Customize it!

We all know the buzz about AI being integrated into our jobs sooner or later. It’s the serious side of things, all about work. But let’s not forget, we have lives too – and passions.

Mine is music. Inspired by my father-in-law, my musical journey began with a “Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue” concert in a small, artsy outdoor gallery in Berlin. Fast forward a few years, we now have a family band, practice every week, and have high-quality recordings of every note we’ve played since then.

I’ve played around with AI a lot, too. I created a full concept for a new album called “8”, had it write complete album reviews like magazines would, come up with song titles, lyrics, and even a simple bass line. I’ve learned that context matters a lot. If you just ask for a lyric, you get a very generic, not very creative song. But if you set the stage correctly, give a storyline, a concept or idea, maybe even some words to include, you can iterate your way to an actual song.

Recently, I discovered Suno (Thanks, Daniel!). This magical tech can create full-blown songs out of your lyrics. Or even create lyrics itself for you. I’m about to complete a full album for my kids, with very personal lyrics, describing events and feelings happening here at home. One of my sons is leaving kindergarten in a few days, so we made a catchy song for that. My other son wanted a song about “Bi-Bop Roboter,” with robot voices and beeps, so we just did that on a Saturday morning. We’ve played both dozens of times since then, and they’ve been requested over and over again.

So I did what I often do either this way or the other way around: I took what I learned through a personal passion and applied it to something work-related. I created some lyrics and a song for the work we do at Octily. Totally serious, of course.

I aimed to create a weird mixture of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It,” MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” and Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It.” But, hear for yourself!

…and please: Get creative! (or cre-AI-tive?) ✌️