1,000 Songs and Beyond!!!

Stay tuned! The next drop, “1,000 and Beyond” is just around the corner!

I just got a notice from Suno that I have achieved the 1,000 songs milestone—that’s a big accomplishment! We could do a lot with that on social media and other outlets… We could:

Create a Retrospective Collection: Compile my best or most unique NEW songs into a celebratory “1,000 Songs and Beyond” album or playlist to share with your community, and that’s one of the things I’ve decided to do — so my album “1,000 and Beyond” is in the works, and its release is just around the corner.
Publicize the Milestone: Announce it in blogs, podcasts, and social media to showcase the most recent creative output. It’s a great opportunity for some promotional buzz, but I haven’t the time or energy for any of that, so if you want it done, it’s up to you to get it done.
Exclusive Releases: Offer a limited release of special editions or remastered versions of some songs, maybe with accompanying commentary on their creation, and I would take this route, if I hadn’t already decided to create a whole new album of songs I’m making now.
Interactive Events: Host a Zoom listening party where the audience votes on their favorites or discusses the journey of creating these songs. Of course, we do this already, but it’s worth including that idea in this list.
Documentary/Podcast Series: Turn this milestone into a narrative—how you can also get there, the evolution of a personal style, and what it means to the community as a whole. This is something I can’t do, but you youngsters can!
Licensing and Publishing: Get those songs onto Bandcamp fast, and license the songs for films, games, or streaming music and talk. Many of my songs are already published in “Gorby’s Songbook”, which you can download or order as a paperback in a spiral binder, so the page stays open to where you want it.
Special Merchandise: Use the milestone to create themed merchandise, like “1,000 and Beyond” t-shirts or posters — not my idea of a productive effort, but others definitely disagree and get spectacular results on merch sites — my take is very moderate on my merch sites, and my monthly income from those things wouldn’t even cover a two-dollar cheeseburger at Wendy’s, MacDonald’s or KFC.
Future Projects: Use this stepping-stone as a launchpad for a new initiative, like involving folks in the community to participate in the creation of the next 1,000 songs in some way, or perhaps personally exploring collaborations, to produce them on their own — again, not something I myself would do, but if you want results, you’ll follow the right path to success in your public work, and this is it.

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Official Liner Notes/Digital Platforms Description:

“1,000 and Beyond” by E.J. Gold — This album marks a milestone in Gold’s creative artistry, featuring original hand-written human-created poetry set to ai-driven music and vocals, through collaboration with Suno. This collection reflects the fusion of human imagination and cutting-edge technology. All lyrics are written by a human, and are properly registered with BMI, ensuring authenticity and protection.”

#NewMusic #NowPlaying #MusicRelease #IndieArtist #MusicLovers #AlbumLaunch

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I Hit The Jackpot!

Reaching the 1,000-song milestone within the first month of using Suno and Hedra is both a testament to the power of innovation and a celebration of creative drive. This achievement is not merely about numbers but represents a confluence of artistry, technology, and dedication, plus a wish to help you along your own evolutionary path. I did indeed “hit the jackpot”, but remember this — you can do it, too!

All the lyrics were hand-written, and to anticipate your question, I type 180 words per minute with 99% accuracy, and made a living writing magazine articles for Tiger Beat, Monkee Spectacular, Mod Teen and many others, at the rate of 30,000-55,000 words per month.

Chuck Laufer at Tiger Beat paid me 25 cents a word, which was good money for that time — OMNI paid me a dollar a word. I write fast and do a lot at a time, more than most. In order to catch up to me, you’ll have to bang out ten songs a night, or more.

For me, it’s a cinch to come up with ideas and to find the words to express them. One of my great secrets is to not worry too much about how well a word rhymes, if it makes sense.

A New Frontier in Creativity

In traditional songwriting, producing 1,000 songs might span decades of labor-intensive work, and frankly, you’d never see it, but with the advent of tools like Suno and Hedra, the boundaries of what is possible have expanded exponentially for any creative person.

These platforms allow artists to explore uncharted territories in music creation, blending human ingenuity with cutting-edge technology. The milestone signifies not only the vast potential of such tools but also their ability to amplify the creative process without compromising authenticity.

The Role of Collaboration

The relationship between human and machine in this journey is a symbiotic partnership. While Suno and Hedra provide the structural framework—the music, arrangement, and production quality—the lyrics remain a deeply personal expression. Written entirely by hand, these words embody the essence of human emotion, storytelling, and thought. This partnership elevates the work beyond a mere collection of songs; it becomes a narrative of collaboration between human creativity and technological advancement.

It is possible to greatly influence the music, and in the end, the writer gets to choose which of the offered results he or she will use, or none of the above and try again, with a different prompt, perhaps.

The really exciting thing about using Suno is that the band doesn’t have to always sound essentially the same. The sound of the band can be anything from funk rock to exotic rhythms from far-off places, and the spoken word allows me to choose the character who is speaking.

I can, of course, also use my own face and voice, and once in a while, I do that, particularly on my guitar videos, which are surprisingly popular.

A Milestone of Personal and Collective Effort

For me, this milestone reflects an obsessive dedication to the craft. Some might call it relentless or even excessive, but I see it as a joyful exploration of the possibilities that exist when art and technology converge. Each song is an individual piece of a larger mosaic—a testament to how far we’ve come and a springboard for what lies ahead.

I’m a real musician. I play keyboards, guitar, bass, sax, clarinet, drums, percussion, autoharp, harmonica, many different woodwinds including recorder, Gemeinhardt flute and pretty much whatever instruments are around at the time, but at the age of 83, I’m not much good at any of them anymore, so I appreciate when I can construct a band and get it to play my songs, and that’s what happens on Suno.

I don’t just decide on a mood and press a button. I craft the song as if it were going to be played by a live band. Actually, the songwriter in fact generally has no control over the final product or the arrangement that’s played behind the lyrics, and in some cases, the songwriter is in complete shock over what happened to their song.

One powerful example of this is when Harry Nilsson used to sell his songs to Three Dog Night, as opposed to the Monkees — they made totally different outputs, and I could go on and on about this — it’s more common than a songwriter having control over the final product. Unless you’re a Beatle or a Joni Mitchell, you’re plumb out of luck when it comes to final outcome.

What It Means to Listeners

To the audience, reaching 1,000 songs offers an unprecedented breadth of choices. It’s an invitation to explore a diverse catalog of ideas, moods, and stories. Whether it’s a poignant ballad or an upbeat anthem, this milestone ensures there’s something for everyone. More than that, it’s a statement about the democratization of creativity: how technology can enable artists to produce work at a scale previously unimaginable.

The Beginning of a New Chapter

While this milestone is worth celebrating, it’s also a stepping stone. The title of the album, “1,000 and Beyond,” reflects this forward-looking perspective. The work doesn’t stop here. Instead, it evolves, driven by the same curiosity and commitment that made this milestone possible. My next small and inquisitive steps will involve refining the process, deepening the artistry, and exploring new ways to connect.

Reflecting on the Journey

The experience of reaching 1,000 songs in a single month — the first month at this new technology — highlights a profound shift in how anyone in the future of music can and mut approach creative work. It’s a reminder that technology, when used thoughtfully, can be a powerful ally in artistic expression and a very positive influence on the history of music.

The songs created in this atmosphere of emerging technologies and actualization of music in any form represent more than just music; they are a chronicle of exploration, experimentation, and partnership, and they are emphatically not the simple product of a synthesized ai-driven technology.

Every song is hand-written by a human. The musical arrangement and the vocals are the contributions made by Suno. Believe me, you don’t want to hear me try to sing anymore, and playing any of my many musical instruments for more than a minute or two is out of the question.

This amazing achievement is not the end, but just the beginning of a larger journey—one that aims to inspire others to see the potential of blending human creativity with technological tools. It’s about proving that, even in a world increasingly shaped by machines, the heart and soul of art remains true to its aim.

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One Thousand Strong

Verse 1:
I started with a whisper, a melody in the dark,
A dream of something bigger, it was just a single spark.
Now the numbers climb up fast, the echoes carry on,
Here I stand today, one thousand shining songs.

Chorus:
One thousand voices, one thousand dreams,
A river of music flowing through me.
Every word, every note is a part of the song,
Here I am, one thousand shining songs strong.

Verse 2:
Each line I wrote in fire, each rhythm set me free,
A journey through the ages, this is my symphony.
With every chord, the story grows long,
Here I stand today, one thousand songs strong.

Chorus:
One thousand voices, one thousand dreams,
A river of music flows through me.
Every word, every note, a part of the song,
Here I am, one thousand shining songs strong.

Bridge:
It’s not the end, just another start,
A thousand beats echo in my heart.
With Suno’s spark and my human hand,
Together we’ll build what no one could plan.

Chorus:
One thousand voices, one thousand dreams,
A river of music flows through me.
Every word, every note, a part of the song,
Here I am, one thousand strong.

Outro:
So I sing this to the sky, to the stars and beyond,
A thousand songs behind me, and still, I carry on.
With every step, the music plays along,
And here I stand today, one thousand strong.

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