05/05/2026
'Starting Point'. I will use this song as an example to tell you a bit about the specifics of working on a composition with powered by artificial intelligence.
Generally speaking, the tracks I decide to share with the public probably account for less than 5% of what is generated by the app I use. In most cases, there’s always something wrong, and the main culprit is usually the vocal line. This was also the case with ‘Starting Point’.
The algorithm understood perfectly what I wanted to hear from the instruments: a pulsating tempo, a memorable looped guitar layer, and a new wave/coldwave style. It turned out very well; it’s one of my favourite compositions.
But those vocals... Even if I wrote that I didn’t want any vocalisations and that if I wanted ‘uuuuu’, ‘ooooo’ and so on, I’d specify that in the lyrics. No! Always, and I mean always, my cybernetic collaborator added something of his own.
Of course, you can often fix things like that in a DAW, but not always. And so, in this composition inspired by classics such as The Cure and Joy Division, between 3:11 and 3:30 you can hear a sort of wailing or moaning in the background. I wanted to remove it, but it turned out that muting the vocal track wasn’t enough, and some of that mumbling seeped into the bass track, which I obviously couldn’t mute.
However, as I said, I liked the song, so I adopted a rationalisation strategy and decided that, since it’s the story of a man affected by alcohol, suffering from insomnia, somewhere between sleep and reality, the strange voices might be coming from his mind, tormented by addiction.
The truth is, however, that this part is simply a mistake that I was unable to fix.
https://open.spotify.com/track/2nT8klIuY6YDPLcQziNkE4?si=8e5ac7642dfb451b
Positronic Memories · Starting Point · Song · 2026
