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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   2923 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 18, 2026

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AI music enthusiasts: has anyone been experimenting with on-demand solos?

The other week, someone raised the possibility of real artists moving away from click tracks to signal authenticity. That got me thinking about one of the classic ways to stand out when recording a standard. There are a thousand versions of Jones Girl but only one with, you know.

Even though the industry no longer uses that model, instrumental solo sections are still found at the 2/3 mark of many rock, country and folk songs. Some groups use this to show off their technical chops or to personalize live shows. But others have it as a sort of auditory filler before the last chorus. Backing off completely in that window would kill the energy; a good instrumental maintains it and ramps into the finale. (A great one just ends the song.)

AI is very good at generating filler. I’m imagining recordings that leave a background-only section where the solo would be, then fill it in when a playlist is generated. Or even each time the song comes up, if people crave just enough novelty to keep them awake.

I was driving, this morning, and either my radio or the local station was malfunctioning. I swear it was skipping a tenth of a second ahead once or twice a minute. While I would suspect my ancient radio before I’d suspect the regional station’s hardware, I don’t know any way that a normal receiver would accumulate lag, so I wanted to confirm that the beat was inconsistent. Before I knew it I was at my exit.

I think procedural or AI solos are close to artistically bankrupt, but that doesn’t mean they’re without uses.

I can answer this question for you and @SkoomaDentist. The same thing to me happened about a decade ago. It seemed to always happen during Pirates games; it was noticeable because I'd be sort of listening and would be struck by the fact that the announcers just said the same thing they had already said, like the broadcast was jumping back in time. I eventually figured out the culprit: HD Radio. This car was from 2012 so it was an earlier implementation that didn't have any buffering. The way it worked was that the station had both an analog and digital signal. The digital signal was preferred because there was less static, but it was weaker and prone to interference. When ever the digital signal would go out, it would automatically switch to analog until the signal was strong enough, at which point it would switch back to digital. The problem was that the digital signal was a few seconds behind the analog signal, so every time it switched back over to digital it would be like hitting the rewind button. I could manually switch the radio to stay in analog all the time, and I noticed that I could replicate the effect by switching back and forth while I was in digital range. The reason I didn't notice it in the other direction was because I wasn't paying close enough attention and if it jumped forward it would be new material that I hadn't heard yet. The car I have now only uses the analog signal if available and the digital substations take a few seconds to buffer before I'll get sound.

I'm guessing that what you heard was the digital signal dropping out and switching back to analog. If the radio is ancient it might not have a sufficient buffer.

There are no digital radio transmissions in Finland. The skips I heard must have happened either in the station’s own equipment or in the streaming to the broadcast equipment.

My radio is several years older than that and shows no signs of digital awareness. It doesn't even have the RDS thing which tells you the call sign.

How could you tell which mode yours was in?

There was an HD logo in the corner of the screen that would light up when it was in digital. Tapping it turned it on or off.

The other week, someone raised the possibility of real artists moving away from click tracks to signal authenticity.

It was me. I have things to contribute other than gotchas.

There are a thousand versions of Jones Girl but only one with, you know.

Huh, I thought Hüsker Dü was the only act to use a single-note solo.

I was driving, this morning, and either my radio or the local station was malfunctioning. I swear it was skipping a tenth of a second ahead once or twice a minute. While I would suspect my ancient radio before I’d suspect the regional station’s hardware, I don’t know any way that a normal receiver would accumulate lag, so I wanted to confirm that the beat was inconsistent.

I've heard the same happen once or twice. It's almost certainly a glitch in the matrix digital playback system the station uses or a desync between the transmitter and the streamed digital audio.

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