Creating Music with AI - A Step-by-Step Guide
Introduction
AI has revolutionized the music creation process, making it possible for anyone to become a musician without needing to know music theory. The goal of this tool is to empower creators, not replace them. The developer calls this "ethical AI" and aims to create a tool that gives users a seed to create something amazing.
Software Needed
To start creating music with AI, you will need:
- A digital audio workstation (DAW) such as Ableton, Garage Band, or FL Studio. For this tutorial, we will be using Ableton, which has a free version available. There are also paid options available, but the free version will suffice for now.
Preparing Your Workspace
Before you start creating music, prepare your workspace by:
- Choosing a drum beat loop and placing it in Ableton.
- Make sure to use headphones to avoid capturing background noise into the microphone.
Introducing Seeds by Lemonade
Seeds by Lemonade is an AI tool that generates musical seeds, which are building blocks for your music creation process. These seeds can include:
- Melodies
- Chords
- Combinations of melodies and chords
You can drag and drop these seeds into your DAW and change the instrument to fit your needs.
Using Seeds to Generate Music
To generate music using Seeds, simply press the "Get Seeds" button. The AI will generate examples of music for you to use, based on music theory and chord progressions. The generated music is a little random, but it can be good or less good, depending on the AI's output.
Tips and Tricks
The AI-generated music can serve as a starting point for your own creative process. You can modify and adjust the seeds to fit your own style and preferences. The goal is to use the AI as a tool to spark creativity, not to replace your own creative input.
Understanding Music Composition and Production
Music composition is about putting together notes, tones, and chords to create something pleasing and coherent. In music production, it's important to understand how notes and tones fit together to create a good sound. When creating music, it's helpful to listen to examples and experiment with different notes and chords to find what works well together.
Using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to Produce Music
A DAW is a program that allows you to create, record, and edit music. Popular DAWs include Ableton, FL Studio, and Logic Pro. In a DAW, you can create a new project and add tracks for different instruments, such as drums, melody, and harmony. You can also add effects and processing to enhance the sound of your tracks.
Creating a Track
To create a track, you start by adding a new track to your project and selecting an instrument to play on that track. You can then add notes to the track by clicking on the piano roll or step sequencer. You can also add chords and melodies to the track by using chord progressions and scales. Experimenting with different notes, chords, and scales can help you find what sounds good together.
Using Chord Progressions and Scales
A chord progression is a series of chords played in a specific order. A scale is a series of notes played in a specific order. Using chord progressions and scales can help you create a cohesive and harmonious sound. For example, you can use a chord progression in the key of C major, and then use the C pentatonic scale to create a melody that fits well with the chords.
Saving Your Work
When you create a track, you can save it to your DAW's library so that you can access it later. You can also save your track as an audio file, such as a WAV or MP3 file. If you make changes to your track, you can save it back to your library and continue working on it later.
Tips and Tricks
- Experimenting with different notes, chords, and scales is key to creating good music.
- Using chord progressions and scales can help you create a cohesive and harmonious sound.
- Don't be afraid to try new things and make mistakes - they can often lead to new and interesting sounds.
Music Generation with Seeds and Lemonade
Seeds by Lemonade is a music generation platform that uses AI to create music. You can create a chord progression using the C pentatonic scale and play around with different melodies. The speaker notes that as long as they stay within the same scale, the results will be consistent and sound good. They demonstrate creating a melody and chords separately, and then combining them to create a musical loop.
The speaker likes the result and decides to duplicate the loop and make it shorter by four bars. They experiment with adding different instruments to the loop and are pleased with the outcome. The speaker reflects on the creative process, saying that they enjoy having some control over the outcome rather than having a fully finished song generated by AI.
About Native Instruments
Native Instruments was providing the speaker with their instruments for free, with no compensation. The speaker has been using their instruments for a long time, creating music for personal enjoyment and relaxation.
About Seeds by Lemonade
Seeds by Lemonade is a tool that can help producers create music, especially those who don't have extensive knowledge of music production. It's an artist-focused tool with an ethical AI that prioritizes creative freedom. The tool is designed to provide a starting point for producers, allowing them to focus on their creativity rather than complex technical aspects.
Features of Seeds by Lemonade
- 100% royalty-free generated content
- Available for both free trial and subscription (starting at $4.99/month)
- The subscription model refills every month, allowing users to generate unlimited content
- There is a limit to the free version, but the speaker hasn't reached it yet
Conclusion
Thank you to MJ and the team at Lemonade for the opportunity to play with the tool and create this video. I hope that this information is helpful for those interested in learning more about Seeds by Lemonade. As always, have a good one and happy creating!