While Generative AI services like Suno, Amper Music, or AIVA are truly AI-first offerings, I am also looking forward to how AI can truly simplify the – to me – painful process of working in a DAW. Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) like Ableton Live, Logic Pro, and Pro Tools have long been the heart of modern music production. But with AI entering the mix, the potential for creativity and efficiency in DAW workflows truly could skyrocket and I look forward especially speed up workflows and tedious tasks.
For background, I spent a lot of time early in my musical career programming drum tracks and whatnot using tools such as Cubase on an Atari Stacy II (yes, this is early 90s!) to drive sampled drums on my Kurzweil 2000, to the point where I truly got sick of spending time on a laptop keyboard vs. focusing on recording vocals, guitars, and other instruments.
In recent years I’ve been using Logic Pro mostly, and while I can get around, I am far from a pro myself using it (and still dislike spending a lot of time programming things like drum tracks). Logic’s Drummer or using loops usually doesn’t cut it for the songs I am trying to record, so, unfortunately, I can’t always get around putting in the time but find myself stuck in the “how to” stage. Example, I needed a 6/8 blues shuffle with a triplet feel and it took me way too long to figure it out. Lo and behold, asking ChatGPT helped me with the how-to part, but naturally I’d prefer the AI to do not just showing me how, but doing it for me. And this probably applies to many others, too (and I bet the product folks across the various DAW vendors feel similarly).
So, my wish for 2025 is to be able to voice-direct my drum tracks as well as other tedious tasks that eat into creative time like editing, trimming, mixing and so on. But, of course, AI isn’t just about automation—it’s about inspiration. By collaborating with AI, I am sure there are many more creative avenues that open up, but if there was one thing that could really help me unleash my own and help stop wasting creative time this would be it. 😊
Vincent Wehren: Straight-Talk Tech | AI | Music 