In 2022, the concept of AI is embedded into our lives in a far more involved sense than ever before. From smart home devices and AI assistants such as Alexa or Siri, to higher concept machine-learning algorithms developed with specific purpose, many proponents of AI seek to ease and aid tedious or slow tasks through developing these forms of automation. A more intriguing way in which we are seeing AI emerge in recent times, however, is through art, with one such example being software developer come musician iRis.EXE. The project has a less-than-simple ethos: to build an (eventually open source) AI-led program that aids musicians in being able to create entire musical projects from scratch using AI automation. “I developed a couple of small programs with Max/MSP and C++ … plugins that I can use that help automate certain sounds.” says iRis, “For example, if you were using Ableton and you are automating the frequency shift in a sound. I can schedule using the programs to adjust the frequency without manually drawing it.”
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A self-described ‘AI-assisted’ project, iRis.EXE uses proprietary software to aid in the development of music projects and soundscapes. The eventual goal being a fully automated system, iRis admits the ‘AI-assisted’ tag is a product of the software still being in a developmental stage. “It’s a little funky right now,” says iRis. “I still have to go in and fix things [in the mix], which is why I say ‘AI-assisted’. It’s not totally clean yet, [but] then I also do AI mixing and mastering.”
She expands further into the concept of AI automation versus the human ear, and concedes that “There’s so much nuance with mixing and mastering and I don’t think we will ever be able to replicate the human ear and human taste. Mix and masters are so subjective that AI will never be able to take the place of a person doing it.” However, the intent is not for all production to be automated in the future, but rather those with a desire to explore music to have a more accessible platform to do so. iRis continues, “If somebody does not have the knowledge or the time, this might benefit them. For me, I work a full time job as a software developer and work within my community. Sitting down and trying to get that perfect master is not a thing I have time for and I don’t have the mental energy to learn how to master properly.“
Through this, iRis seems intent on getting young and aspiring musicians into the production end of music creation, through increasingly accessible DAW software, as opposed to traditional music theory education. “It is so important to get kids into these DAWs right now, ” says iRis. “I went through frickin’ undergrad, grad school, and I have my masters. I had the most intense music theory you could think of, and [despite that] I learnt better by playing around and programming MIDI.”
While AI-generated art as a concept is nothing particularly new in this day and age, the way in which iRis adapts AI automation into her songwriting incorporates AI in a way that is still largely yet to be explored in this capacity. Speaking on specific tracks within her brand new EP, SMiLE, iRis went into detail about the process creating one of the EP’s most bombastic cuts: “A Thousand Needles”. “[That song] was funny to write, and it kinda came out of nowhere,” she details. “I went and picked up Mike Sugars (Vatican) after they played Houston and we had a ten-hour drive, we were driving back and I played the track [in the car]. He looked at me and was like, ‘what the fuck is this’.”
iRis goes on to further detail how the feedback Sugars provided helped shape the end product of the track. “I had the ending done, and it was all real instruments. He suggested fucking it up, pulling back the guitars, and layering pitched sounds in place of the guitars. I even sampled a scream from him that was from one of the Vatican demos and placed it as a transitional layer rather than an actual vocals. It’s just a bunch of weird sounds.”
Still though, the question remains, can AI ever truly replicate the human ear in terms of creativity? Expanding on her earlier thoughts of using AI as a springboard, rather than a be-all-end-all of music production, iRis doesn’t agree that AI could ever get to that point. “Music is one of the most human things we have, art is one of the most human things we have. We can’t explain it a lot of the time, we have some science in place that shows us that if we are singing alongside 100 other people our heart rates within the first two or three minutes will begin to sync because we are singing the same song and breathing in the same places. We know that whenever we listen to things that are more intense or faster, our heart rate can speed up or slow down.”
She continues to explain that, through this, we can understand that what makes music feel human can’t be quantified in an algorithm or through rigid theory. “It’s not because we have theory in place and we know how music works, and that everything created in the chord structure does this, or everything in this BPM does this, or if we master really loud it has this effect on people. It’s nothing to do with that, and everything to do with the human quality of what we create. What we create connects with people. AI will never be able to replicate that.“
iRis.EXE asks a question. A question not of replacing the human element, but instead aiding it. Music, both on a consumption and a creative front, has never been more accessible than it is today, and software like iRis and others have crafted to make each step of the creation process that much easier for those trying to jump it, at any stage of their musical journey. The question doesn’t only apply to music, however, and can also be applied as an ethos of our use of AI in everyday life. “The root of technology is wanting something to create something that creates good,” says iRis, “and good will always prevail over evil.”
iRis.EXE’s debut EP, SMiLE, will be available this Thursday, May 26th via self-release, and you can check out the project’s website here. Make sure to check out our review of the EP here, and keep an eye out for our review, and the release of, the upcoming Vatican album, ULTRA, on which iRis provides guest vocals. For all things iRis.EXE and music in general, keep it locked on Boolin Tunes.