, and I won't disagree with that last part, but the scary thing that we all need to keep in mind, is that this technology is in its infancy. Remember when the early days of video conference calls, were nothing but glitchy, stuttery messes? The future may bite, indeed.

    Neil

  23. #23
    Member BobM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve983 View Post
    How long before someone suggests that the whole of The Harmony Codex was produced by AI?
    Well, I for one think this song is a bit better than most things on the last 2 albums, so no, HC wasn't done completely AI, but maybe it should have been used to help things along a bit.
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  24. #24
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    I think some of Jon Anderson's lyrics were possibly made by some early version of AI.
    <sig out of order>

  25. #25
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    Wilson is a monumentally talented individual. That he could "swiftly record" such a lavish-sounding and polished track "over the weekend," and compose/arrange/perform the song to order (it sounds exactly like a Christmas song is supposed to sound), almost as if he was writing as an AI himself, is simply astonishing. Few people could do is at all, nor as well.

    This is not Wilson's art, though; it's his craft, a demonstration of his skills without the investment of heart and soul that separates art from production. It's an assemblage of the familiar and recognizable, designed and intended to push a certain set of buttons in the listener. And it does so, quite well, and that's why it's so pleasing and likeable.

    The lyrics are serviceable, as is to be expected. A few clunkers, lack of subtlety or depth, very superficial and sentimental... like so much holiday music. And just what was asked for from the AI.

    A fascinating exercise. And a cautionary tale. I was just listening to Trevor Rabin's 'Rio," which is full of astonishing musicianship, great feats of musical imagination... and frequently uninspired lyrics that could just as easily come from ChatGPT. I don't mean to single out Rabin (I think the album is, overall, brilliant). Just that it happened to be the first thing I listened to after hearing "December Skies," and so it struck me how easy it can apparently be to write lyrics that seem to come mostly from the used-parts bin.
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