GEAR EXPO 2023: The future, as we are constantly being told, is Artificial Intelligence. Well, in the world of music production that future is already here. And we mean, right here. Because below are the tools you can use to help you make the music of tomorrow, today…
As music producers in the 21st century we’re already used to a helping hand. DAWs, after all, have been allowing us to quantise, arrange, copy and paste for decades. But Artificial Intelligence is promising an entirely new musical path, one that aids creativity in production and – in some cases – even does that creativity for you.
So the future of music making could quite well be… not making it at all, but letting some machine or other do it for you. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but we are on the cusp of software being able to create our beats and melodies for us, with just minimal input required.
Whether that is a future anyone really wants is debatable, as the creative input that we have as music producers is surely one of the biggest reasons to make music in the first place, but there are many tools already out there that help you produce tunes, and we have them rounded up here.
So gather your hoverboards, set your speedos for 88mph and get ready for the machines to rock your world.
1. Orb Producer Suite 3
Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: £127 | Buy (opens in new tab)
A multi-faceted, AI-driven toolkit for composers. Orb Producer Suite provides a raft of chordal, melodic, instrumental and structural suggestions with which you can further build out and create your own track. Designed to assist rather than take over matters completely, it invites you to work alongside an AI creative collaborator.
2. Ecrett Music
Platforms: Browser-based | Price: from £12 per month | Buy (opens in new tab)
In a similar way to Ecrett, Soundraw takes a few directions before crafting up to 15 tracks based on your input, ready for you to cycle through and select for your project. The platform even has a Google Chrome extension so that you can create, edit and download without leaving your browser.
3. Soundraw
Platforms: Browser-based | Price: from £12 per month | Buy (opens in new tab)
In a similar way to Ecrett, Soundraw takes a few directions before crafting up to 15 tracks based on your input, ready for you to cycle through and select for your project. The platform even has a Google Chrome extension so that you can create, edit and download without leaving your browser.
4. Aiva
4. Aiva
Platforms: Browser-based | Price: Free for non-commercial use | Visit (opens in new tab)
The first AI composer to be verified as a composer by SACEM, Aiva’s staggeringly digital brain has even released its own albums. For a fee, you can use Aiva to create genre-tailored emotional soundtrack music that’s arguably as beautiful as those that a human can produce. You can use it for free, to make non-commercial music.
5. Amper Music
Platforms: Browser-based | Price: £3.74 per track | Buy (opens in new tab)
On the faultlines between full AI-composer and smart suggestive toolkit. Amper Music takes its cues from your inputs, and creates the shape of a new track. Next, you use its wealth of tools to fine-tune its tempo, structure, instrumentation and mood to make the resulting track a true collaboration between man and machine.
6. Humtap
Platforms: iOS | Price: Free | Download (opens in new tab)
Part of Abbey Road’s Red incubator, Humtap originated as a mobile-based AI-music-creator with a tantalising premise – hum a melody, tap a beat and Humtap builds a glossy demo from that starting point. It works surprisingly well, and could help you on your way to writing that masterpiece that the world needs right now…
7. Boomy
Platforms: Browser-based | Price: Free | Visit (opens in new tab)
Boomy allows you to create music for free, in seconds. It might not seem that creative at first – a little like randomly-generated music from samples. But you can assign filters, and it then homes in on your tastes to make more suitable music each time. Additional bonuses include streaming and even potential revenues from that.
8. Audiomodern Playbeat
Platforms: Mac/PC | Price: $69.50 | Buy (opens in new tab)
Playbeat uses its SMART algorithm to study how you use it to make beats, and comes up with choices of randomised grooves that fit your own style. And it really can be the fast lane for showcasing how creative beat-making and sequencing can be. In our review, we concluded, “whether you are in need of fresh rhythmic inspiration, or a new way to create loops and handle beats, you’ll find what you’re looking for – and more – here”.
9. Musico
Platforms: iOS| Price: Free | Info (opens in new tab)
Musico generates music from an AI engine and differs from most other platforms here in that it can “react to gesture, movement, code or other sound”. There are three apps allowing you to get the best from it: Impro AI allows you to control the engine with gestures, Song is more standard touch-based app, and MusicFit allows you to create a soundtrack to work out to.
Looking for more great new gear? Get all our roundups, news, features, tutorials, tips and more at our Gear Expo hub page.
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