IT WAS 2011 WHEN I STARTED TAKING PART IN REMIX COMPETITIONS AND SELLING ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC AS "LYRA". MY MUSIC PRODUCTION HISTORY GOES WAY BACK THOUGH: I STILL FONDLY REMEMBER MAKING 8-BIT COMPUTER TUNES AND LATER "MOD" MUSIC ON AMIGA AND ATARI 16-BIT COMPUTERS, AS WELL AS THE FIRST COMPOSITIONS MADE WITH THE YAMAHA SY-77 SYNTH. IT WAS COOL TO EARN MY FIRST REAL MONEY FOR CREATING BACKGROUND TRACKS (COMMISIONED BY A LOCAL COMPANY) WHILE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL...
AND THEN CAME THE LATE 90S / EARLY 2000S AND MY DANCEFLOOR BAND "DA VINNCI"... 🙂
OVER THE YEARS SOME OF MY REMIXES BROUGHT SUCCESS (QUEEN'S - DON'T STOP ME NOW), OTHERS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME (IF I LOSE MYSELF BY ONE REPUBLIC, FALLEN EMPIRES BY SNOW PATROL, SACRED BY ERASURE) AND SOME, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, SIMPLY TURNED OUT BETTER / MORE INTERESTING THAN THE ORIGINALS - I DARE YOU TO LISTEN TO THESE REMIXES (BLUSH - MISS OUT, LINKIN PARK FEAT. STEVE AOKI - A LIGHT THAT NEVER COMES, HATSUNE MIKU - PACKAGED) AND COMPARE! FINALLY, SOME REMIXES ARE SPECIAL TO ME FOR OTHER REASONS - LIKE OCEAN'S DOUFÁM.
EVERYTHING CONSIDERED, THEY (ALL 27 OF THEM) WERE FUN TO MAKE. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED GIVING THE TRACKS MY OWN TWIST AND, NATURALLY, A LOT OF CREATIVITY WENT INTO THE PROCESS. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS WAS ALSO A FANTASTIC WAY TO IMPROVE MY CRAFT AND PRODUCTION SKILLS. BTW, ONLY THE VOCAL STEMS WERE EVER UTILISED FROM THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL, NOTHING ELSE.
AS FOR MY ROYALTY-FREE (STOCK) MUSIC PRODUCTION: IT WAS MOSTLY BACKGOUND MUSIC (WITH POTENTIAL VOICEOVERS IN MIND) AND THAT'S HOW IT SHOULD BE PERCIEVED. ONE CAN STILL LISTEN TO IT, HOWEVER. 🙂 THAT'S WHY I PICKED 11 OF SUCH PIECES, REMASTERED THEM, MADE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS TO MAKE EVERYTHING SOUND MORE COHESIVE AND THE RESULT IS AN ALBUM CALLED "JOURNEY BACK".
WITH THE ADVENT OF AI AND THE SHEER AMOUNT OF THIS TYPE OF MUSIC AVAILABLE TO BUY AND DOWNLOAD FOR FREE, AS WELL AS BECAUSE OTHER LIFE PRIORITIES, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE FOR ME TO CONTINUE PRODUCING IT.
À PROPOS - I HAVE NEVER USED CREATIVE AI IN MAKING MUSIC... AND NEVER WILL.
THERE IS A REASON WHY MUSIC IS CONSIDERED A HUMAN DOMAIN! THROUGHOUT HISTORY MUSIC HAS MIRRORED OUR EXPERIENCE AND EMOTIONS, REFLECTED OUR OBSERVATIONS, INNER STRUGGLES, OUR SOUL AND CULTURE. IT HAS ALSO ALLOWED US TO EXPRESS OURSELVES BEYOND WORDS AND PULLED US TOGETHER IN JOY OR SORROW - REGARDLESS OF PHYSICAL BORDERS OR OUR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES. MUSIC AND ART IN GENERAL REPRESENT SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY MAKES US WHO WE ARE, THEY'RE PARTS OF OUR HUMAN ESSENCE. CONSIDERING ALL OF THAT, I CAN NOT IMAGINE LISTENING TO MUSIC PRODUCED BY MACHINES OTHER THAN BECAUSE OF CURIOSITY.
I ASSUME THE AI-GENERATED MUSIC QUALITY WILL EVENTUALLY BE GREAT AND INTERESTING, BUT THE DEPTH AND VALUE OF SUCH MUSIC WILL REMAIN (HOPEFULLY) A LOT LESS APPRECIABLE.
AS THE YEARS PASSED, I HAD TO CHANGE LYRA (ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS A "MUSIC CONSTELLATION" PROJECT - YES, I'VE BEEN INTERESTED IN ASTRONOMY SINCE MY CHILDHOOD) TO LYRAH (ARTISTICALLY "-LYRAH-") AND THEN FINALLY TO BLUE LYRAH ("blue -LYRAH-"). BY NOW THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY "LYRAS" AND "LYRAHS" IN THE WORLD AND I APPRECIATE WHEN SOME THINGS REMAIN UNIQUE.
NONETHELESS, THE BLUE LYRAH CHAPTER OF MY MUSIC ENDEVOUR IS NOW OVER.
TO THOSE WHO BOUGHT MY MUSIC AND LISTENED TO MY REMIX PRODUCTION, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
AND WHAT AWAITS US IN THE FUTURE?
BEHOLD, YAZERO! 😉
AL (A.K.A SLAVI), MARCH 2024 |
