What do you guys think about AI use in composing and songwriting? Do you think that it should be limited/banned from commercial use, or embrace it with open arms? I do understand the difference between AI generated songs and AI tools.
Composing
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Liked by Maurice Vaughan and one other
Instrument / Medium for composing
What do you use most when you’re composing?
Piano, guitar, voice notes, full DAW… something else?
And is there a different instrument or setup you wish you used more?
The Music of Sinners, with Ludwig and Serena Göransson
A deep dive into the Score of Sinners. Winner of the following Awards for 2025-2026: Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globes, Grammy Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, African-American Film Critics Association, Astra Awards, Austin Film Critics Association Awards, Black Reel Awards, Boston Online Film Critics Asso...
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How Long Have You Been Composing?
I remember from a really early age making up songs. I'd play them on the piano (instead of playing the assigned scales) or write lyrics down in a notebook. They'd be about nothing, or big feelings I was having, or something that happened at school that day. Sometimes they were even satirical. When did you discover composing?
Mark Gosney
- 5 months ago
Guitar Instrumental music and Songs for to many years. Orchestral film type compositions for about ten or so years!
Stuart Michael Thomas
- 5 months ago
Started on guitar as a child in the late 70s. Played rock for years but in 2000 I started working for a composer in a commercial post studio in Sacramento. 2003 moved to LA and been doing film work ever since.
Julien Clément
- 5 months ago
Composing seeded into my mind at teenage (~ 90's), then stayed dormant for decades. I've listened to thousands hours of musics of any style since then and never stopped playing the piano that I starte...
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I've been composing in one way or another since 1976. My earliest work have been lead sheets of jazz tunes but since then I've been writing extended compositions for jazz ensembles, chamber music and...
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Morgan Aitken
- 1 week ago
Composing? Really, for me the Q is how long I've been decomposing. I'd say that's been since the advent of AI and most recently, Adobe Firefly: soundtrack. We're all doomed!
What kind of music instantly makes you feel something in a scene?
I’ve been thinking about how quickly music can change the emotional weight of a scene.
Sometimes it’s not the big orchestral cue that does it. Sometimes it’s the quiet piano note, the subtle pad, or even silence right before the cue.
As a composer and songwriter, I’m always fascinated by how different...
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Morgan Aitken
- 1 week ago
You couldn't be more bang on about "the quiet piano note, the subtle pad, or even silence..." Kat Spencer . It's the contrasts, the incongruity - a sonic subtext - that gets me every time. Philip Glas...
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I Never Plan What I’m Going to Write....
I never sit down with a plan.
No outline.
No emotional roadmap.
No “today I’m writing something uplifting in D minor.”
I just sit down… and whatever comes out, comes out.
Sometimes it’s peaceful.
Sometimes it’s cinematic.
Sometimes it surprises me completely.
I’ve learned not to force direction.
The music se...
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Haley Mary
- 3 weeks ago
I write most of my poetry and lyrics intuitively. Occasionally I do research and have some idea of what I want to write about for a song. When I write plays/short stories, I tend to plan out how I want the story to go.
Morgan Aitken
- 2 weeks ago
... uplifting in D minor... I bloody love that line, Kat Spencer !
Baron Rothschild
- 2 weeks ago
Intuition only feels like “no plan” when the identity behind the work is already stable.
When the emotional architecture is set, the work knows where it’s allowed to go — so it feels spontaneous even...
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Morgan Aitken heehee. Leave it to me, if anyone can. Haha.
Love the discussion, everyone!!
What’s One Thing That Dramatically Improved Your Craft?
I’ve been thinking about how different everyone’s creative process can be. For me, the biggest thing has simply been making the time to sit down at the keyboard—whether that’s a piano or a computer. Ideas for a title or a lyric might pop into my head during the day, but the actual composing only hap...
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Morgan Aitken
- 2 weeks ago
Hiya Kat Spencer ! Good to see you again. I don't know if I've dramatically improved on anything, but I find soul crushing stress gets my creative juices flowing. I guess I ride emotion like it's a st...
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Libby Wright
- 2 weeks ago
I think for me, it was all about letting myself be free to create without judgement or self-editing. Letting the ideas fully manifest before the editing work begins. I think that is true in any creative work!
Oh boy Morgan Aitken - I think I'm right there with you. I composed nearly everything during my two decades of darkness. Now that I've learned how to manage stress properly, I don't compose as much ha...
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Head of Community at Stage 32 ♦ Creative Executive, Writer, Author, Director of Development
1 week ago
Lets Talk 2026 Oscar Predictions!
With these projects currently circulating in the awards conversation, I’m curious what everyone here is predicting, rooting for, or still unsure about.
Best Original Score Nominees: Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Frankenstein, Bugonia
Best Original Song Nominees: “Train Dreams” from Train...
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Amanda Toney
- 1 week ago
Kpop Demon Hunters is probably going to win!
Ashley Renée Smith
- 1 week ago
Honestly, Amanda Toney, I haven't been able to stop listening to the KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack for months.
Join Us! March Stage 32 FREE Community Open House - Wednesday, March 25th at 12:00 pm PT
For this month’s event, Ashley will be joined by Pat Alexander from the Stage 32 Success Team, who will be live to answer questions and provide guidance around:
• Career Development Services• The Writer’s Ro...
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Cinematic violin performance recorded in my studio – looking for film scoring collaborations
Hello everyone!
My name is Donato Cipriano, I’m an Italian violinist, composer and music producer based near Naples. I run a recording studio where I compose and produce cinematic and orchestral music.
I wanted to share a recent performance recorded in my studio: a cinematic arrangement for violin and...
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Muito bom, Violino é perfeito né? Tinha uma época que eu sabia tocar, mas parei aos poucos e desaprendi, muito bom trabalho!
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2 people like this
I am totally opposed to employing AI in any of the creative arts--composing music, playwriting, painting, sculpture, literature, photography, etc.--It's only for lazy, illiterate people.
I majorly agree with you, Robert D. Carver ! Listen to the short tracks I posted in this lounge that I generated from prompts using Adobe Firefly's soundtrack AI beta. They pretty much prove your poin...
Expand commentI majorly agree with you, Robert D. Carver ! Listen to the short tracks I posted in this lounge that I generated from prompts using Adobe Firefly's soundtrack AI beta. They pretty much prove your point. But, and there's always a 'but', what I found is that from the spew the AI cranked out, there were little motifs that kind of made me wonder. I guess it's kind of like Jackson Pollock throwing cans of paint at a canvas, and deciding what dribbles inspired him. Or maybe it's just hurling paint and convincing someone to pay for it. Either way, AI, like flinging paint, is a tool, a technique, and maybe a way to find a spark of inspiration. Where it sucks, is when it's used as a crutch, or a cheap way to throw music, or words onto screens just to get the content out there.
João Pimentel I've used my iPad to rough-translate your comment into English. What you say is interesting and worth sharing. I hate to ask, but it would help the Portuguese challenged people here - I...
Expand commentJoão Pimentel I've used my iPad to rough-translate your comment into English. What you say is interesting and worth sharing. I hate to ask, but it would help the Portuguese challenged people here - I am one of them - if you use Google, or Siri, or ChatGPT, or anything, online to post in English. Like it or not, that's the language we're pretty much stuck with in an international forum based in USA.
Here's your comment, and I agree with you, wholeheartedly!
I think that sometimes the project when it is done by AI it gets strange, and sometimes poor, because AI usually has more generic answers, and sometimes dull, so especially in the composition of music for musical films it will compose songs that do not match what the scene and that the narrative has already been showing, but when the AI is used only to ask a word that rhymes with another, or even just to ask if it was good, I see no problem, I've already done that too.
IMO, AI generated music will regrettably become the new normal for the average listener. I relate this to drum machines replacing human drummers, and processed foods replacing whole. As a media compos...
Expand commentIMO, AI generated music will regrettably become the new normal for the average listener. I relate this to drum machines replacing human drummers, and processed foods replacing whole. As a media composer, I care about the vision of my collaborators, and in a trusted artistic relationship, am prepared to agree and disagree with my partners. I do not believe AI cares about an artistic point of view, especially if it contains contradictory elements. AI will lead the user down a singular rabbit hole, programmed to please.
Nico, I agree wholeheartedly with you!