Introduction
I’ve dreamt of being a musician since I was a kid. Picked up a guitar in school, fell in love with the fretboard, and actually got pretty decent. But there was always one missing note — I couldn’t sing. So whenever I wanted to jam or write something original, I was dependent on others. In college, that just didn’t click no musical partners in crime, no impromptu jam nights, just me and a dusty guitar that knew too many solos but no chorus.
But I’ve always been fascinated not just by music, but the technology behind music, the tools, the plugins, the digital alchemy. I’d open up Fruity Loops (FL Studio), mess with synths I didn’t understand, build weird beats at 2 AM, and feel like a broke Daft Punk in a dorm room but then came AI!
A couple of years back, I tried some early AI music tools, hoping they could fill in what I couldn’t sing, but the output? Robotic, flat, more comedy than composition. So I shelved the dream again but time went by and AI got better and better. Here's how I composed and produced a full track using just AI
The Setup
So, for a song I needed lyrics, a tune to sing to, the background music and some fun beats. I decided to go with a heartfelt and sad kind of vibe the lyrics were generated by ChatGPT using the prompt.
Suppose you are heartbroken, and your recent partner has left you for someone else, you sit beside a glass window and look at the buildup of dark clouds above you. It's not soon that its start raining and the raindrops splash on the glass in front of you. personify the raindrops as tears and correlate the darkness with the sadness in your heart. Write me a song with a verse, chorus and a bridge
The result was pretty good fora starter
[Verse]
The rain taps like a quiet friend
But it don’t heal or make amends
I stare at clouds that cry for me
They know the pain they see
They see
[Bridge]
The glass is cold like my own skin
It keeps the storm from rushing in
But I’m alone
No hand to hold
Just faded warmth that’s growing cold
[Chorus]
Raindrops fall
They trace her name
Each one a whisper
Each one the same
She’s gone
She’s gone
No coming back
Her love’s a shadow
My heart’s cracked
The Beats
Next came the beats. For that, I turned to Suno AI V3.5, a tool that feels less like software and more like a collaborator with infinite patience. Sure, I could have whipped up a full track with a single prompt but where’s the soul in that? Music isn’t a vending machine. I didn’t want an instant pop song, I wanted fingerprints on every bar.
So I went modular. Built the song in pieces: a synth line, a drumbeat. Some parts thumped, some shimmered, some clashed like drunk jazz musicians at a techno rave. Turns out, not everything plays nice out of the box, keys didn’t match, tempos were all around the place. But that’s part of the charm. Ten minutes (and a few facepalms) later, everything locked in. The patchwork started to sound like a pulse, and it was time to stich everything together.
Stitching the Soundscape
Opening FL Studio after all this time felt like stepping into an airplane cockpit, dials, knobs, waveforms blinking like runway lights. Overwhelming, but oddly familiar. Maybe it was muscle memory, maybe just stubborn passion, but within minutes I was slicing, looping, layering.
The loop came together like an old friend showing up at your doorstep, unexpected, but just right. A rhythm started breathing, a groove took shape.
Give it a listen — this is where the track started to breathe.
So, How Close Is AI to Making Real Music?
AI in music is like a brilliant intern — fast, surprisingly talented, but not quite ready to headline a tour. It can craft beats in seconds, mimic genres with eerie precision, and even hum a tune that fits your lyrics like a glove. In some styles, like ambient, synthpop, or trap, it's more than decent. It's impressive.
But then, something’s missing.
The persona.
The chorus doesn’t rise. It doesn't mean more than the verse. The beats feel like background music at a trendy café, fine, functional, but flat. There's no drama, no tension and release, no moment where the track takes a breath before punching you in the chest.
Sure, it's a great tool for writers. If you want to hear how your lyrics might sound on a melody, it’ll show you the shape. But for the passionates, the obsessive knob-tweakers it might feel like a step back. The wrinkles are still there. AI doesn’t really understand keys or tempo yet. It fakes it well, but you'll often find yourself fixing mismatched notes like a music mechanic.
Still, it’s getting better. Faster than most of us can keep up.
So maybe one day, it’ll compose with conviction. But for now, AI makes music like a clever ghost present, echoing, but not quite alive.