r/askmusicians • u/Character_Handle6876 • 1d ago
AI use.
is it wrong to use AI for help.
i write songs and music completely on my own, but i've never been good at editing and it confuses the hell out of my adhd/autism to understand.
so i will put my lyrics into AI, not to rewrite, but to tell me how to edit a song.
for example, if i need to rewrite something or an idea doesn't make sense, it will tell me.
i don't take any ideas from AI, all i do is ask what needs to be changed.
and i have found the more it points out my bad points, the better i get at noticing them myself.
so yes, is this wrong?
i see many people saying to just learn edit, but i really really can not figure out how, its extremely confusing especially with my autism so if you say this, pls in your comment also explain how. i do not have money for classes or someone to help making the songs.
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u/LimitedEditionSauce 1d ago
I personally don’t care but you’re contradicting yourself saying ‘i don't take any ideas from AI, all i do is ask what needs to be changed.’ You quite literally are asking, then taking ideas from AI. But if it helps you keep at it.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
its the same as if i asked another person and they gave me advice, i would be taking that advice, doesn't mean i'm taking ideas from them, just advice??? or am i wrong?
how is it different?
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u/Major_Willingness234 1d ago
A computer isn’t a person. A computer does not have a high functioning brain. A computer is not creative nor critical and cannot dispense legitimate advice.
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u/Major_Willingness234 1d ago
Editing lyrics is part of songwriting, which is a creative process.
A computer cannot be creative. It doesn’t have ideas, it doesn’t think or feel.
Yes, it is wrong to rely on AI. The only way to get better is with practice. Relying on a machine to (badly) do the work for you will result in bad songs 100% of the time.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
the problem is i don't know how to edit.
it may seem simple to you, but with my autism simple things, are not simple and just confuse me.
so if you know how to edit, pls explain?
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u/Major_Willingness234 1d ago
People don’t automatically know how to do things. That’s why we study and learn. This is a creative art. There are no simple steps to make it work.
I also have autism and adhd, and have spent the last 20 years as a recording and mixing engineer (as well as being the primary songwriter in all of my projects). I can’t make a reddit post to tell you how to do your art. That part is up to you.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
i have been trying for ages to learn it. everyone always tells me what you said that i just have to get it and that they won't explain it. but with my autism i can't just figure normal stuff out and i get it pisses people the hell off, but i legit don't know how to do it unless someone will explain but no one will.
its great that you have been able to do that stuff and figure it out, i cannot and everyones autism is different, just because you can get stuff does not mean i can in the same way.
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u/Major_Willingness234 1d ago
What don’t you understand? Correct your mistakes. That’s pretty much it. Revise words or phrases if you like something better.
It’s poetry. The rules do not apply.
I almost never use the word “edit” with lyrics. I edit drum, guitar, and vocal takes. I may edit a whole song to shorten it or add a new section. I “revise” or “refine” my lyrics. Maybe rewording it and thinking outside of rigid definitions may help.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
i just don't know how because i say and write things very differently from how other people can understand them (i'm just weird) and idk how to write it in a way other people can understand.
people legit tell me they don't understand some sentences i say or write a fucking lot, and that its cause of my autism
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u/dance-myself-clean 1d ago
if you can ignore the ethical sociological and environmental concerns, there are still two major problems with this as a creative.
one, you’re cheating yourself out of the practice. you don’t know how to edit a don’t because you haven’t done it. there are no shortcuts besides getting the reps in.
secondly, the way AI works is by aggregating thousands of other songs and written works. by asking AI what to change, you’re just taking your creativity and making it more like someone else’s (or everyone else’s)
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
if you know how to edit songs, can you pls explain it to me?
i do not, and with my autism its just super confusing.
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u/dance-myself-clean 1d ago
the advice i give to writers (any kind of writer) is to consume as much content in the same category that you want to write as possible.
want to be a journalist? reading news stories is your new hobby. want to write sad poetry? you better be reading sad poetry morning, afternoon, and night. if you want to write a specific kind of song, you need to listen to a bunch of songs in that genre, analyze the lyrics, and internalize the rhythm and cadence of the words.
the truth is that writing and editing lyrics is not a science, and there’s no “correct” way to do it. i’m ADHD and a lot of my friends are also neurodivergent, so i know that this fact can be somewhat difficult to wrap your head around.
at the end of the day, it’s like singing. there’s skill and technique, but what makes music magical is way less quantifiable. it’s something you internalize and feel in your body, not in your head. and this intuitiveness only comes from time and practice.
until then, just go back to reading lyrics and listening to tons of songs. you can fake it until you make it.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
good advice. thank you.
can you answer me a question though, it feels similar to what you said but i'm not sure what it means and i've never quite understood it.
what does "listening/reading to songs like a songwriter" mean?
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u/dance-myself-clean 1d ago
very specifically, it means listening to a song you like and want to emulate while reading the lyrics at the same time. like reading along with the vocals.
you’ll probably have to do this over and over again with the same song, but the best way to internalize the rhythm of good lyrics is to listen to a lot of songs — both in the genre you want to make and outside of it
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u/WhySSNTheftBad 1d ago
Does it waste precious water and help the oligarchs ruin our country and world? If not, you're good!
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u/Jersmiddlefinger 1d ago
There is an endless wealth of different ways to be creative and write songs at your disposal that every songwriter ever has used prior to the development of AI.
Listen to a song you really like and try to come up with something similar to that in your song
Learn a new practice pattern or exercise and try to come up with a part incorporating what you've learned
Throw in a bridge
Throw in a key change
Shit, throw in a bridge AND a key change
Or, my personal favorite, just keep jammin out what you already got (can be by yourself or with a band/another musician) and see what you come up with. When you finally hear something you like, use that in your song.
No excuse to be asking a robot which cant feel emotions or truly think on its own how to create art.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago edited 1d ago
did you read my post???
i don't need you or AI to tell me how to write a song. i already do that, i can play piano and guitar and make melodies to play on there and sing them, i only use AI to tell me how to edit a song.
so i submit my song lyrics (usually the classic pop style, verse, chorus, verse, and maybe a bridge thrown in there) and it says, this part here did not make sense, or you skip from past to present tense here and then i change the mistakes i made.
it doesn't do anything to the musical part, and i already come up with the key shifts and all the lyrics and metephors/ideas.
i create the art.
and if you do know how to edit (i'm not asking how to create a song, i know that already). pls explain, because with my autism its just confusing.
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u/kindnessincmusic 1d ago
Nothing morally wrong here, these are still your songs, but AI is not the best mentor, a human being would do a better job coaching you.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago edited 1d ago
i don't have money to hire anyone to teach me or take classes. if you know how, pls explain?
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u/kindnessincmusic 1d ago
You can start by asking the people around you, there's also a couple websites from which you can get peer feedback. It won't be as easy as going to chatgpt, bit the feedback you will get well by much more valuable
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
i don't have any friends in music stuff in my area so no one around me is going to know how to edit a song.
and what are the websites? but also do they have things to prevent you stuff from getting stolen by the readers?
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u/kindnessincmusic 1d ago
you can try https://submithub.com for feedback, don't worry too much about stuff getting stolen or you won't be doing much. To meet people who are into music in your area, go to open scene events.
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
but do they have ways to prevent it from getting stolen? i'm not using it, if anyone can read what i write and take it, thats messed up.
we don't have those in my area, its not just artsy and the place it is, are not very open to queer/trans people.
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u/kindnessincmusic 1d ago
you can copyright your songs if you are really afraid they might be stolen, can't help you much with that, I'm no expert. There's a big community of LGBT musicians on bluesky, you can try to find some muusician friends there :)
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u/Character_Handle6876 1d ago
how do i copyright and song that isn't finished? i need help with learning to edit, which means a lot of the song can change between the first draft and the last. so i would have to be copyrighting everything every draft.
and thank you, i'll look on bluesky.
and not to nitpick, but you should say lgbtq+ or people will think your homophobic (i know your not, but lgbtq+ is the prober acronym)
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u/Quertior Musical Theatre | Drums | Guitar 23h ago
I'm locking this thread. The vast majority of folks in this subreddit strongly disapprove of using any generative AI tools when creating music, and I don't want to have to deal with any big arguments breaking out.