TromboneChat

To those who may dismiss this as "AI trash" I quote Paul's response to a comment on his video in the same vein.....

"I respect that perspective. For me, the mission is to tell this 500 year story in the most compelling and educational way possible. The trombone itself evolved because makers embraced new tools, and I’m doing the same thing as a storyteller. AI didn’t replace the research, writing, recording, or performance. It simply helped visualize history that can’t be filmed anymore. The heart of this project is still real research, real performance, and real passion for the instrument. My goal is education and preservation".

Ok, I'll say the same comment here then.

AI trash.

Let us know when you make your own video. I'm sure it would be much better.

Better to make nothing than, well, type a prompt or a few and get some slop to edit into a video.

It's not just AI trash, it's full of wrong information.

Right away, the very first thing he says is wrong. The trombone didn't start off playing with voices in churches. That's not what it was invented to do, according to pretty much the entirety of serious trombone scholarship. It wasn't "not meant to play loud", quite the contrary: it was invented to play in ensembles that are literally called "loud bands"!

From then on all I heard was a series of other statements that are either factually erroneous or extremely simplistic (a 30 minute video doesn't get the excuse of time to justify simplifying things thus much. There's a lot of good information you can give in 30 minutes). Also the 400+ years where most of the development happened are limited to a few sentences, and then 75% of the video is spent talking about the comparatively small developments in the 20th century and about current brands and models. Sorry but there's no world where this should be called "The Complete History", or "Every maker ever".

So much of his script sounds like Chatbot slop, without even watching the visual AI slop...

officermayo wrote: Wed Feb 25, 2026 4:47 pm Let us know when you make your own video. I'm sure it would be much better.

That's such a tired, bad faith argument.

Number one, people are allowed to criticize things without being able to make them themselves.

Number two, Aidan would absolutely make a better video than that.

There is no justifiable reason to use AI. Hire a human to do the visual art, or don't do it at all. Using AI to make art directly takes work away from actual artists, and as musicians ourselves it is especially shameful to use it. It's a threat to our entire industry.

Additionally, AI datacenters are causing massive damage to the environment, and are using so much water and energy that they are putting us on a path to running out of clean water in only a few years. On top of that, AI comes with a host of more insidious concerns, especially considering the people bankrolling it (Palantir for example). Pete Hegseth was in the news literally yesterday demanding AI companies remove the very important safeguards in place that prevent their AI from being used for controlling weapons and mass public surveillance.

There is NO ethical use of AI.

LeTromboniste wrote: Wed Feb 25, 2026 6:00 pm It's not just AI trash, it's full of wrong information.

So much of his script sounds like Chatbot slop, without even watching the visual AI slop...

Not to mention Paul's sanctimonious and "sincere" whispering recital.

"Leepzig" ?

Does this sort of stuff portend the future of historical narrative?

This video isn't AI. Paul hired me to do all of the animations in MS Paint. I spent a lot of time getting the lipsync dialed in for his whispering. It took an entire bag of takes. I think Paul has the right idea about visualizing the entire history of trombone: he really brings it every time he does a video. He's a visionary. He's like the Miles Davis of trombone, really. Everyone's a critic, I guess that's just another day in the life…

Enough said.

whyking wrote: Wed Feb 25, 2026 11:11 pm Paul hired me to do all of the animations in MS Paint. I spent a lot of time getting the lipsync dialed in for his whispering.