Jonn Serrie Discusses the Symbiosis of Creativity and Digital Tools - Part 1
The discourse with the illustrious ambient musician Jonn Serrie delves into the intricate nexus between creativity and technology, foregrounding the assertion that true creativity is an inherently human experience, distinct from the mechanistic outputs of artificial intelligence. Serrie elucidates the necessity of human engagement in the creative process, emphasizing that while technology serves as a powerful tool, it cannot replicate the emotional depth and inspiration that inform artistic expression. Throughout our conversation, we explore the profound implications of integrating technological advancements into the creative realm, particularly in the context of music production and sound design. As we navigate the complexities of intellectual property rights in relation to AI-generated content, we underscore the importance of maintaining an authentic voice in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Ultimately, this dialogue serves as a clarion call for artists to embrace their unique creative energies while harmonizing with the technological innovations that shape contemporary artistic practices. The conversation unfolds as Jonn Serrie, a revered ambient musician, delves into the intricate interplay between creativity and technology. The discussion is framed by Serrie’s reflections on his recent endeavors in sound programming and mixing techniques, underscoring a commitment to an internal creative process amidst an external world that often demands attention. Serrie articulates a philosophy where creativity is not merely a product of technology but an organic expression of human experience, deeply connected to vibrations and frequencies that resonate with our consciousness. This leads to an exploration of artificial intelligence and its implications for artistic expression. Serrie expresses a desire to maintain a human touch in music creation, emphasizing that true creativity stems from personal engagement rather than reliance on AI-generated compositions. His assertion that creativity is a uniquely sentient experience invites listeners to reconsider the role of technology in art, advocating for a collaborative relationship rather than one of replacement.
Takeaways:
- The intersection of creativity and technology is crucial for modern artistic expression, particularly in music.
- AI's role in content creation raises significant ethical questions regarding originality and intellectual property rights.
- Understanding frequencies and vibrations is essential for grasping the nature of creativity and consciousness.
- Successful collaboration between human creativity and technology requires an ongoing dialogue between the artist and the tools used.
- The evolution of sound technology has transformed the music industry, creating both challenges and opportunities for artists.
- Creativity should be seen as a natural human state that can be enhanced by technological tools rather than replaced by them.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Sudo
- Udio
- Eminem
- Valley
- Pro Tools
- Sonar
- Reaper
- Audacity
- Logic Pro
- Emagic
- Bing
- Brave
- AltaVista
- CopuServe
- Electronic Music Labs
- Robert Moog
- Surge Modular
- Keith Emerson
Mentioned in this episode:
00:00 - Untitled
01:18 - Untitled
03:10 - The Intersection of Creativity and AI
10:49 - The Evolution of Music Ownership
19:52 - The Rhythm of Life and Creativity
29:18 - The Evolution of Synthesizers
32:32 - The Intersection of Sound and Visuals in Planetariums
44:37 - The Sentience of Machines
It's.
Speaker BWell, welcome back to the Nexus, John.
Speaker BHow are you?
Speaker AI'm doing very well, sir.
Speaker AVery good to see you again.
Speaker BIt's awesome to see you.
Speaker BI have longed for another conversation after our last one.
Speaker BWas it back in April?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BAnd there's been a lot of stuff going on and down since we've talked last.
Speaker BWell, it's been a very active and some would say unpredictable.
Speaker BOthers are saying that's outcome.
Speaker AYeah, pretty much.
Speaker AI've just been so concentrated on programming some new sounds, getting into the new mixing techniques and things that I'm trying out and basically staying focused.
Speaker BSo you've turned off the outside and turned on the inside?
Speaker AYeah, I'd give The outside about 25%, maybe 20%, you know, and the rest of my life is a good 80%, you know.
Speaker ASo you got the 3.
Speaker AM is making music, making models, making love.
Speaker BWell.
Speaker BOh, M. Eminem.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BI was gonna say love is not an M, but I'm sure you could figure out a way turn it into one.
Speaker AMaking modalities or something.
Speaker BSo what would I like to have a conversation with you about today is this whole concept of there's a lot of the stuff in that 25%.
Speaker BI'm sure you're seeing some components in there about this.
Speaker BAll the technology stuff, particularly the AI world and all of that stuff that's going on, and content creation in some way, shape or form being potentially taken over by the digital demons known as artificial idiots.
Speaker AI have a little saying that goes for that.
Speaker AStraight out of Star Wars.
Speaker ANot this ship, sister.
Speaker AWell, no further.
Speaker AAs far as the AI goes, it's like, no, I want my hands involved.
Speaker AAnd we'll get into that.
Speaker BWell, that's the other main theme is about creativity because I think when you explore and have a grasp of what creativity is, how it works, how it expresses itself, what's the experience that you have with it.
Speaker BYeah, that is a uniquely sentient human experience.
Speaker AYeah, it certainly is.
Speaker BAnd it seems to be the result of part of what we were talking about the last time we got together, about frequencies and vibrations, right?
Speaker BYes, sir.
Speaker BAnd everything that we.
Speaker BThat we have seen or that we've encountered that we've had some modicum of opportunity to try to understand that what we would also associate with being life or having life.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BAll of that is organic.
Speaker BIt's.
Speaker BIt's stuff that just happens and it apparently creates containers for this frequency field that we call consciousness.
Speaker BSo I think creativity and understanding that I think will help people understand or at least better get A better grasp of all of this creativity, the content, creation of art in music in particular, and imagery and video and so forth.
Speaker AHow it all goes together.
Speaker BIt really is.
Speaker BIt's a complicated mess because it's been purposely confused, in my opinion.
Speaker AIn many ways it has.
Speaker BI mean, you look at it and you go, well, why isn't.
Speaker BDoes anybody know how this stuff actually works?
Speaker BDoes anybody know.
Speaker BHow do they realize that it's all based on the same silica based.
Speaker BAll of the computing stuff that we use is inorganic.
Speaker BIt doesn't have any of the frequency and vibration connection that we do in an organic human, sentient being.
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AAnd the trick is to bring those two worlds together is to make the electronics side of it like a living presence, the same way that you are a living presence.
Speaker AAnd that's where the two can really meld together.
Speaker AYou know, the electronics work the same way as the human brain.
Speaker AYou've got input, processing output, and that's basically what goes on in the synth world, you know, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a direct reflection.
Speaker BI was having a conversation on a show last week and the whole idea of intellectual property, copyright was talked about.
Speaker BAnd when we looked at the examples of where that's being questioned, challenged, and even lawsuits, three major labels of.
Speaker BI think it's a joint suit against Sudo and Udio, which are AI music generators.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BAnd I've got one that we did on it that I want to share with you and talk about what actually came out of it and how it matched any kind of creativity that we would individually, personally want to have and experience.
Speaker BBecause that whole idea of being able to create something requires some desire or drive, motivation, inspiration.
Speaker AYes, it does.
Speaker AAlong with surrender.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker AYep.
Speaker ASurrender to the creative motion, you know, that's happening at the same time that you're involved in it.
Speaker AYou, You're.
Speaker AIt's almost like surfing.
Speaker AYou got the surfboard and the wave and the rider, and all three of them work together to create this, you know, beautiful motion.
Speaker AAnd this way, you know, you got your biological ability to play the keyboards, you've got your brain, you know, that's coming up with the imagination side.
Speaker AAnd then you've got the technology, the wires and the electronics inside the synths, you know, what I try to do is turn the brain and synth power into a symbiosis where the two are talking to each other without any borders.
Speaker BLeveraging the capabilities and the capacities of each to a mutual balance and blend.
Speaker AYeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker ALike a wide open blue Sky.
Speaker BWell, one of the things that came up about, you know, the whole copyright thing was, you know, the labels are.
Speaker BHave brought the lawsuit because they've used the AI system, has used their material that they own a copyright to.
Speaker AThat's true.
Speaker BTrain their AI and it's.
Speaker BIt's like, okay, well, there's a couple of.
Speaker BThere's a couple of rabbit holes there.
Speaker BOne of them is the whole.
Speaker BThe BS that is the copyright and distribution model that artists have been strangled under for decades.
Speaker BAnd, you know.
Speaker BYou know, there's not only the publishing rights, there's the mechanical rights.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker AYes.
Speaker BAnd those get divvied up and owned and driven by the people who have put the most money in.
Speaker BAnd the artists are usually the ones that get the shortest end of whatever's left.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ABecause the mechanical rights are based on the music being pressed or put onto a particular kind of surface that can be sold and played in the marketplace, like a record.
Speaker AMechanical rights of a record.
Speaker AMechanical rights belong to the cd, the record, the recordings thereof.
Speaker AAnd that's a big battle right there.
Speaker AAnd it tends to get a little confusing.
Speaker AYou know, what I'm glad about is that I have a very good record label situation where my record label president is also one of the best music lawyers in the entire music business.
Speaker AAnd it's handled some very big artists.
Speaker AYou know, so he's really watching my back.
Speaker AAt the same time, you know, he knows so much and is able to weave his way around, you know, distribution rights, this kind of thing where, you know, his.
Speaker AHis effort is exponentially much better than somebody else's who doesn't know that information.
Speaker BAnd that's what's needed to manage and mitigate and maximize using the current system.
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AWalk softly and carry a very big stick.
Speaker BBut, yeah, but now there's.
Speaker BAll of a sudden.
Speaker BNot all of a sudden.
Speaker BIt's just.
Speaker BIt's finally reached saturation and ubiquity.
Speaker BWe've got.
Speaker BThere is no physical media anymore.
Speaker AThat's true.
Speaker ANow you've got intellectual.
Speaker AYou got music moving at light speed.
Speaker BSo who owns the pressing of that music?
Speaker AWell, that'll go back to the intellectual property type thing, you know, and like, the lawyers are going to duke this whole thing out, as they do and as they have been doing, you know, since the beginning of recorded music, you know, intellectual rights.
Speaker AWho owns the composition, who owns the lyrics, you know, this kind of thing.
Speaker AAnd it's.
Speaker AAnd it's really divvied up in the minutia to the point where, you know, I.
Speaker AWhen I speak to John Briget, who is, you know, my record label president from Valley, you know, I just tell him, you fight it.
Speaker AI'll make it.
Speaker AYou know, you protect me and I'll make you the best music in the world.
Speaker BWell, those relationships are rare and far too between.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AI would tell individual artists, you know, find the best representation you can and build an element of trust which is unbreakable.
Speaker AYou know, you're going to be doing this as a team.
Speaker AAn artist just can't be out there by himself these days.
Speaker AIt's just moving too fast.
Speaker AAnd there's too many, like, players in there trying to take a piece of whatever it is and, you know, walk softly and carry a big stick.
Speaker AYou know, that's.
Speaker AThat's basically.
Speaker AAnd the big stick is going to be, you know, your lawyer and your record label president.
Speaker AYou know those people.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd I. I think.
Speaker BAnd I look forward to what I think is going to happen, which is my girl out here making noise at something.
Speaker ANice dog Navi.
Speaker BShe's out there doing her navi, noisy navi thing.
Speaker BSo one of the things that I think is coming.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker BWell, before I go to that, let me take this other nugget the squirrel just dropped off back to the AI copyright stuff.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BThere are people that are having these conversations about, well, who owns the instruments?
Speaker BWho owns the, you know, the sampled drums, if they are sampled, but they're not.
Speaker BOr any of this.
Speaker BNone of the instruments are sampled anymore.
Speaker BThey're all digitized.
Speaker BAnd it's like, well, nobody can own that sound because that is a.
Speaker BThat's a sound that's been around for a long time.
Speaker BThat's made by an instrument that's exactly different than playing a flute or a piano or a synth or guitar.
Speaker BThose are in.
Speaker BThose are analog, correct?
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BYou're getting.
Speaker BYou're playing that instrument.
Speaker BWell, that sound has been copied for two or three decades now.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker BAnd it's been available in software programs for the same time.
Speaker BI know.
Speaker AExactly right.
Speaker BI use them.
Speaker BSo, to me, the digital sounds of music have been around for a long time.
Speaker BYou can't own them because you.
Speaker BNobody can own a trumpet.
Speaker BYou can have one, you can own your own, but you can't own that sound.
Speaker AIt's exactly right.
Speaker BWhat you can't own is playing somebody else's part with that that they've already recorded and done.
Speaker AYes, yes.
Speaker BSo that's where the copyright issues.
Speaker BThat's where everybody gets their strikes and all this nonsense is going on about, well, that sounds Like Sheryl Crow.
Speaker BIt's like, okay, but it's not.
Speaker AYeah, I was told by my record county president, sometimes it comes down to what's known as the double six.
Speaker AYou know, six seconds, six words.
Speaker AIn other words, you know, the six seconds.
Speaker AIf you're.
Speaker AIf you're copying something too closely, you get like a leeway of maybe four to six seconds before you get called on it.
Speaker AYou know, I want to hold your hand well, there's a lot of songs, you know, that come out with those notes.
Speaker ADa da da da da da, you know.
Speaker AAnd sometimes the copyright battle gets into this minutiae that only an ace lawyer can really understand.
Speaker AAnd synthesizers have really kind of complicated that in a way, since their sounds are infinite.
Speaker AAnd now, you know, the composition copyright stuff is like, okay, everybody's using synths, but who owns the square wave, you know, that kind of thing.
Speaker ANobody owns that.
Speaker AIt all depends on what you do with it.
Speaker AAnd you know, what you do with electronics is, boy, did they just unleash a Pandora's box when this first synthesizer was created.
Speaker ABecause now you've got an infinity worth of sound in there.
Speaker AAnd the manipulation thereof gets quite minutia ized, let's say, you know.
Speaker ABut the point is, you know, for me is like to be so original that I can't be copied.
Speaker AAnd I use tricks to do that.
Speaker AYou know, certain kind of processing, certain note things, program changes in the middle of a note, you know, this kind of thing, which I've turned into my signature.
Speaker AAnd, you know, I'm damned if anybody can copy that.
Speaker ANo, sir, no.
Speaker AIt's just.
Speaker AIt's too much me in there, you know, and there's a lot of years that I've been involved in this where I've learned those kind of, like, interesting little moves that kind of protect you at the same time they define you.
Speaker BWell, it's using the instruments and tools and techniques that you have at your disposal to express your creativity.
Speaker AThat's right.
Speaker AAnd creative energy, you know, is the energy of the universe.
Speaker AThe same way that your life force within your body is.
Speaker AIs the creative energy, you know, and it all equals, you know, energy equals money times collection squared or something in the music business, you know, that kind of thing.
Speaker BWell, they do call it.
Speaker BThey do call it currency.
Speaker AYes, they do.
Speaker AYes, they do.
Speaker AIt's just a very interesting way, you know, to express something, you know, and each person, you know, when they get the creativity and the tools can really make an individual statement, you know, and then make it sound worthwhile.
Speaker ANow that's the trick in there.
Speaker ABecause you can give a five year old a synclovir, you know, or you can give like a very experienced musician a sinclair.
Speaker AAnd sometimes the five year old will beat that guy.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker ASimply because of the roll of the dice, you know, of in the muse, let's say, you know, and like, you know, as far as I'm concerned, the muse is female and female is not going to be messed with.
Speaker AIt's just, that's just a fundamental rule of this universe.
Speaker AA female will not be messed with.
Speaker AAnd like I, I bow down before the muse in some cases, you know, even before I turn on the keyboards, you know, I'll offer maybe a little spiritual offering to the muse, let's say, you know, because it's, it's really her music as it comes passing through you.
Speaker AYou might have the tools and the know how and stuff, but boy, when the real flow happens, it's like otherworldly and I love being able to acknowledge that.
Speaker BTom, in the last.
Speaker BTom Bluewolf, in the last conversation we had shared a story where he, he was somewhere in Africa and he, it was, the morning was starting to dawn and he heard this noise outside that was like, wow, he's going, wonder what the hell that is.
Speaker BAnd then before he got out of his bed, he heard something else going.
Speaker BAnd he's listening to and he's going, I wonder what's going out there, going on out there.
Speaker BAnd then he listened and he realized they were in sync, they were rhythmically.
Speaker BSo then he went out of the tent and he looked out and he was, there was a circle, like a community thing.
Speaker BAnd there was one guy with the big pestle and mortar and he was grinding corns and there was a woman on the other side of him that was washing something, it was water and she was going.
Speaker BAnd then he said there was three or four other people, just everybody doing whatever they were doing, but what they were doing, they were doing it in rhythm with each other.
Speaker AOh, that is so cool.
Speaker BYeah, I gave me chills when he told me that.
Speaker BI was like, you know, that.
Speaker BAnd that is the natural rhythm of life, I guess, right.
Speaker BThat's how we, we, we if we pay attention, if we got nothing else going on.
Speaker BAnd this is a tribe out in the wilderness.
Speaker BThere was no, you know, Dollar Store or Wendy's or any of that anywhere, nowhere near.
Speaker BThere was no TVs, no computers, no nothing.
Speaker BThere were just people in the community working and they were doing it in rhythm with each other.
Speaker AThat's so cool.
Speaker AI said.
Speaker BHe said.
Speaker BI said.
Speaker BThat gave me chills, he says.
Speaker BGave you chills, he says.
Speaker BWhen I realized it was going on, I was like, whoa, I could hang out here.
Speaker AThat's cool.
Speaker AAnd Tom's the kind of guy to pick up on that.
Speaker AYou know, I really have a lot of respect for him.
Speaker AHe's a very unique individual.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BIt's interesting that the three of us go back at least three decades or more.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker BAnd each with our own past.
Speaker BWe always find our way somewhere in the past.
Speaker BWe're on.
Speaker BTo get together.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BHave.
Speaker BHave a conversation about what we know, what we've seen, what's happened since the last time we talked.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BIt's just.
Speaker BIt's really, really special.
Speaker BWe should do.
Speaker BHave the three of us on and have a conversation.
Speaker BI think that.
Speaker AOh, that would be cool.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo back to this AI thing and to try to finish that off, because there's still a lot of confusion out there.
Speaker BBecause to the point, we were just talking about the idea you can't own the sound of an instrument, so you can't own what a computer makes.
Speaker BYou can't own that sound.
Speaker BThere is no ip, no copyright.
Speaker BIt's your sound.
Speaker BAnd you may sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, or you may sound like Chick Corea, but that is.
Speaker BYou're not.
Speaker BYou're not playing.
Speaker BYou're playing it.
Speaker BThey're not.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AThat's right.
Speaker BSo you can't copy something that somebody's already laid down and doing an exact version of it.
Speaker BYou can do it as a cover band in a bar, you know, and if you can get away with it.
Speaker BBut the.
Speaker BThe whole idea is to be creative, to make something new and to challenge.
Speaker AYourself to do that.
Speaker BWhat's that?
Speaker ATo challenge yourself to do that.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AThat's why, you know, there's always a connection between the synthesizers and myself, where it's.
Speaker AIt's an equal partnership almost.
Speaker AYou know, I will challenge the synth, the synth will challenge me.
Speaker BI have that experience every time I pick up my guitar.
Speaker AThere you go.
Speaker AThere you go.
Speaker BIt's like, oh, what can you do today?
Speaker BAnd, you know, it's really interesting.
Speaker BAnd I'm sure you've had this experience, too.
Speaker BI have been playing for 54 years.
Speaker BMost of the playing I did was in the first 20.
Speaker BThe last 34 has been kind of, you know, sparse here and there.
Speaker BIt kind of shows up.
Speaker AYou know, there's a way that.
Speaker AActually I. I play guitar, too.
Speaker AAnd my recent purchase was Ventures Mossright Guitar.
Speaker AAnd it is just liquid in your hands, you know, so it's got a lot of backward 12 string now and a Gretch country gentleman.
Speaker AAnd now I've got the new one, the most, the Mosrite.
Speaker AAnd I've not recorded any guitars, you know, for any of the albums yet.
Speaker ABut I'm considering doing some.
Speaker ASome heavy processing using the mouse.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker BHmm.
Speaker BThat's gonna be very interesting.
Speaker BLooking forward to hearing what you come up with.
Speaker BThat.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BAnd that is.
Speaker BThat's another thing about one of the things I.
Speaker BWhen I built the studio, I cashed out of my tech career, I took a sabbatical, built the studio, which you've been in many times, and we've enjoyed back in the day.
Speaker BThat was.
Speaker BThat was one of those, oh, I can do this.
Speaker BWell, I'm gonna go do this and see what happens.
Speaker BI don't care if I lose everything on the way through.
Speaker BI want to go do this, see what it's like.
Speaker AThat's true.
Speaker BBut we made some.
Speaker BSome great work that I. I got to tell you, 25 plus years later, it's still.
Speaker BI go and listen to the old.
Speaker BThe original stuff that we did, and I listened to it and go, damn, that's good.
Speaker BThat's bad.
Speaker BI remember it was, I've got another perspective, you know?
Speaker BOr am I just being biased in my advancing, seasoned citizen state?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BYou know, am I just kind of going, oh, yeah, no, I listen to everything even more critically now than I ever did.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd it's nice to go back to hearing something that you did.
Speaker AIt's like that old phrase, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Speaker AYou know, when you go back and you go, I haven't heard this in a while, but this, this was my soul being expressed.
Speaker AAnd I can really appreciate it from a distance now, which is kind of cool.
Speaker AYou have more.
Speaker BYou have more experiences and more information that when you look at it, after not looking at it for a while, you're looking at it with new information.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ANew information, new flavoring.
Speaker AThat's exactly right.
Speaker BSo the point I was going to make on that was how interesting it is that I can go for six months without even picking up my guitar.
Speaker BAnd after I get the rust crust and dust off of my fingers and blow some off of my guitar, sometimes I play some of the best shit that I've ever played.
Speaker BAnd I go, where the hell did that come from?
Speaker AYeah, interesting.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd you go, oh, my God, that was just sweet.
Speaker BAnd, you know, there's a whole lot of discussion and learned debates and scholarly discussions about.
Speaker BIs it muscle memory?
Speaker BYou know, motor memory?
Speaker BIs it just the innate capability of what you've developed is just kind of natural, you know, it's like you haven't had sex for a long time, but then you have it again.
Speaker BYou go, well, I remember how to do this.
Speaker AThat's one of those things you never quite forget.
Speaker BYou know, they say it's like riding a bicycle or something.
Speaker AThere it is.
Speaker AYou'll get your balance real fast.
Speaker BSo I promise this I'm going to get out of this AI thing.
Speaker BBut I had this one point I wanted to make, and it was about the sound of the instruments.
Speaker BAnd for those of you that do digital recording using the current tech called a DAW, or digital Audio Workstation, those are what people create.
Speaker BPro tools is the Big Dog Sonars, another.
Speaker BI use Reaper Audacity in the voiceover world.
Speaker BI mean, there's a bunch of them out there, but they all do the same thing.
Speaker AYeah, they do.
Speaker AAnd I got into Logic Pro, which was, you know, early on was first known as Emagic and then became Logic Pro.
Speaker AAnd I would follow an update on that machine and that particular software to the point where the software just disappears and it becomes pure creativity.
Speaker AAnd it's one thing that I really appreciated from Logic is they thought like that they didn't want you being tangled up too much in the techniques and this and this.
Speaker AThey wanted you to go directly from your hands, your brain, right into the finished product, right into the finished track.
Speaker AAnd that's one thing I've really noticed about that program, is it's becoming more transparent every day that I use.
Speaker BSo the user interface, the design and use of it has gotten to a point where it's extremely comfortable.
Speaker BYou don't have to really think about it.
Speaker AYeah, very, very comfortable.
Speaker AAnd it's purposely designed into that particular program where almost, you know, you notice that the keyboard goes from left to right, the lower notes on the left, higher notes on the right.
Speaker AWell, it's funny how Logic Pro did that, you know, with the generation of the.
Speaker AOf the sound itself is on the left, and all the processing is kind of in the middle.
Speaker AAnd then toward the end, the way the software is designed is your track.
Speaker ASo it's the same kind of thing.
Speaker AI've noticed that relationship between the keyboard and the way Logic Pro is laid out.
Speaker AAnd I think with a lot of programs, it's laid out left to right.
Speaker BLike, yeah, I, you know, being a.
Speaker BA geezer geek and, you know, really, that's the name of one of My shows, by the way, every Saturday night at 10pm that's cool.
Speaker BOn YouTube@robertbauer.com and that's why I love your creativity, man.
Speaker BWell, it gets.
Speaker BWe kind of go off the rails sometimes, but that's one of the reasons we do it, is to see what rail we go over.
Speaker ASure.
Speaker BWe don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker BBut my point is that I've been involved in ones and zeros before.
Speaker BThere were ones and zeros.
Speaker BThey, when I got in, it was a 80 column Fortran card with punches in it.
Speaker AWow.
Speaker BAnd mag tape and the big deck platters that could hold like 10 meg on something the size of five pizzas.
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AAmazing how far it's come.
Speaker BWell, and it's like we talked about the last time we got together about this whole synthesizer thing and your relationship and meeting with the engineers and coming up with what you're using as a tool now.
Speaker AExactly right.
Speaker ABecause it came from the brains of these engineers.
Speaker AAnd in my case, it was two aerospace engineers that got together and said, why don't we make some synthesizers?
Speaker AAnd that was right there in the mid-60s, the late 60s, when Robert Moog was doing his thing.
Speaker AAnd so these people, Electronic Music Labs, decided that they were going to make indestructible synthesizers for the educational market.
Speaker ASo if they brought it to a fourth grade class, the fourth grade class could like tip it off the table, smash onto the ground and it would still work.
Speaker AAnd that was their thinking.
Speaker ASo everything that went into that synthesizer was absolutely aerospace heavy.
Speaker AAnd I can assess because I've had synthesizers tip over in concert.
Speaker AI had that happen one time and it didn't even go on a tune.
Speaker BSo they had a reentry model in mind when they were building these things.
Speaker AYeah, pretty much.
Speaker AThey knew that young hands were going to be using these things and basically abusing these things in some cases, maybe unknowingly, but they wanted it to be indestructible.
Speaker AAnd I've had these things fall right off their stands and not even go out of tune.
Speaker APick it right back up and slap it back on the stand and do your solo.
Speaker AYeah, and that is really trick as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker AYou know, you.
Speaker AYou build these things to really last.
Speaker AI've had my EML101, Electronic Music Labs101 for 40 years and it has not needed one stitch of technical help at all.
Speaker AIt's.
Speaker AIt's been just absolutely there when you need it.
Speaker AAnd it runs like a brand new every time you Turn it on.
Speaker AAnd that's.
Speaker AYou can't really say that by a lot, you know, about a lot of synthesizers these days.
Speaker AYou know, they're very temperamental.
Speaker AThat's okay.
Speaker ABut, you know, the Brick Outhouse, let's say the ones that are completely indestructible are still operational to this day.
Speaker AAnd there's a few of them out there.
Speaker AThe Surge Modular is one of them.
Speaker AYou know, the early Moog C3 model 35s and stuff.
Speaker AThe.
Speaker AThey're pretty much indestructible, too.
Speaker AThey've taken tumbles off stages.
Speaker AAsk Keith Emerson.
Speaker BI saw him at.
Speaker BWith elp at California Jam back in the first one in 73 or 74.
Speaker BAnd he did the whole grand piano on this up in the air, spinning grand around.
Speaker BAnd I was like, I was already wasted and that took me.
Speaker BI was like, dude, is he really doing that?
Speaker AYeah, upside down and stuff, you know.
Speaker AThe guy was a great showman.
Speaker AI worshiped the ground he walked on, you know, for many, many years.
Speaker AAnd just, you know, because his sins.
Speaker AHis synth sound was very simple to make.
Speaker AYou know, there were a lot of square waves in there with the Lucky man solo and that kind of thing.
Speaker ABut it was his signature that just came through that synth like, you know, unbelievable.
Speaker ALike Sonic Jet Fighter, man.
Speaker AJust you tell it with him.
Speaker ANo matter what, you could tell it was him.
Speaker AAnd that, to me, was a lesson that says, you need to take this and make your sound.
Speaker ANow, whether that's going to move fast, you know, or slow or whatever.
Speaker AI don't think speed really matters.
Speaker ABut put your signature in, no matter what.
Speaker AAnd I was very lucky in that the planetariums gave me a chance to visually reproduce my sound at the same time I was creating it.
Speaker BThat is one of the most amazing things.
Speaker BWhen we talked about that last time, the whole idea of the planetarium being a schoolroom, an education that engages the sight and the sound, which is what we get the majority of our information from.
Speaker AYou can sit a class down and say, okay, I'm going to describe astronomy to you.
Speaker AOr you can bring them to a planetarium and say, I'm going to put you right smack in the middle of astronomy.
Speaker AI'm going to surround you with stars and planets in infinite distances and the possibility of life out there, and I'm going to just fascinate you.
Speaker AAnd the planetariums, I was so fortunate to be involved with them.
Speaker AAnd at the same time, when it was my turn to be first, what the effect that it had on me and Then when I was working in the planetarium, making music in the planetarium, and I had, you know, young people in the audience going, holy mackerel, I am out.
Speaker AIt's just magnificent, you know, to see what that does to a young mind.
Speaker BI think any mind having that experience, that.
Speaker BHaving never had it before.
Speaker AYeah, it'll turn you into the star child overnight.
Speaker AIt'll just turn you right into the.
Speaker BStar Trend, whether you're 9 or 90 and anywhere in between, if you haven't had that experience.
Speaker BI've had that experience.
Speaker BSo I. I know how profound that is, but that's a.
Speaker BSo there's a blend of technologies creating a visual and audio environment and experience.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AWhich is the electronics, you know, that move the star machine around and make all those beautiful effects and stars on the ceiling is the same kind of electronics that's moving around inside your synths.
Speaker AAnd sometimes, you know, it's.
Speaker AYou can't even separate the two, you know.
Speaker AThat's why I do a lot of concerts in planetariums.
Speaker AWhenever I'm doing a concert, you know, I want it to be in the planetarium, because as far as I'm concerned, it's a dance between what's going on in the dome and what I'm making on the keyboard.
Speaker BAnd the interesting thing about that too, going back to the whole IP thing, nobody's got a copyright on the patterns of the stars.
Speaker AExactly right.
Speaker BYou can't copyright that, because that's nature that was here for you.
Speaker BSo, you know, sit down, be quiet, enjoy.
Speaker AYeah, sorry about that.
Speaker BSo the thing that I think is a very necessary but ugly activity for creativity for the content creators.
Speaker BNotice what it is you're making is these.
Speaker BThese AI wars is what I'm calling them that's going on right now.
Speaker BThere's hundreds, if not over a thousand different companies making these things that they call AI, which is.
Speaker BThey say it's artificial intelligence.
Speaker BIt's neither.
Speaker BIt's neither artificial and it's not intelligent.
Speaker ANot intelligent.
Speaker BBut to me, that's just an example of.
Speaker BAnd the laziness of geeks like me.
Speaker BI know IR1, and I was one when they were doing this stuff.
Speaker BThey're just terrible at marketing.
Speaker BThey don't get how do you really make.
Speaker BEstablish an id, you know, some logo, some concept that uniquely identifies what you're doing.
Speaker BWhat they are really is.
Speaker BThey're expert systems.
Speaker BAnd it's the same stuff that we've been using for over 20 years, only the next level with more capability, capacity.
Speaker BThat's all It's Siri, Alexa, Google, Bing, Brave, whatever your search is.
Speaker BAltaVista for those of us that go back a little bit.
Speaker BAnd don't forget CopuServe.
Speaker AYeah, that's true.
Speaker ARemember that.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BSo these are nothing more than advanced prompt scripting systems that are designed to interrogate targeted data.
Speaker AWow, they do write that one down.
Speaker BWell, I have.
Speaker BIt's on my tech model that I have on my Sys X tech.
Speaker BThat's a beautiful description, sure.
Speaker BBut that's what they do.
Speaker BThat's all they are.
Speaker BAnd all of this fuss, musk, sex sizzle and hype and hyperbole that's going on is sucking all the air out of the conversation around this stuff is just that.
Speaker BAnd it's.
Speaker BIt's delusionary.
Speaker BDelusionary to even think that there's going to be some kind of.
Speaker BAnd this is my opinion, but it's delusionary to think that we're going to have a HAL 9000 terminator singularity.
Speaker BWe can't.
Speaker BNothing like that can happen in our current physics and our science models.
Speaker BBecause it's.
Speaker BOur current models are gritology billiard balls banging into each other.
Speaker AIt's true.
Speaker AIt's too random out there for that.
Speaker BAnd that's not how the universe works.
Speaker BThe universe is all frequencies.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BIt's energy that expresses itself as frequencies.
Speaker BThere's an infinite field of frequencies that manifest the materium that we.
Speaker BWe experience and inhabit.
Speaker AThere you go.
Speaker BIt's that simple.
Speaker BFrequency physics is what in my mind is going to finally take over this billiard ball nonsense that we've been under for the last at least 200 years.
Speaker BBut if you go back to Descartes and his Cartesian dualism, they gave all the unseen stuff to the church, spirits, mind of God, angels, all that stuff.
Speaker BAnd it took nature and everything you could put your hands on and gave it to man.
Speaker BBecause why?
Speaker BWell, we know math now and we can apply math to everything, so that must be the mind of God.
Speaker BSo, you know, let us take care of this.
Speaker BYou guys go deal with the fairies that nobody can see or touch.
Speaker BThat separation is what caused this great decline in the human experience and capability that we've all been under for the last several hundred years, in my opinion, of course.
Speaker BBut how that relates to the creativity and the technology and the AI stuff, AI is just.
Speaker BIt still requires circuits and chips.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BIt still requires juice.
Speaker BYou got to turn it on in order for it to work.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd it will only call the human being that turns it on.
Speaker BAnd guess what?
Speaker BThe prompt scripting that you, it's where you tell it what you want.
Speaker BThat's all been programmed by humans, human beings.
Speaker BAnd guess what?
Speaker BAll of the.
Speaker BUntil you get a true open expert system that simply allows you to define it and to tell it what to interrogate and what to look for that you can use yourself, which I believe is where we'll end up, will all have AI agents and they'll be personal and we'll be able to define how they work and what they do for us at a level that, you know, it's basically George Jetson on steroids approaching a Star Trek model.
Speaker AYeah, yeah, well, you know, that's where it really like as far as I'm concerned, it's like, yes, it's an infinite source, but I'm going to corral it and kind of make it what I wanted to do, but at the same time leave the door open for it to tell me what it would like to do.
Speaker AYou know, it's always going to be a two way conversation between me and the electronics, between me and the keyboards and even me and the patch bay, you know, it's always going to be a cooperative venture.
Speaker AThe commander is of course, you know, he who controls the energy of the universe.
Speaker AThat's the Commander.
Speaker AOkay, that's fine, you know, and he's given me the ability and the tools to be able to do it and expecting.
Speaker AHe expects a lot out of us.
Speaker AI think, you know, this is the creativity that you have been born with and you know, there's going to be somebody that's.
Speaker AWhat did you do with the creativity?
Speaker AI gave.
Speaker AI see some results there.
Speaker AWhat did you do?
Speaker AYou know, and that kind of goes through my mind a lot because it's, you know, I'm going to give you some super creative energy and I'm putting you, making you responsible for the outcome, you know, and it's been said in many languages, you know, feed my sheep, take your creativity and let's, you know, ignite some souls with it.
Speaker ALet's awaken if we can.
Speaker AAnd you're going to play a part in this.
Speaker AAnd you know, for me that's the most humbling experience in the world is to be trusted with that, to have.
Speaker BThe awareness that it is there for you to engage with.
Speaker BIt is one of the things that I don't think is it's not in the consciousness enough as it should be because it's the natural state of how we are.
Speaker BWe're covered with crap from centuries of con artists and very nefarious characters, that's true.
Speaker ANefarious characters.
Speaker AI certainly love that one.
Speaker AA lot of them out there, they.
Speaker BHave had too much sway over the way that thinking and thought and the natural characteristic and the nature of consciousness which is to create, to make something.
Speaker BAnd God love you if you got some inspiration for that.
Speaker BCreativity.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker BBecause you don't have to be inspired to create, but in my experience you have to be inspired.
Speaker BIf you want to go create something that you want to really put your existence into, you really want to connect with it.
Speaker BThere is no program for that.
Speaker BThere is no formula.
Speaker BMen, math, models and machines can't produce something that can mimic that, even let alone make it actually work.
Speaker BIn our current software and hardware just doesn't work.
Speaker BBut you can use that computer software and hardware to make stuff that you have been inspired to create.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AAnd it will follow you on that path.
Speaker AIt's designed to do that.
Speaker AYou know, that's once again what I really like about some of the software that's out there is that it's a thinking man's type thing out there.
Speaker AYou know, you're in touch with the people who created that software.
Speaker AThey understand your creativity, they understand what you're up against, that type of thing.
Speaker AAnd that's why it's always a two way street with me.
Speaker AJust like this.
Speaker AI mean every simple little keyboard in here, little effects unit, whatever it might be, the patch bay, it, it's all, you know, a brother and sister.
Speaker AIt's all the symbiosis that creates one thing.
Speaker AYou know, it's unity from diversity.
Speaker AIt's one of those.
Speaker BI bet I would not be surprised if you had all of your equipment and tools and all your electronics turned off and you walked into the room.
Speaker BThey would feel you.
Speaker AI've had that experience kind of happen.
Speaker AThat's why when I, you know, come into the room, I'll pet one of the keyboards like it's, you know, my doggie or something, you know, I'll say hello, did you sleep well today?
Speaker AYou know, let me wake you up here.
Speaker ALet's start with this program, you know, and it's, it's an incredible thing, you know, because you, they are living beings as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker AThey contain an energy and they talk directly to you, you know, so it's not a static thing, it's not just a bunch of electronics, but it's a living presence.
Speaker AAnd I think that's the machines actually appreciate that when you refer to them as such.
Speaker AI think they really respond.
Speaker BSo we've kind of gone into the space where I just said doesn't exist by attributing some kind of sentience, some kind of feeling to these inanimate, inorganic systems right now.
Speaker BSo what are your thoughts there?
Speaker BI mean, do you think that things and their vibrations unconsciously just have a reaction to the frequencies and energies and vibrations we bring to them?
Speaker AYes, I think that they do react.
Speaker AI think that there really is.
Speaker AYou know, when you turn the machines on, that's one thing that's really cool, is that when everything's turned off and you walk in here and you turn them on, there's a greeting that takes place, you know, and a little bit of a challenge that comes from both sides.
Speaker AImpress me.
Speaker ANow that I've turned you on.
Speaker AImpress me.
Speaker AWell, yeah.
Speaker AWell, you impress me.
Speaker AChange these programs around a little bit and see what we got.
Speaker BYou know, kind of a what have you.
Speaker BKind of a what if you.
Speaker AYeah, and these machines, you know, are stock full, you know, of creative potential and ideas and electrons that are moving at light speed, you know, from circuit to circuit, and you glide in the same path with your consciousness, you know, with these things.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker AAnd that's where a little bit of surrender comes in between the machine and you.
Speaker AThe recording process in you, the patch bay, the faders, all of it for those, they're just symbols of the same thing going on.
Speaker BThey're just a component of the network of technology and toys, tools and instruments that they're all either connected together or connected because they're using the same energy to do what they do, correct?







