Lee Barry Composition (And Photo) Diary

  AI Treatment:

  A cheesy cutout album you found for 50 cents recorded circa 1973. Amazing that a drummer finally was able to play it.  

A "Mingused" blues, harmonizing a blues scale with extended chords. Amazing how good the AI spins are, even with the free model. It has a hard time sussing the chords, but then learns them.  

Typically I would have transcribed a sax solo and attempt to play it on the bass. In this case I paraphrased a Bach Partita in a Be Bop style and for the bass, but this is a sax version of the head played on the bass.   

 The birthplace of Picasso. AI version:

 Approximately 1991. AI adds a horn arrangement that I never conceived of at the time.   

  AI slop, but not bad.  Score

Used AI on a song from over 30 years ago. Absolutely love the 80s Vince Clarke treatment...dreamy. The thing that is remarkable about AI music is that the "singers" never get tongue-tied or can't pronounce certain words. The "hides footprints of men blown by wind driven sand" line would be difficult for a human to sing. My original  version was a 12/8 blues feel, which makes the line easier to sing. The original scribble in 1992:  

The 1995 version had a syncopated feel and arose from the metaphor of arteries being like rivers. This version was performed by a really good band in a smoky bar outside of Baton Rouge circa 1978. It's fun to play with AI but I see it as a really low art devoid of any craft. Also, when you attempt to play them there's little musical substance. An analogy would be like using what looks like a real map, only to find that when you get to the the place you think you're going to, it's just an empty field. They're mirages essentially.

Another AI-generated track. With AI art we don’t necessarily have to own everything; we can use what we like and leave the rest. If I generate metal music, which has never been an influence in the things I’ve written for 30 years, I can now just select it as an option in software. If a metal band wanted to write music to my lyrics and I liked the results, it doesn’t make me a fan of metal music. I’m still just a lyricist.

Now with the ability to use AI to re-arrange your own material. it's interesting and perhaps shocking to let loose the bull in the china shop. The original feel for this was "mystical" using percussion like bodhrans, mandolins and hammer dulcimers, perhaps a "Battle of Evermore" vibe. But THIS ! Slick production and vocal but not my thing, except for perhaps an outro vamp. A string arrangement that was supposed to go with it: When Comes A Time (Strings) by meta4s

A track completely generated with AI using an old lyric of mine from the early 90s, fresh on the heels of the fall of the wall.  Like most AI music, the production is cliche and formulaic, not something I'd want. (What else would you expect from algorithms, however complex, except formulaic?) The Still I used is the cover of UFO's Phenomenon album, inferring that aliens could be the surreptitious enemy at the ready. The guitar solo could have been played by Michael Schenker, but I don't think he was that flash. 

My last song of the 20th century. Flying snakes leaving their mark Shadows left from when the world was dark The spoken tongues we didn’t understand Humor hissing in a frying pan... (Lyrics: P. Gardner)

A new Short based on an older song (1998) from the Secret Sphinx album, using a TTS voice on the last verse.At the time, the lyrics were more of a pun/wordplay exercise on Memphis Egypt and Memphis Tennessee. Cold desert of the moon Crude oil of the sand Whatever time is left Is at the maker's hand Back to Egypt Where the hot wind blows Back to Egypt A place where the spirits rose Back to Egypt The spinning hands of time Sand in the hour glass It's the last and final straw The straw that broke the camel's back The victorious city Great serpent lying beside the Nile The images in Memphis Are something to admire

  The AI interpretation. It develops it like a pop song, which doesn't fit. This is just a head and improvisations would be on those 2 chords, or transposed, e.g. C#m7/Am7  

 

 AI treatment. I don't think this was ever performed, but AI makes it possible. (Probably 1992). The whole piece is based on one polychord. The chord scale is "Lixian" (Lydian + Mixolydian)

 

   A jazz head composed mostly of add-2 chords.   Noondreams (9-22-1995) by meta4s   9/22/1995  For the Fall Equinox:

  I know this might seem maudlin, but it's fitting for our time. The first verse was actually inspired by magnet poetry, which I used in the studio to generate lyric ideas. The genesis was random, but a deeper meaning was revealed. I found the Melville quote much later, which fit perfectly.    We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results. - Herman Melville    Threads by meta4s I fish for answers to questions Floating in the salty seas Soon to be devoured By the hungry ocean waves Exploring the dark cloud of yesterday That hangs above my head No silver lining or gold lame Only frayed and hanging threads Threads will take me places Where every soul is strange Looking puzzled at the faces Not connected with any name Always looking through the veil Obscuring what is real What I seek I find again Such a bargain, such a stea...