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F A Q

Q. You say you’ve been a professional in the business for years. Doing what?

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A. I’ve worked various jobs in corporate advertising, broadcast television, commercial production, even briefly teaching music at a college level. If I were to use one word that describes my professional background in this regard, it would be "media", of which music has played a large part for decades. 

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Q. With such a background, why do you embrace AI when many other musicians view it with disdain? 

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A. Because in my experience it is more than anything a tool. A powerful one, but still a tool. Individuals with the most talent, experience, acumen, and drive will thus make best use of it. As the old saying goes about building a home, it's the carpenter, not the tools. 

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Q. You do not worry about AI replacing even skilled musicians and breaking the system?

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A. First, I'll argue the system is already completely broken. Anyone who closely examines it will draw the same conclusion, if honest.

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But on a creative level, it's also imperative that any musician, any user, understand they are the alpha in the relationship with the AI, and the AI is the beta.  It may impress you with how fast it can operate, give you the impression it is the alpha, but a good artist will use what I refer to as aesthetic value judgments (refined taste, coupled with knowledge) to ascertain the true worth of what the AI is producing, and how that product works within their vision.

 

In this regard, it is my strong belief that a hybrid creation of the human and AI, will be the foundation for art that is the most innovative and most creative in the future. And this will be led by hard working, studious, creative artists, including in the music field. 

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Q. Hybrid model?  

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A. I use this term for the back and forth process of using the AI like a partner. Feeding it specific information, and culling and editing whatever it gives you in return. You can watch a video here, about this concept as it pertains to music. I have also written several articles and essays on AI and its impact. Click here for more.  

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Q. You describe your personal music as sparse and minimalist. What does that mean?

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A. The simplest way to put it is I tend to stick to relatively small arrangements, and structures that evoke emotion through intricate rhythmic patterns, abstract chords and harmonies, ambient beds, and subtle expression in melodies and playing, augmented by non-traditional sounds and instruments.  My music may also appear to some as dark or dissonant, tense yet meditative, though not all of it. Here’s a Wikipedia link on Minimal Music that may help. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_music​​

 

Q. Since you've embraced AI, I have to ask, can you play any instruments?

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A. I play a synthesizer more than anything. That’s not a trick answer. I don’t mean I’m a “producer” of electronic music. I mean I understand music synthesis at a master level, and what it means to be a synthesist. I hope to make a video explaining this at some point. I learned piano when young and can still play a bit. I can play a flute just a little, and use my voice vocally from time to time, though those are often buried in any mix, or altered by AI. But I'm not a virtuoso at any instrument. No one would realistically pay to hear me play or sing anything at a recital for example.

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Q. What about famous composers or musicians that inspire you? 

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A. Though my music sounds little like him, Vangelis comes to mind. In rock/pop music I always loved the Alan Parsons Project. I grew up liking film scores from Vangelis, John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream for their electronic originality, and the sparse rhythmic scores of Cliff Martinez and Thomas Newman. But always looked in awe at classic greats like Jerry Goldsmith, and Bernard Herrmann, whom I consider the most important film composer in history. 

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​Have another question? Contact me here! 

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© 2025 Phil Anderson, all rights reserved. 

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