April 13ths

 

4/13/1820, Halifax (Anne Lister Diary)

Four of us walked to Sowerby Church. Witnessed cow calving in a field.

[Apparently Leo Sowerby was a composer.]

4/13/1965

(Beatles Studio Diary)

"As purely a working title, the Beatles' second feature film had been called "Beatles Production 2". Then a more permanent name was suggested, 'Eight Arms To Hold You', [then] "Help!" was conceived....in later years he would look back on the lyric as pleading for help from somebody, anybody, to help relieve his insecurity...."

Abstracted lyric: 

Walked to Sowerby Church
Eight arms to hold you
Walked to Sowerby Church
Walked to Sowerby Church

Thirteen cows in the middle of the road
Listening to the sound of a freight train
Thirteen cows in the middle of the road
But the Gentleman Jack is in a Cadillac  

The guitar solo played by cello:

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4/13/2026

With AI music, we might need to get back to making real music, with the goal of making things we like to play. There’s always the possibility of an access point to something more. For me, using Photoshop made me want to buy a camera. So using AI may inspire playing along with your AI-generated tracks--and learning music, instead of being a listener, or becoming a writer. This is how it’s always worked since radio and the first recordings. Before then, people were inspired by concerts, but they had to get the sheet music, if it was available. There was nothing to play along with. It’s McLuhanesque in a way: Before recordings, music was a “hot” medium; now it’s as “cool” as it’s ever been. But “cool” also means that there are less guardrails to potential moral hazards, and hazards to the environment. AI music might become a bandwagon, in which case, huge data centers are inevitable. There’s always a slippery slope that we’re having fun on.