Does this sound like a real people playing this instrumental song?

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

SF VIP
Location
Mid-Missouri
I had a software program called "Band In A Box". It is a program that has 100's of styles. Country, bluegrass, jazz, symphony, rock, blues, reggae, samba, and on and on. You could compose songs in it. Arrange chords, and tricky changes like triplets, fades, and fills. One of the fascinating features was that it would compose a solo over the chords you composed. Back then this was cutting edge programming, and it took some talented musicians to be able to create the phrases in the solos.

I created this simple tune and told the program to solo over the chords. See if this doesn't sound like a real guitarist. :)

https://audiomack.com/paco-dennis/song/broken-fingers
 

The sample used on that song's solo was an acoustic guitar. The samples are actual guitar samples. When the computer puts the notes together the sounds don't always sound like the "real" instrument. I agree with the this. What is amazing to me is the phrases in the solo. They are not all exactly on beat, which gives the impression that it is live. I didn't play any instrument on this, the program did it all. This program I used was in 1999. :)
 
Sounds a bit too fast. Maybe slow the tempo down 5 or so BPMs, IMO.

The problem with computer generated music is, everything is right on the beat, which makes it sterile sounding, completely lacking emotional content. The emotional content is what we love about music, other than a good melody. Like good art, good music makes us feel something.

A lot of today's music is quantized. A good drum track recorded live is quantized to remove all fluctuations in timing and made boring by removing the drummer's feel. Vocals are auto-tuned to make them exactly on pitch. What you wind up with might be decent, but you'll never get anything great that makes you feel something.

That said, computers can be a great tool for composing music.
 
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SeniorBen said:
Sounds a bit too fast. Maybe slow the tempo down 5 or so BPMs, IMO.

The problem with computer generated music is, everything is right on the beat, which makes it sterile sounding, completely lacking emotional content. The emotional content is what we love about music, other than a good melody. Like good art, good music makes us feel something.

A lot of today's music is quantized. A good drum track recorded live is quantized to remove all fluctuations in timing and made boring by removing the drummer's feel. Vocals are auto-tuned to make them exactly on pitch. What you wind up with might be decent, but you'll never get anything great that makes you feel something.

That said, computers can be a great tool for composing music.
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I agree 100%. I kept the tempo high to show off the soloist. :) It is too fast though. The solo deviates from strict quantizing, that was what I wanted to point out. Unless your a very accomplished pianist with an expensive midi keyboard, it is very hard to create tracks without quantizing, especially with midi guitar. ( It glitches, and misses notes often. ) Most rap in the 90's went to quantized beats, and the rap ran around the steady drone.
Having played live guitar in bands for 30 years I certainly know what the difference is. :) I knew when midi started on the computer that it would revolutionize modern music. I helped provide computers to the low income community center in Columbia. Kids were just learning to make their own bass and drum tracks. They loved it. They started burning CD's and trying to sell them. :) The home studio is a great hobby to let the teenagers do something creative rather than just hang out and do nasty things. :)
 
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