How AI gave me my voice back – an artist's review of Suno Studio

[caminanteblanco]

I think as an artist, you need to make art that has value to you, not to your audience, because you are a representative of your own perspective on the world, not someone else's.

If the artist finds the output to be something that has meaning to them, and helps them categorize their feelings towards the world, then I think that's valuable art. It doesn't mean I'm going to go buy that album, but I'm glad it was made.

[tr1ll10nb1ll]

Recently talked to the founder of wavtool (acquihired by Suno which probably accelerated their work on Studio) and from my understanding, their overarching goal is to reduce to the time from concept to actual production. faster workflows, in other words.

I produce music as well on the side and I can assure you things like making beatpacks, finding the exact sound are non-trivial at times and a unified interface that lets me go fast asf without losing expression is vital.

I'm making my OSS version of this (faster than ffmpeg.wasm tho) called WAV0 - github.com/fluid-tools/wav0

[have_faith]

FYI your "Try Live Demo" link 404's.

[viccis]

My honest review, as a musician who has spent many years of my life making music and both giving and receiving blunt critique:

Stunningly mediocre. Worthy of a Pitchfork 1/10. If your choice truly is between having AI make "art" that you pass off as your own vs not doing so, then please remember that, as a wise man once said, an artist understands the silence that serves as the foundation of creativity.

I can't see how "chronic health issues" make it impossible to write and sequence original music, but it does allow for the AI workflow described in the post? Modern DAWs are incredibly accessible. You don't have to put out this horrible tuneless samey music; you can just work on honing your craft.

Shortcuts are incredibly appealing because it can be so difficult and unrewarding to build up our musical skills. But then what you make is uniquely yours and reflects every minute spent on it. If you use something like Suno, the results (especially based on what I heard) are not unique to you. You could never have existed, and those musical tracks easily could have come out of the cold weights of a neural network sounding about the same.

[nostrebored]

If you could distill what you were trying to make and describe each piece, making it uniquely yours, is the fact that it went from an f(intent) -> output a reason to treat it as derivative?

I'm not claiming that Suno is there yet, but assuming that it cannot get there seems strange to me, given that the anthology of music is pretty well represented digitally.

[bebb]

I've not used Suno Studio but I did put some of my own piano improv recordings into Suno and asked it to apply different styles. Fascinating results, hearing my work translated into disco, funk, acid jazz, marching brass band, film scores, 8-bit chiptunes, cor anglais solos, and more. It's given me a deeper appreciation for the broader musical landscape and has somewhat helped me out of a creative rut.

That said, I don't like the idea of generating entire songs and/or lyrics from scratch with AI. That's a step too far, as it diminishes creativity rather than supplements it. So I have mixed feelings overall about products like Suno.

[greygoo222]

The history of music, and indeed art in general, is that of every new genre being panned as "fake music."

You can have your opinions, man. The rest of us will keep making and listening to awesome art.

[rhetocj23]

Well said man. Not surprising to hear this take from someone whos been involved in music production for many years.

I just listened to it myself and WTF - its awful. There is a reason why quality of music has diminished sharply since the Record Labels lost control.

[babblingfish]

This brings up an interesting philosophical question about AI assistance for those with disabilities. It reminds me of the debate when NanoWriMo said they would allow AI assistance for similar reasons.

We could make an argument based on equity. AI assistance levels the playing field. Something doesn't quite sit right with me though. Last weekend I was watching a band perform where each member of the band had down syndrome. I don't mean to compare the author's condition to down syndrome, little is said about his condition and I didn't read the linked article. And of course, many people with down syndrome did not get the opportunity to learn to play an instrument, whether from nature or nurture. But still, watching them play you get that feeling about how it's awesome when people strive for competence despite the obstacles.

I can't help but feeling those who use AI assistance are unknowingly capping their upside. The author's condition sounds painful and upsetting. But a major component of why practicing a creative craft is good for self-develoment is because the artist must confront and overcome self-doubt. We all suffer from the feeling of not being good enough. When you use AI to overcome those limits, do you confront the doubt? It feels more to me like you're a manager who is pleasantly surprised with the work your direct reports created. Rather than evoking a sense of wonder at your own latent competence. Which is what happens when you confront the negative feelings of self-doubt.

[satisfice]

When I saw Stephen Hawking on the Simpsons, it occurred to me that in no way was he on the Simpsons. Not his voice, nor his thoughts, nor his visage. All I saw was his brand I suppose. Stephen Hawking’s brand appeared in an episode of the Simpsons.

[RobotToaster]

> I can't help but feeling those who use AI assistance are unknowingly capping their upside.

You could use the same argument for using a calculator instead of doing mental arithmetic.

Or an artist using a printer instead of using oil paints.

[greygoo222]

I absolutely love Suno music. Most of the music I listen to nowadays is Suno generated. There are so many creative people out there making things that never would've existed without it.

[fortranfiend]

Most of the music I make on Suno is stuff that would never ever be made, a love ballad that only uses the word lizard, an anime intro to the "Lord of all Milk"

[standardly]

AI slop, yadda yadda, I get it... But I just want to say, as a former failed bedroom producer who just doesn't have the time (and skill) to make the kind of music I want... I had a BLAST using Suno. I was able to "remaster" some of my old tracks, add in new sections, etc, and isolate/download/edit the stems.

I understand it's not fully my creative output... but hearing one of my old, shitty, ableton live projects remastered and extended to sound like something that might actually get listens was really exciting and kind of mind-blowing.

[bebb]

I did the same to some old tracks, feeding them into Suno with different style requests, and it was fascinating. It didn't quite hit the mark on a whole-song scale but I enjoyed the exploration of ideas and genres.

If I could compare Suno to anything it'd be like having a studio full of rather disobedient and unpredictable session musicians available 24/7.

Even that's not quite what one gets as if you listen closely enough it doesn't really sound like a recording. Like the reverb is all over the place and there are certain other artefacts that are hard to describe but gratingly noticeable once you've spotted them.

[HDThoreaun]

Suno is one of the most stunning products Ive used. Theres going to be an explosion of people making comedy/meme music with it no doubt. End of the day I think music is about enjoying yourself(even the catharsis in sad songs)and its clear to me that suno only helps people do that.

[aprilthird2021]

Tracks very well with something I saw recently, that the biggest fans of and users of generative AI for writing (and in your case music) are people who want to write a book but never got around to doing it, not people who want to read and pay for books

[rza1725a]

Advertising AI for medical purposes seems to be the new trend. That sells easier than "45,000 job losses".

The result is still unbearable. YouTube videos with AI slop background are an instant no-watch.

[doug_durham]

Did you read the article? There was no mention of medical treatments. There are arguments to be made. This isn't one of them.

[varispeed]

This is a nice toy and for sure great entertainment, but even with user aid it came out with generic slop. I can't see artistic value in this.

[roywiggins]

The vocals from Suno almost always come out sounding sort of strangled or strained to my ear, you can really hear it on "tortured." Cool he's having fun with it, but it's not what I like listening to.

[muglug]

Yeah I was expecting to hear something decent at the top of the article, but the vocals sound like they suffer from severe mp3 compression.

[NewsaHackO]

Most modern music us generic slop, especially pop music. If he likes making it and others like listening to it, isn't that the point of a hobby?

[mplewis]

Nah fuck this. Suno is slop.

[jstummbillig]

I have come to understand the usage of "slop" as possibly the sloppiest thing of all: Something that looks like critique, if it were not so entirely devoid of content.

[cactusplant7374]

People were listening to slop long before Suno.

[aeon_ai]

Nah.

Categorizing all AI as slop lacks nuance and demonstrates a shallow understanding of art