1010Benja suggests that Suno can be more than just an AI music engine

I wouldn’t go so far as to say there’s no place for AI in music (I’m a Holly Herndon fan, after all). But I often find music made by artificial AI boring frustrationsespecially the results of the sun. So I’m having a hard time justifying the fact that I enjoy 1010Benja’sThe dream of Semiramis.”

Benja couldn’t believe the use of AI for his latest EP, Time Has Nothing To Do With Your Choices… The other three tracks can’t hold a candle to what you get in 2024 Ten Total. But the opening “Dream of Semiramis” is infectious. It blasts from the speakers with a jungle beat and Benja’s amazing, ostensibly human voice front and center.

You could be forgiven for not realizing that the song was produced by Suno. It lacks a lot of dead giveaways. Even the most obvious AI part of the song – the chorus of backup singers – is easily hidden among the hyperpop that is heavily influenced by the burners. A highly modified and expressive sound is essential for many modern genres and, with the help of magic, Benja manages to hide his origins.

My friend Patrick Holder did the beating. I recorded the words. Then we fed the Suno stuff, settled on something, outputted, edited it on Ableton, and fed it back to the Suno. So when you look at Deezer, it classifies the song as AI-produced. We don’t hide it. We are not ashamed of it.

Benja’s method is different from the rest Don’t slop out there. He wrote the lyrics, sang the lyrics, and worked with his friends to sing the songs. Then he fed it into Suno, took what AI spit out, brought it into Abelton, changed it, added other parts, fed it back to Suno… wash it repeat ad naseum. Benja estimates that he did this several hundred times during “The Dream of Semiramis”.

Although Benja claims that he does not believe in the tools he uses, he does not lie that the use of artificial intelligence does not come with good properties. He acknowledges the damage it’s doing to the world, but unequivocally says we can’t stop greedy corporations or put the AI ​​genie back in the bottle: “The good guy won’t win this one,” he says.

The only reason I’m using gen at all is because my vision is going as far as it can go. People have been asking me, “Did you use gen AI on this EP?” I’m like, (sarcastically) “No, I hired a professional children’s choir.” What are we talking about? I didn’t pay rent last month, and I won’t pay rent this month. I don’t know where I will live.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Benja. Although it seems like it’s almost over and getting the New Music they admire from Pitchfork about Ten Total, he is a struggling artist who has endured periods of homelessness.

However, it is important to acknowledge that there is little about “Semiramis’s Dream” that could not have been achieved without AI. Sure, they couldn’t hire a children’s choir, but it’s not like AI is available all the time. Time Has Nothing To Do With Your Choices… it is particularly satisfying. The same can be achieved with some layering and intelligent sound processing.

1010Benja hasn’t changed me – I’m still very skeptical of AI capabilities. But he has proven that, in the right hands, the Suno doesn’t have to be an inferior engine.