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The Best AI Tools For Music Production
Adam Birney / Android Authority
Music is one of the more controversial applications of generative AI, and for obvious reasons — it can plagiarize other artists, it doesn't necessarily require talent, and in some cases, it may not even express anything. But if you avoid those pitfalls it can be a legitimate creative tool, speeding up tasks or making it easier to experiment.
The best AI tools for music productionAt the moment AI music tools are mostly suited as plug-ins or full production suites, with little room in between. That's not to say middleground tools don't exist however, and in fact, the last two on our list certainly fit the bill. You'll see what we mean.
WavTool
WavTool
WavTool is a complete browser-based DAW (digital audio workstation), the main AI component being a MIDI sequence assistant. While you can build out tracks manually, the assistant will optionally extrapolate from a few notes or come up with its own material from scratch. Another feature is the Conductor, a chatbot that can not only answer questions about music theory and production, but make changes to your work.
When we say "complete," we mean it — while there might be limitations versus something like Logic or Ableton, you can go all the way from recording to mastering and export, and you can even generate beats and samples from text prompts. If you like, you can transform recorded audio into MIDI.
The free version of WavTool offers essential DAW features, cloud saves, Conductor advice, and exports to WAV, but that's it. You'll have to upgrade to the $10 monthly Indie plan for export to MP3 or MIDI, as well as limited AI help with editing. The $20 Pro plan is required for full functionality, including things like stem splits and AI-based sound generation. Down the road the Pro plan will include live collaboration, support for VST and AU plugins, and the ability to train your own audio models, down to replacing existing voices with new ones such as your own.
Magenta Studio
Oddly enough while Magenta belongs to Google, it's currently being maintained only as a free Ableton Live plug-in. A standalone version does remain out there, but isn't getting any more updates.
The plug-in software includes five MIDI tools: Continue, Generate, Interpolate, Groove, and Drumify. Continue takes an input melody or drum beat and extends it up to 32 measures, relying on factors like timing and key signatures. Generate uses similar tech, but produces a 4-bar phrase without any input. Interpolate bridges any two melodies or inputs, then produces up to 16 clips based on them.
Drumify are Groove are a little different. The former creates a drum section to match a bassline, melody, or tapped-out rhythm. Groove takes an input drum clip and changes up its timing and velocity, the idea being to match the feel of a real-world drummer.
AIVA
Aiva
AIVA is another DAW, but it can generate entire songs from scratch in over 250 styles, ranging from EDM and lo-fi through to folk rock and old-school rap. If need be you can create your own style models, uploading audio/MIDI files to insert influences.
You can of course edit any tracks you generate, which you probably should unless you want some sort of generic soundtrack for a YouTube video or corporate presentation. We've got that covered with our next two listings.
Note that if you're using the free version of AIVA, copyrights belong to Aiva Technologies, and you can only get three MP3 or MIDI downloads per month, each limited to 3 minutes. To get full copyright and monetization, as well as more file formats, you have pay for a Pro plan. That's priced at €49 per month or €396 per year unless you qualify for a student or enterprise discount. Even then you're limited to 300 downloads per month, each capped at a 5:30 runtime. No extended ambient pieces for you, in other words.
Loudly
Loudly
Loudly isn't a true DAW and might even be overly simplistic, but it still lets you generate entire tracks using AI, and there are some significant twists. You use text prompts or a visual interface, the latter of which lets you select traits like Instruments, Tempo, Duration, Key, and Genre Blend. At some point in the future, you should also be able ask Loudly to analyze a video and match a soundtrack to it. Indeed background music is really the main purpose of the tool.
Free use is crippled, unfortunately, since you're limited to 25 song generations per month, each with a 30-second cap, and you can only download a single MP3 file. Licensing is restricted to a single social media channel. You'll have step up to a Personal plan to get better licensing, monetization, and download limits, as well as higher-quality WAV files and 5 stem packs per month. Pro subscribers get things like unlimited generation, 20 stem packs per month, 500 downloads per month, and further licensing coverage.
Soundful
Soundful
Like Loudly, Soundful is purpose-built for generating background music, ranging in scope from Instagram and YouTube through to livestreams and movies. The tool uses a variety of mood, genre, and theme templates, spanning everything from "meditation" and "road trip" through to "hip hop," "EDM," and even "real estate." No, we're not quite sure what real estate is supposed to sound like.
The free version of Soundful gets you 3 downloads and 1 stem pack per month, as well as a little over 25 templates. That's only for personal or non-profit use too, so you'll probably need to step up to a (relatively cheap) Content Creator subscription, which upgrades you to 100 downloads, many more templates, and better licensing terms, although the tracks you generate can be used by other Soundful customers.
The top subscription tier (short of an enterprise deal) is Music Creator Plus. That gets you 300 downloads and 10 stem packs per month, as well as exclusive licensing while your subscription is active, and the ability to buy full copyright for your tracks.
CommentsAI System 'should Be Recognised As Inventor'
By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor
An artificial intelligence system should be recognised as the inventor of two ideas in patents filed on its behalf, a team of academics says.
The AI has designed interlocking food containers that are easy for robots to grasp and a warning light that flashes in a rhythm that is hard to ignore.
Patents offices insist innovations are attributed to humans - to avoid legal complications that would arise if corporate inventorship were recognised.
The academics say this is "outdated".
And it could see patent offices refusing to assign any intellectual property rights for AI-generated creations.
As a result, two professors from the University of Surrey have teamed up with the Missouri-based inventor of Dabus AI to file patents in the system's name with the relevant authorities in the UK, Europe and US.
Dabus was previously best known for creating surreal art thanks to the way "noise" is mixed into its neural networks to help generate unusual ideas.
Unlike some machine-learning systems, Dabus has not been trained to solve particular problems.
Instead, it seeks to devise and develop new ideas - "what is traditionally considered the mental part of the inventive act", according to creator Stephen Thaler
The first patent describes a food container that uses fractal designs to create pits and bulges in its sides. One benefit is that several containers can be fitted together more tightly to help them be transported safely. Another is that it should be easier for robotic arms to pick them up and grip them.
This diagram shows how a container's shape could be based on fractalsThe second describes a lamp designed to flicker in a rhythm mimicking patterns of neural activity that accompany the formation of ideas, making it more difficult to ignore.
Law professor Ryan Abbott told BBC News: "These days, you commonly have AIs writing books and taking pictures - but if you don't have a traditional author, you cannot get copyright protection in the US.
"So with patents, a patent office might say, 'If you don't have someone who traditionally meets human-inventorship criteria, there is nothing you can get a patent on.'
"In which case, if AI is going to be how we're inventing things in the future, the whole intellectual property system will fail to work."
Instead, he suggested, an AI should be recognised as being the inventor and whoever the AI belonged to should be the patent's owner, unless they sold it on.
However, Prof Abbott acknowledged lawmakers might need to get involved to settle the matter and that it could take until the mid-2020s to resolve the issue.
A spokeswoman for the European Patent Office indicated that it would be a complex matter.
"It is a global consensus that an inventor can only be a person who makes a contribution to the invention's conception in the form of devising an idea or a plan in the mind," she explained.
"The current state of technological development suggests that, for the foreseeable future, AI is... A tool used by a human inventor.
"Any change... [would] have implications reaching far beyond patent law, ie to authors' rights under copyright laws, civil liability and data protection.
"The EPO is, of course, aware of discussions in interested circles and the wider public about whether AI could qualify as inventor."
The UK's Patents Act 1977 currently requires an inventor to be a person, but the Intellectual Property Office is aware of the issue.
"The government believes that AI technology could increase the UK's GDP by 10% in the next decade, and the IPO is focused on responding to the challenges that come with this growth," said a spokeswoman.
How AI Is Being Used By Law Enforcement To Help Disrupt Fentanyl Production, Distribution
Cutting-edge tech helping authorities crack down on fentanyl production, distribution networksPublished December 18, 2023 6:00am EST
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Law enforcement is always looking at ways to make sure drugs aren't coming into the country and into your neighborhood. Agencies are now turning to artificial intelligence to help keep us safe, especially on the southern border. That's where Border Patrol agents found nearly 99% of the fentanyl smuggled into the United States.
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A drug like fentanyl can be nearly impossible to find just by using orthodox methods. To help, the government is expanding a $9 million contract given to global supply chain start-up platform Altana to use an AI tool to track fentanyl production.
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Image of data on computer screen (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)
MORE: HOW 2 OF BIGGEST TECH COMPANIES ARE SECRETLY HELPING GOVERNMENTS SPY ON YOUR SMARTPHONE
How AI is used to track fentanyl productionAltana uses artificial intelligence to track companies that make ingredients used to make fentanyl. It also tracks where those ingredients are shipped to. Agents can then use that information to shut down both the production and distribution networks of the deadly synthetic opioid.
The company incorporates all of that information in a knowledge map that's constantly growing. While we don't know exactly how Altana tracks those companies, it does show the relationship between suppliers and manufacturers. It even shows billions of transactions. It works very similarly to the startup's efforts to track goods that were made using forced labor.
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How AI is helping border patrol seize fentanyl, arrest traffickersBorder Patrol has seen results using the AI technology. According to Customs and Border Protection reports, agents have carried out two massive missions since contracting Altana in July.
One resulted in 13,000 pounds of ingredients used in fentanyl production being seized. Agents arrested 284 people and seized 10,000 pounds of fentanyl in another.
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MORE: AI APOCALYPSE TEAM FORMED TO FEND OFF CATASTROPHIC NUCLEAR, BIOCHEMICAL DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS
Kurt's key takeawaysThe fact that Altana can create an ever-growing map charting suppliers and manufacturers using public data is mind-blowing. That's something that would be ridiculously hard to achieve without AI and would also require massive amounts of manpower. Plus, we're already seeing results. But, I have to wonder if this can be exploited. Can fentanyl manufacturers and distributors get this information? If so, how would they use it? Is there even a use for them?
How do you feel about law enforcement using AI? How else would you like to see government agencies use AI to help with our security? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.Com/Contact.
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