When I joined Berekely on Audialab, he had just finished an early version of an inference server that could generate any drum sample. As impressive as it was, he needed an interface to make it accessible to everyone. I started with a simple interface with just a single pad with volume and reverb controls, and a similarity slider, which would adjust how close to the last sample the next generated sample would be.
We needed test users, so we tapped into as many music production communities as we could, leveraging the increasing hype around AI at the time. We gathered them all into a Discord server and sent a link to the prototype. There was so much feedback and feature requests, we had to create a Trello board to keep track of them all.
We didn't know it at the time, but this rapid prototyping and feedback loop would be the foundation of our development process. We often refer to this first version as the
skateboard, as it was just enough to get us moving. This quick iteration and feedack loop allows us to stay agile and make choices quickly. The consistent communication and transaprency with the community has helped us build a loyal following, and a product that is truly community-driven.