D’Addario has set the record straight after it found itself embroiled in an online AI controversy.
The string maker was recently accused of using AI-generated music in the demo for its new NYXL HD strings. It then came under fire for its response video, which showed the recording’s workflow in an attempt to confirm that AI had not been used in its creation.
The video was scrutinized by the online guitar community. Some believed the pitch and tempo discrepancies between the original demo and the response proved AI had in fact been used.
But now D’Addario has published a lengthy statement explaining the making of the demo track, asserting that generative AI was not used, but AI-assisted production tools were.
“We share the growing alarm that generative AI can remove the musician from the creative process,” the statement begins. “In a recent post featuring one of our products, many people questioned whether we employed generative AI in our demo track.
“The track was written and performed by one of our employees who was proud to create an original piece to show off a new string he helped to develop.”
D’Addario charts the “complex” way the track was created. It notes an excess of plugins to “compress, auto-tune, EQ and distort” the DI guitar that was used, alongside 12 programmed synthesizers and a drum track with four compressors.
“The result is a track that exhibits the hallmarks commonly found in generative AI music, and it is understandable that this sound would elicit such a response from the community,” D’Addario observes.
“There were excessive non-AI tools used to make the original composition sound ‘more produced’. This added a lot of extra noise and inorganic details to the mix which people misunderstood as signs of AI-generation.”
As for the discrepancies present in the session video, D’Addario explains the response clip showed a pre-mix and pre-master demo. The original, meanwhile, used two AI mastering tools that further muddied the water.
“This is where the confusion lies,” it says. “While Generative AI was not used in the creation of this music, by virtue of using Logic’s ‘Mastering Assistant’ feature and LANDR’s Assister Mastering, AI did assist with the mixing and mastering process post DAW export which caused noise and drift.
“Most of the digital artifacts that people online have taken issue with come from an unusual take on modern production techniques.”
D’Addario ends its statement by apologizing for the confusion caused, stressing it is, above all else, experts in music accessories – not audio production.
“We knew we had nothing to hide; we just needed the time to understand why our take on the situation was so different than others in the community before we responded,” it says. “We’re genuinely sorry for the delay in response and confusion it caused.”
D’Addario’s statement has gone a long way to de-escalate the situation, though opinion is still divided. Several D’Addario artists including Yvette Young, Plini and Mike Dawes have voiced their support, but some commentators are yet to be fully convinced by the company’s explanation.
Visit D’Addario’s Instagram page to read the full statement.
