Chasing feelings with AI

I've been playing guitar for years. There's something satisfying about working through chord progressions, understanding why certain combinations create tension and release. But I've lived in Ira Glass's gap more often than I'd like to admit.

The ideas in my head would outpace my technical ability to express them. I could hear a drum sound that felt "saturated" and "dark" and "encompasses a room" but had no idea how to create that. Maybe I knew what I wanted, but I definitely didn't know how to make it. This is where a hobby can turn dreadful—when your intuition is pulling you toward something but you have no path to follow it. The guitar stops being meditative and becomes a reminder of limitation.

The demo below shows how AI translated those descriptive words into working audio code. Click through the examples to hear how each iteration got closer to the feeling I described.

This creates access to an entirely different creative flow. Alongside the meditative, repetitive practice of building craft, I can now prototype feelings directly. I can chase an idea while it's still vivid rather than losing it to the learning curve.

AI offers a new path through Ira Glass's gap. You can start with the feeling and let AI handle the technical translation, then use that understanding to guide your traditional practice with clearer intention.

The gap Glass describes is still there, and true mastery still requires discipline. But now when your intuition pulls you toward something, you have a way to follow it immediately. The hobby stays joyful even when you're reaching beyond your current abilities.