AI Can Generate Pretty Good Music Now

AI art

It seems like ChatGPT has been around forever now, and despite only having used it for a year or so, many people wonder how they ever lived without it. I recently discovered that a similar service exists for audio, where songs can be generated from a prompt. One example of such a service is Udio. At the time of writing, it is free to use, albeit with a limited (but generous) number of credits.

From a prompt, two song samples are generated, each roughly 30 seconds long. You can then keep extending it to your heart’s content, adding an intro, more verses, and an outro, to create a complete song. With the prompt “Midwest emo song about being a PhD student at the University of Duisburg-Essen” and multiple presses of the “Extend” button, I generated the following song which Udio named “Dizzying Academia”. Ironically, I generated this song just a few days after having defended my PhD 😉

Lyrics

In Duisburg-Essen, clarity is so vague
Endless paths of theory, my mind starts to ache
Fading sunlight, my desk lamp burns on
Piles of notes, ’til the break of dawn
I’m questioning knowledge, the roots of it all
In search for answers, I rise and then I fall
How did I know? How could I see?
You ask me about my PhD, well
I’m grinding my gears, yeah, it’s mentally taxing
Nobody warned that this field would be so baffling
A hand on my books ‘cause the knowledge is dizzying
How could you judge me? Academia’s mystifying
Endless revisions, my thesis, it taunts
Deadlines approaching like ominous haunts
Reading through papers, my vision is bleary
In Duisburg-Essen, my thoughts are weary
Pulling all-nighters, with coffee in hand
I’m chasing citations, in this academic land
In the library’s glow, my sanctuary of thought
Fighting writer’s block, in scholarly battles fought
This journey’s relentless, it’s a constant uphill stride
But I’m carving out my path, with a mix of hope and pride
I brace for critiques, in this collegiate tide
In Duisburg-Essen, I’ll find my scholarly stride
My friends are out there, life passing them by
While I’m trapped here with theories that tie
Together the fragments of what I believe
In Duisburg-Essen, it’s hard to breathe
Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the fight
These sleepless nights, under fluorescent light
But through the fog, I see glimpses so bright
Hope flickers softly, in the dead of night
The weight on my shoulders, it’s hard to ignore
In Duisburg-Essen, I’ll endure a little more
With each page I turn, and each draft I write
I’m forging my dream, in this endless academic night
Wandering the hallways, where shadows play tricks
Lost in reflection, as the clock slowly ticks
In Duisburg-Essen, dreams intertwine
With frustrations and hopes, in a scholarly line
I’m grinding my gears, yeah, it’s mentally taxing
Nobody warned that this field would be so baffling