Better music through AI and Big Record Datasets
How future generations can use todays technological advancements to create the worlds best new music and film soundtracks
Music makes for better movies
Click the song below and play a few seconds, what does it remind you of? For me, gruesome torture — sort of like a True Crime documentary. Hear me out:
Well I don’t know why I came here tonight
I’ve got the feeling that something ain’t right
I’m so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I’m wondering how I’ll get down the stairs
Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am stuck in the middle with you
Yes I’m stuck in the middle with you
And I’m wondering what it is I should do
It’s so hard to keep this smile from my face
Losing control, yeah I’m all over the place
Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am stuck in the middle with you
Feeling something ain’t right. So scared, stuck. Losing control. But that’s not the reason for my earlier sentiment, though I envision famed Director Quentin Tarantino knew what he was showcasing for even these lyrics. This song is from the torture scene in his low-budget debut Reservoir Dogs. Some still consider it the greatest independent film of all time [1], and its modest success at the Box Office lead to growing cult follow-up successs with the next Blockbuster Pulp Fiction.
Indie “Independent” Film with an A-List cast — including Quentin himself as Mr. Brown — a perfect film was made in a warehouse for $1 Million. Point of reference: a recent Avengers or Avatar runs around $350 Million budget. If you’re still with me, try this song next (it’s on topic, don’t worry just a few seconds will do):
This song scares the hell out of me. Pulp Fiction was released in 1994 — so I would have been aged 10. I’m not sure who let me watch that movie, but it sure wasn’t my parents. I probably borrowed the VHS tape from a friends house, and watched it when I was finally home alone and wouldn’t get caught (not my best idea bearing the content). As you probably remember, this song is from the basement scene at the Pawn Shop in the award-winning hit film Pulp Fiction. For me the song is associated with that scene forever, yet I should say I can also appreciate this rhythm outside the film.
Quentin Tarantino is a cinematic genius, who pushes the barriers out just a little further with every release. Why was Pulp Fiction so ground-breaking?
Scenes out of order in a mixed-up timeline; torture and rape set to 1960’s California surf music? I’m sure everyone thought he was crazy. A whole lot of feedback like: “You can’t do that” and “That will never work” and yet 8 pictures later Tarantino is wrapping up the final picture of his storied career (no pun intended).
For me? Every time I watch a new movie on Netflix, save for the odd smash hit Queen’s Gambit (highly recommend) most shows and films I see just scream predictable. The same “Save the Cat” beat sheet over and over. The Hero gains another face [2]. What does this have to do with music, least of all AI? Let me explain:
From what I’ve read, Quentin got his start in a movie store watching hundreds of films for his own enjoyment and that of his customers through expert recommendations for what to rent. AI can do the same: watch hundreds of movies (perhaps every movie ever made), build it’s own structure and understanding recorded in its own brain (i.e. neural network), and learn to create its own original works based on that structure.
AI can even use this structure it mapped out as a base to break out of it, doing things no one has ever seen before in a character or movie plot, like the re-ordered timeline in Pulp Fiction or the brilliance behind the film Memento. Did Pulp Fiction and Quentin copy other movies directly (having watched so many obsessively)? No. It was a human learning, and his work is obviously unique. He probably borrowed and found inspiration, maybe even tried to recreate emotions, but the plot and dialog are all new — all Quentin.
The same will be said for AI Filmmaking by 2025, is my prediction. Machines Learning. Original work. Movies unlike anything before it, that inspire a new generation of human (and other AI) filmmakers to break out of the box and change the world of cinema.
Electronic Dance Music
Recently I saw a video on YouTube with DJ Afrojack, showing how easy it is to replicate old EDM songs into new ones hits [3]. Replace a drum here, a snare there. Make this fun lyric sound silly and loop it all over a beat from 1970’s R&B. New song? Sure! Call it a Remix? That depends. From Puff Daddy to Skrillex, samples in songs can benefit throwbacks and modern musicians alike.
These Big Tech companies are figuring out Media, from Netflix to Disney streaming options abound. You almost need to save your time for only the best shows. Time is a premium in 2022, not content to choose from. Work, kids, soccer practice — most people enjoy 1–2 shows per day. I could a watch a movie every night if it was great.
But Russell, your article is supposed to tell us how to make better music with AI? Dear reader to that I say- people are already applying AI/ML to scan all known music audio — the history of earths ongoing music catalog. If you had access to all that audio, you could train your own AI to invent your perfect song. Music structure follows patterns and data, and like I’ve discussed so far on this blog, movies and music are universal data. Digitization made information easily accessible to the world.
Would you listen? I sure would! What’s the harm in trying new music, especially when human artists are simply using it as a tool? Like all music law like copyright, AI regulations will likely be enacted this year or soon.
Retraining for Hire
I saw pictures of workers in 1929 with signs on their neck, after Black Friday on Wall Street. “Will Work For Food” was common, and sometimes “I am an accountant and need a job” hit hard with the sad looking faces that haven’t showered or eaten in weeks.
I believe in America, to quote the character Bonasera from the opening scene of The Godfather. I also believe in market economies. People pay for movies they want to see, and pay more after to watch more of the same. Favorites. Movies you tell your BFF about because it was just that good! I want to watch that type of video every night, be it “movie” or “show” or “TikTok”. Storytelling and Characters — that’s the ticket.
Puff Daddy even bragged about it on their Mase track: “Take Hits from the 80’s; but do it sound so crazy!” sampling The Message in Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down (1982’s Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five). The “Mo Money” hook came from Diana Ross — I’m Coming Out (1980). The hit Every Breath You Take (The Police — 1983) inspired the tribute I’ll Be Missing You.
Juicy sampling Juicy Fruit. That’s not to say it’s bad, it turned me on to Hip Hop after years of Alternative and Classic Rock. I appreciate both. When people critique my own work and current start-up CyberFilmAI, I get this feedback a lot e.g. “That’s not a new idea, VR was invented decades ago” or “That’s not a unique idea, people already used AI to make scripts with storyboards”. And to that I say — show me! Make one. Sell it to the studios.
AI can’t make proper music or movies yet, but it’s getting close. It’s clear music make movies better. If I can make perfect music for your movie, would you use it? Quentin Tarantino didn’t write those songs in Pulp Fiction. But he used happy songs in a way movies had never done before, and that’s original too. Musicians appreciate when movies and shows blow their songs up, like Stranger Things and “Up That Hill” by Kate Bush circa ‘85.
The Forrest Gump soundtrack stood toe-to-toe with the film, and certainly introduced me when I was younger to the likes of The Doors, Bob Dylan, and Elvis. These songs can make some of us remember the 1960 and 70s. New songs? How could they if we didn’t listen to them back then?
But can new songs activate the part of your brain’s Neural Network in a scalar value representing the vibe of the 60's? Probably! Big if true — could literally help blind people see with a neural-lace connection some day!
What does AI have to do with music, have to do with movies? Entertainment is interconnected, and improvements in each area can help with the others. I believe Generative AI is going to power a lot of humanities growth in creative media in the next 2 years, to the benefit of us all enjoying the latest works of art.
“Music makes movies better, and AI can help”
References
Images:
Links:
[1] Empire magazine: 50 Greatest Indie Films (#1 — Reservoir Dogs 1992)
Reservoir Dogs — Quentin Tarantino (1992)
[2] The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) — Joseph Campbell
The Hero of a Thousand Faces (aka The Hero’s Journey) — Joseph Campbell
[3] Afrojack teaches how to make an EDM song (YouTube): [link gone 2023]
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