v2 how and why i use ai to create music
The essay is a first‑person, narrative‑instructional account by Anthony Carlisle (artist name Barefoot in the Garden, also called Grandpa T), a 66‑year‑old Minnesotan with no formal musical training who has released nineteen AI‑generated albums across a wide range of genres. He explains his personal background, the emotional motivations that drive him, and the moment he discovered AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT/Gemini, Suno.ai) that enabled him to turn raw ideas into fully produced songs. He details a step‑by‑step workflow: (1) spark an idea, (2) conduct real‑world research via chat models, (3) co‑write lyrics with Claude, (4) craft a musical prompt and generate instrumentation/vocals with Suno.ai, (5) iterate until the result feels authentic, and (6) publish on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, TikTok. He walks through each of his nineteen albums, describing their thematic focus, genre, and representative tracks, showing how the same process adapts to humor, love, politics, sports, children’s music, deep house, hard rock, etc. He highlights the emotional payoff of hearing AI‑sung, AI‑produced songs that convey his personal stories, and discusses the use of AI for hyper‑personalized birthday anthems. The essay also addresses ethical concerns about AI as a creative tool, positioning AI as a collaborative instrument rather than cheating, and reflects on the skills he has learned (prompt engineering, genre‑specific prompting, iterative refinement). Finally, he frames his work as a legacy‑building act, a way to leave a piece of himself for loved ones, and encourages others without musical training to use AI to tell their stories.
Topics
From No Musical Training to Nineteen AI Albums: Personal Background and Motivation
The author’s age, lack of formal music education, life in Minnesota, family relationships, and the desire to preserve personal stories through music.
Step‑by‑Step Workflow: From Spark to Spotify
A detailed, ordered process – idea generation, research, Claude lyric co‑writing, musical prompt creation, Suno music/vocal generation, iteration, and distribution.
Album Tour: Themes, Genres, and Representative Tracks Across Nineteen Releases
A concise overview of each album – from dog‑centric humor (Mutt Chronicles) to Minnesota winter blues, R&B romance, political testimony, deep house, children’s workout, and more – showing how the workflow adapts to diverse styles.
Birthday Anthems: Hyper‑Personalized AI Songs as Gifts
The process of recording personal anecdotes, feeding them to Claude, and producing bespoke birthday songs that capture inside jokes and individual voice.
Ethical Reflection: AI as a Tool, Not Cheating
Addressing criticism that AI steals jobs, comparing AI to historical technological shifts, and arguing that AI is a collaborative instrument that amplifies the author’s own ideas.