Billy Corgan thinks Pro Tools is bad for music: “People who can’t play guitar now sound like they can”
Although Billy Corgan recently used AI to create a recent online advert for Smashing Pumpkins‘ latest album, he doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of tech in music.
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In a new interview with Goldmine Magazine, Corgan decried the effects of modern in-the-box digital recording and “Pro Tools-type software” on the music industry:
“In many ways, [Pro Tools] has made music much worse. It brought a lot of people into the music business that really have no business being in the music business,” Corgan says. “…Pro Tools, as a sort of way of making music, on some level, has levelled the playing field that allowed people who can’t sing to sound like they can sing. And people who can’t play guitar now sound like they can.”
Corgan also discussed AI’s role in the music industry, referring to how streaming services are abusing the tech for profit:
“Whenever a new technology shows up, people are right to raise the alarm,” Corgan says. “We can already see people using AI to generate lyrics, melodies, and chord changes. Streaming services are already buying companies to make AI-generated music, so they don’t have to pay human beings. They can just take the money themselves.”
AI in music has been a prominent topic of conversation within the industry of late. Heart on My Sleeve, a song that features AI-generated versions of Drake and The Weeknd’s vocals was nearly eligible for a Grammy nomination.
However, the Recording Academy (which oversees the Grammys) recently enacted new rules for AI, “A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any categories.”
Corgan however insists that The Smashing Pumpkins’ keep things as analogue as possible when they’re making music – especially when it comes to guitars. In a world where bands of all levels are switching to digital options like Neural DSP‘s Quad Cortex, the Pumpkins keep things purely old school.
“Not to get too technical, but we still use amps,” he explains. “There’s no amp modelling; it’s all raw power. It’s guitars and amps into cabinets and mics. We still believe in moving air, whereas a lot of rock records are made in the box.”
Making things in the box is clearly not for Corgan, and he further goes on to lament the impact this practice has had on metal in particular.
“It’s taken genres like metal music, and it’s standardised them to the point where it’s so gridded, almost like a machine,” he insists.
Don’t expect to see Billy Corgan in the next Neural DSP product launch movie.
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