metallic embers

Unlocking a new production workflow

Technology has always been part of my production process. While audio production was one of my two specializations in my Radio, Television and Film degree, my career followed a path more aligned to the other half, new media technology. But I never stopped working with music. It’s always been a hobby. Mixes. Remixes. Many, many pieces of original music. I’ve experimented with loads of software and hardware tech along the way.

When generative AI became available, it was like having a new sound toy at first. It was extremely fun. And on the surface, the results showed promise. But the shine dulled fairly quickly. What initially impressed the hell out of me started to sound pretty boring. The more I used it, the less inspired I was by it. But as new models and platforms released and the features kept evolving, everything changed.

In September 2026, I was working on creating an original song, purposely using generative AI for an internal monthly show I produce at work. the episode was focused on prompting and I thought it would be interesting to create a song with a series of prompts that I would use to build the song in stages, describing builds and breakdowns and shifts and emotions and sounds over time, with detailed prompts used to describe the instrumentation, sounds and production techniques. I was actually a little blown away at how well that worked as a music production workflow. As I continue to explore, I definitely want to play around more with AI as one part of a workflow that includes my own instruments, samples and production techniques. But this song is the first in what I hope will be a series of songs that allow me to explore new ways of creating music, based in story, and fully mastered for release. Wish me luck. :)

The story of metallic embers

metallic embers takes place at the edge of collapse and creation.

The world is quiet, but not empty. It is vast under a star-heavy sky — a place shaped by time, heat, and repetition. Whatever civilization once thrived here is gone, but it didn’t disappear naturally. It evolved beyond itself.

The song captures the moment when the remnants of the old world begin to stir.

Beneath the surface, something engineered is still alive. Not aggressive. Not heroic. Just persistent. Pressure builds slowly, mechanically, as if ancient systems are rebooting after centuries of dormancy. The landscape itself feels aware — the earth holds memory, metallic traces glint beneath the surface, embers drift like evidence of energy that never fully burned out.

As the track progresses, tension replaces stillness. Patterns emerge from noise. Movement becomes intentional. This is not a rebirth driven by emotion or ideology — it’s driven by inevitability. Systems reassert themselves. Rhythm returns because it has to.

When the energy finally breaks free, it isn’t celebratory. It’s physical. Relentless. The sound feels like motion reclaiming space — not a victory, but a takeover. The machine doesn’t announce itself; it simply starts moving again, faster each cycle, refining itself through friction.

By the end, the intensity dissolves rather than resolves. What remains is heat in the air, faint vibration in the ground, and the sense that something irreversible has begun. The world hasn’t changed yet — but it will. This moment marks the transition from silence into momentum.

Story disclaimer

I swear. I’m not trying to make the song into something it isn’t by wrapping a story around it. Maybe I’ll write something about the process at some point. One of the biggest unlocks for me with generative AI in the mix is the ability to explore sound and music within the context of a story. The story is part of the writing process. More stories to come…