The Top 14 AI Music Generator and Production Tools
“The machine does not control us. We control the machine.
And it is our duty to use it wisely."
- Max Tegmark
With the rise of AI music generator tools, the music production landscape has been revolutionized forever. While controversial, artificial intelligence in music can turbocharge everything from song composition to mixing and mastering. This, in turn, allows us to be more creative, push boundaries and be better at our craft.
Think AI's just a fad? Think again.
Love it or hate, AI is part of the future of music creation. And AI music generator tools are just getting started.
So let's explore the top 14 AI tools that can help you create, produce, and engineer music more efficiently and effectively right now.
And in addition to the entire article, make sure to scope our brand new video showing you how we created an idea using only AI music generator tools below.
AI Music Generator Tools
We're breaking up this post about AI music generation tools into 2 separate sections – music creation vs. intelligent plugins. The former is exactly as it sounds, AI tools that can help you create ideas, write melodies and construct new ideas.
The latter focuses strictly on mixing, engineering with the aid of intelligent plugins which might not be considered true AI (at least not yet). That said, let's dive right in.
Soundful
Soundful is far and away the best AI music generator tool that exists right now. Simply select a genre, BPM, and key, and Soundful will give you an entire track in seconds.
Price: Basic Plan is Free, Premium Plan starts at $20/month
Pro Tip: You can download stems and MIDI from the tracks you create in Soundful. Use them to improve upon the AI-generated music, or better yet, start your own idea, and then create a track in the same genre, BPM and key, and add your favorite parts to your track.
AIVA
AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist) uses AI to compose music for films, video games, and other media. It can create a complete composition from a few inputs, such as genre and mood. While the full songs are not as professional sounding as Soundful, you can create individual instrument compositions, like a solo piano piece that can spark your next idea in a few seconds.
Price: Basic Plan is Free, Premium Plan starts at $15/month.
Pro Tip: Don't be afraid to experiment with different inputs – AIVA can generate a surprisingly wide range of music.
Unison Bass Dragon + MIDI Wizard
Unison’s Bass Dragon blew me away. Regardless of the genre (you can select from 30 of them), Bass Dragon can write and sound design incredible bass lines for you at the click of a button. While MIDI Wizard doesn’t seem to deliver as positive results, it is also a great tool to generate ideas and get inspired.
Price: Both plugins start at $297.
Pro Tip: Bass Dragon can create a bassline to perfectly fit whatever chord profession your song uses. Don’t be afraid to write your chords first and apply Bass Dragon to match the composition later.
Plugin Boutique: Scaler
Scaler is a powerful music theory workstation that helps you find chords and scales that match well together. It’s great for chord inspiration and even generating unique and human-sounding melodies.
Price: Starts at $59.
Pro Tip: Explore the genre-specific presets for instant inspiration regardless of what genre you produce.
LALA.AI
LALAL.ai is an AI-powered audio splitter that separates vocals, as well as other layers from instrumentals, which can be useful for remixing, sampling, mashups and even for research purposes.
Price: Basic Plan is Free, Professional Plan starts at $10.
Pro Tip: Use this tool to isolate stems from a production you aspire to. Use those stems directly in your music as a starting point, or sample them to give your music an instant sonically commercial reference point.
SPLICE STACKS
Splice Stacks allows you to pick a style and Splice AI will show you millions of musical combinations that no one's ever heard before, featuring sounds made by the world’s top producers on Splice.
Price: Starts at $12.99 per month.
Pro Tip: You can mute layers, solo layers, or generate new layers if you want to replace one layer only for example.
MUSICFY
Use Musicfy to create AI vocals with ease. Simply load or record an acapella, select an AI voice, and watch the magic happen.
Price: Starts at $7.99 per month.
Pro Tip: Make sure to use as raw of a performance as possible. This means ideally, no compression, no reverb, and no delay... but don't be afraid to experiment if your acapella has those things. It can still do a great job.
Intelligent Music Production Tools
Ok, it's time dive in to some intelligent plugins that can aid your mixes, masters, and generally, provide incredible amounts of information that you can use to improve the quality of your music.
If you want an in-depth guide about every plugin you need in the current landscape of music production, download the PDF below.
Otherwise, let's get right into my favorite intelligent plugins – meaning plugins that aren't AI music generator tools, but can still provide intelligent analysis of your music to help you make the right decisions for your mix and master.
Mastering The Mix: Reference + Mixroom
Reference helps you compare your mix to other tracks. The amount of knowledge you can gain by using Reference is unparalleled. Create extremely accurate mixes compared to your reference across the frequency spectrum, as well as through stereo imaging and compression. Mixroom, on the other hand, is an EQ that analyses your music and suggests the best settings to give you optimum richness and clarity.
Price: Both plugins start $59.
Pro Tip: See how the average tonal balance of your song compares with your reference track, or their genre-specific presets. All of these were created using sonic profiles from commercially successful tracks. Mixroom uses optimized filters for the mid-range and high-end to give you ultra-clean mastering-grade EQ adjustments (without a hit to your CPU).
Izotope: Ozone + Neutron
Ozone and Neutron are intelligent plugins designed to enhance the mastering and mixing process, respectively. They employ AI and machine learning technologies to deliver professional results with minimal effort, making them suitable for both beginners and experienced producers.
Price: Both Ozone & Neutron start at $129.
Pro Tip: Use the AI-powered assistants as starting points, but trust your ears for the final decision.
Oeksound: Soothe 2
Soothe2 is a dynamic resonance suppressor. It identifies problematic resonances on the fly and applies matching reduction automatically. This results in a smoother, more balanced sound and saves you from having to notch out frequencies by hand. The reduction only kicks in when and where needed, without affecting nearby frequency areas.
Price: $219.
Pro Tip: Use Soothe 2 not only for taming harsh frequencies but also creatively for sound design purposes. By exaggerating its parameters, you can create interesting, filtered effects that can bring a new flavor to your sounds or mix. Just remember to apply it judiciously, as extreme settings can significantly alter your audio material.
Synchro Arts: Vocalign
Vocalign is a must-have for any music producer working with vocals. This AI-powered tool automatically aligns and synchronizes vocals with your reference tracks and background vocals, which is especially useful for doubling or layering vocals, saving you hours of time.
Price: VocALign Project 3 starts at $149.
Pro Tip: Use VocALign when layering vocals to ensure extremely tight synchronization, helping you create a more professional, polished, and compact vocal result.
Wavesfactory: Trackspacer
Trackspacer is a sidechain plugin that creates space in your mix by reducing the frequencies of one track to make room for another. While simple in theory, this plugin allows you to sidechain any sound against another sound, set thresholds, and dynamically reduce sounds to create a more spacious and transparent mix.
Price: $59.
Pro Tip: Use Trackspacer to create room for vocals in a busy mix by applying it to your instrumental buses. Set Trackspacer at around 5-8%, and target the midrange, allowing your vocals to shine through.
Soundtheory: Gullfoss
Gullfoss operates as an intelligent equalizer that assesses an audio signal and refines it in such a way that your auditory perception can grasp maximum details. This real-time analysis is propelled by Soundtheory's model of auditory cognition, enabling Gullfoss to identify which audible aspects are vying for your focus. Gullfoss facilitates rapid and accurate corrections that would typically be infeasible or demand substantial time and expertise to address.
Price: $199.
Pro Tip: Start with Gullfoss's automatic equalization on a moderate setting to maintain the original character of your mix, and then gradually increase the effect if needed. Remember, Gullfoss is not just for fixing issues; it can also be used creatively to shape your sound and bring out hidden details in your mix.
Landr
Landr is an online AI mastering service. And while it can be a powerful reference point, there are some drawbacks. For example, since LANDR uses AI for mastering, the process is somewhat standardized and doesn't allow for the level of creativity, customization, and nuanced decision-making that a human mastering engineer can provide. That said, it's a great place to start if you have no idea how to master your own music.
Price: Starts at $4/month.
Pro Tip: Experiment with Landr's intensity settings to get the right amount of mastering for your track.
Final Thoughts on AI in Music
AI music generation, creation and production tools are paving the way for innovative approaches to music making. Right now, Soundful is the clear leader, but that could change at any moment.
Whether you're a novice experimenting with your first track or a seasoned producer looking to streamline your workflow, there's an AI tool out there that can elevate your music to new heights, and hopefully this video + guide will get you headed in the right direction <3