AI in Music: Threat or Tool?
- Noise Harmony
- May 3
- 4 min read
Updated: May 10
In the last few years, artificial intelligence has started to step more boldly into the world of music. It creates samples, composes, and even analyzes listener preferences. For some, this is a worrying automation of art. For others, it’s a powerful tool that supports creativity. So what does the reality of AI in music production look like?
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AI models can generate short musical phrases based on a text prompt or emotional description. For example, typing something like “cinematic dark strings with ambient pads” gives you a ready-made audio file. That file can be a source of inspiration or a foundation for your own track.
You can then import the sample into Logic Pro and use tools like Stem Splitter – a new machine learning-based feature – to isolate individual tracks (like vocals, bass, or drums). This allows for creative sound manipulation and deeper integration with your own material. If you’re not a Logic Pro user, you can always try Lalal.ai.
Next step? Just drop one of those fragments into your DAW and build something new on top of it using effect chains – like resonant delay, granulation, or EQ automation.
Is that process creating a new instrument?
That’s one of the more interesting questions. Can AI, which “generated” the sound, be called a producer? Or is that sample just raw material – like a synth or an acoustic instrument – that only becomes music through human creativity?
In reality, we often use free versions of AI generators, which raises another question: can we claim ownership of something made with someone else’s algorithm and training data? And if we can, under what rules?
On one hand, AI has no artistic intent – it doesn’t create out of a need for expression, and it doesn’t understand cultural or emotional context. On the other, as models become personalized and trained on private data (like an artist’s voice or rehearsal recordings), the line between tool and co-creator starts to blur.
In our recent YouTube video, “How I Used AI to Design Instruments and Beats in Ableton Live”, we explore this in practice. We show how to generate samples with AI, turn them into a playable instrument in Ableton Live, and build a beat on top of that. It’s a look at how technology can fit into the creative process – not replacing it, but expanding what’s possible.
Check out our custom-made presets for Ableton Live Wavetable!
NH STH Monochromatic B
NH PAD Icelandic Cold F Minor
Copyright and AI – A Legal Grey Area
Copyright in the context of AI is still not clearly defined. Most AI music platforms make it clear that you don’t own full rights to the generated content – especially when it’s based on training data that includes copyrighted material. So an AI-generated sample could contain fragments that resemble existing works, which creates a risk of copyright infringement.
Users need to be aware that without clear regulations, publishing AI-based music commercially always carries some legal and ethical risk. This could change with more transparent data sets and properly licensed models.
Take YouTube or TikTok for example – many producers now share beats made entirely from AI-generated sounds. They add vocals, arrange, and mix the tracks like traditional productions. But is that music production, or is it more like creative curation of ready-made sounds?
Risks and Concerns
Concerns about the future of music jobs are valid. AI can take on roles of composers, arrangers, and even mixing engineers. But the quality of results still depends on the human ear – and more importantly, on taste. Machines can generate, but they don’t understand what they’re making. They don’t grasp irony, they don’t feel cultural weight, and they don’t empathize.
Another issue is the oversupply of AI-generated music. Without proper curation – from both people and platform algorithms – we could see an overwhelming flood of low-quality content.
AI Isn’t a Threat – It’s a Spark
AI doesn’t have to be the enemy of music. It can be a spark – especially when inspiration is low and creative energy runs out. In those moments, an AI-generated motif or texture can act like a sketch in a notebook – a starting point for developing a sound, mood, or arrangement idea.
AI is like a microscope – it can magnify your intent, automate the repetitive tasks, and speed up your editing. But it doesn’t create emotion. It doesn’t have doubt. It doesn’t live through the story you’re trying to tell. That part is always up to the human.
AI can be a collaborator or a source of inspiration. But the final decision is ours. We choose whether that sample becomes a finished track – or just another unused file on the hard drive.
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