How can producers and composers benefit from AI?

AI can be a productivity booster for the modern composer, sound engineer, or producer.

And it can be used for far more than just generating new melodies. AI can also be used to make mixing and mastering easier, as well as assist with converting audio transcription into standard notation. You can even use it to create wholly new sounds never heard before. Electronic musicians who adore remixing audio are also likely familiar with its ability to separate stems from an already mastered track.

While AI adoption may seem intimidating at first, it's best to think of it as another powerful tool in your professional arsenal. The audio industry has already seen a shift, with developers like Soundtheory, Sonible, and Waves Audio developing tools using AI. Additionally, the recently released Ableton Live 12 also saw the introduction of AI into one of electronic music's most popular digital audio workstations (DAWs). And we're already seeing the results of some pretty big names in the audio industry, like iZotope and Focusrite, moving toward integrating artificial intelligence. 

This is an exciting time for audio, and AI is only going to make the lives of producers easier.

Improved workflows and results

AI for mixing engineers

A mixing engineer can spend hours listening to the same track. Now, with the power of AI, mixing engineers can use tools that speed up the process of seeking out masked frequencies and poor dynamics.

You might still have to make a few tweaks to the results, but it certainly beats spending hours trying to polish one track manually. The recently released smart:EQ 4 can even clean up audio on individual instrument groups.

Repairing audio with AI

If you are in the field of post-production and audio repair, you are likely familiar with tools like iZzotope's RX for cleaning up clipping and noise from less-than-stellar recordings. RX has been an industry standard for some time when it comes to post-production repair work. Newer releases by iZotope, like RX10, bring forward that same dependable workflow more clearly and consistently.

Creating new sounds with AI

The audio industry as a whole is even seeing things like bespoke sample generation. Synplant 2 might be a bit resource-intensive, but there is no shortage of sounds you can make from simple inputs. Other tools like Emergent Drums can develop a brand-new set of percussion sounds with minimal input from the end-user.

Making remixing easier with stem separation

One of the more interesting applications of AI seen in the audio industry is stem separation. Typically, when you're looking for something like isolated vocals for the sake of a remix, stems are your best option. There are quite a few free tools you can find online like Spleeter, which take some of the guesswork out of stem separation. However, this is also a feature that is gaining popularity with DAWs.

AI-enabled DAWs

DAWs like FL Studio and Serato Studio have integrated stem separation, making for a speedier process. AI integration with DAWs isn't as common as standard plugins or standalone tools, but Ableton's popular Live 12 comes with some AI features enabled, even if it lacks the AI mastering and stem separation seen in FL Studio.

AI for converting sound into notation

AudioScore Ultimate might not be a perfect means of transcribing audio to notation, but it is astoundingly accurate. You'd likely spend just as much time touching up and clarifying passages doing it by ear. This frees up significant time to get the work done with far less effort.

Additional resources

All of the AI tools mentioned aren't going to eliminate the need for skilled engineers, talented composers, or dedicated audio repair technicians. Putting AI to work for you is only a net benefit. 

If you'd like to learn more or simply get up to speed, then Fiverr is a great resource for producers and engineers alike. Our AI knowledge hub can help you learn how to better integrate AI into your creative workflow. If you'd like to see how AI can benefit you as a producer, this article by Mastering the Mix helps lay down some possibilities and the current state of AI in the music industry. Simply put, developers and producers are just getting started when it comes to integrating new tech into their output.

The music industry is shifting, so take the leap and start integrating AI into your creative processes today.