Rick Rubin’s secret music festival in Tuscany hosted performances by James Blake, Arcade Fire and Jack DorseyRarely do producers spiritually connect with music quite like Rick Rubin. Over the weekend, the producer celebrated such a connection between sound and nature, by hosting an intimate festival, under the Italian sunshine, to mark the start of the summer solstice.

READ MORE: “I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is actually a really good song!’”: Rick Rubin made Beabadoobee relearn all her demos on acoustic guitar before recording her new album

With only 150 invitations sent out, Rubin’s Festival Of The Sun was an incredibly under-the-radar affair. Hosted in a medieval village in Tuscany, the festival primarily took place in the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta church.

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Among the performers involved, electronic music artist James Blake made an appearance, while Beth Ditto performed alongside her band Gossip, and Arcade Fire‘s Win Butler and Régine Chassagne knocked out tracks.
There were also performances from DJ Cosmo Gonik, London-based cellist Lucinda Chua, and Michael Milosh’s one-man-band Rhye. Even Twitter founder Jack Dorsey performed, albeit a lecture titled ‘Tech and Freedom’. Movie director Andrew Dominik also held a screening of his 2019 Nick Cave documentary, This Much I Know to Be True.
Notable attendees also included Måneskin‘s Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio, as well as Italian rapper Ghali.
It’s no surprise Rubin was able to lure in such a diverse bunch of acts. Over his impressive career, the Def Jam records founder has worked with some of music’s finest, including heavy metal titans Metallica, nu-metal icons Linkin Park, hip-hop icons Jay-Z, Kanye West and Nas and even the dulcet tones of Adele. Most recently, Rubin produced indie darling Beabadoobee’s upcoming album This Is How Tomorrow Moves.
The majority of the festival was held inside the gorgeous church, but some acts took to a publicly accessible main stage outside. While the festival was exclusive, Variety reports that “access to the town’s main stage was open to the public free of charge.”
We’re unsure if Festival Of The Sun will remain a one-off, but Rubin has previously expressed interest in hosting festivals. In docu-series Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza, Perry Farrell revealed that Rubin wanted to buy Lollapalooza in 2004. “I don’t know why, but Rick Rubin decided to make an offer to me to buy the name for like a million dollars,” he explained. “I won’t tell you exactly how I put it, but I said no.”

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Reason 13 and Reason+ subscription: At almost 25 years old, does this DAW still cut it?Reason 13 £499, or £199 if upgrading from an earlier version
Reason+ subscription £1 for first month then £19.99/month
reasonstudios.com
When Reason debuted in 2000, it was a breath of fresh air. At a time when many DAWs could seem daunting, its hardware-style rack of virtual instruments let you to get hands-on with music production while learning at the same time. There were even virtual patch cables to connect devices together — and fun quirks like removable screws.
Its sequencer and mixer were similarly approachable and, although it’s evolved, Reason’s workflow remains much the same today. Is that enough, however, when the competition has also become so much more capable?

READ MORE: The best DAWs for music producers in all genres, styles and workflows

Having been away from Reason for a number of years, I spent some time with it to find out.
Reason license versus Reason+ Subscription
We have to start with the pricing model. You have two options: a one-off purchase of Reason 13 costing £499 giving you full access to the DAW and its core instruments and effects (known as Racks). If you bought Reason 12 after 1 January 2024 the upgrade is free, which doesn’t sit right with us. Reason Studios shouldn’t be dividing its customer base — if the company wants to reward Reason 12 buyers, it should reward them all regardless of purchase date. Considering the DAW is arguably more niche than the likes of Ableton Live, Logic Pro and FL Studio, it seems wrong to be alienating some of its customers in this way.
In any case, Reason Studios would prefer you to sign up for the Reason+ subscription, which starts at £1 a month, and then moves up to £20. This sub includes Reason 13, plus major updates like Reason 14, and gives you access to all Rack devices and sound packs, while the buyout option omits a number of modules compared to the subscription version. This is the best option if you want to try Reason out for a short while, and is perfect for new or casual music producers exploring what software to use.
But, over a number of years that monthly subscription fee will really add up. Ideally, Reason Studios would offer the full feature set to those buying Reason outright, as well as to subscribers which would seem like a fairer deal. Besides, if subscriptions as a concept really bother you, neither Logic, Cubase or Ableton Live currently use them.
Reason 13 browser
How to use Reason 13
Getting set up is easy, with a companion app managing your authorisations and downloads of the sound banks, Rack devices and additional sound packs if you’ve opted for the subscription.
Reason’s interface is quite unusual, defaulting to a multi-pane window within which you can show, hide and resize the mixer, rack and sequencer sections. There’s also a Devices list from which you can drag and drop instruments and effects into the Rack, including any VST plugins installed on your system.
Reason 13’s Browser lets you intuitively search quickly for any patches, loops or samples within sound banks or on your system. Bundled content is pre-tagged and you can edit tags for any item, as well as using category tabs and your own folder shortcuts to find things swiftly. There’s also auto-play of selected items which is helpful. The Browser is similar to Cubase’s MediaBay, and is a significant improvement on previous versions.
Because Reason shows you its various tools within a single window, the interface can get quite busy. But it is possible to detach the main mixer and rack sections to any additional monitor screens you have, making for a far less fraught workflow.
Reason 13 mixer
A change in 13 is that the sequencer will now split its Edit view into a new area so you can see your arrangement and the data being edited at the same time, just like Ableton Live, Cubase and others. There’s also a dark mode, if that’s to your liking.
Reason’s devices are pretty cool, with the developers adding new models while keeping the beloved original ones. There are synths and samplers, drum machines, loop players and a wealth of mixing and special effects. There are a few new devices in 13; Polytone is a warm analogue synth, Ripley a classic-sounding space delay, while new sidechain, gain and stereo tools boost your mixing toolset.
Then there are clever tools like the Combinator that lets you build multi-instrument and effect modules in a single container, Player instruments that generate MIDI, and utility devices for routing audio and MIDI creatively. All these can be freely routed by spinning the Rack around and patching cables which was, and remains, an incredibly powerful strength of this DAW.
There’s audio tracking too, with automatic time- and pitch-stretching, audio slicing and quantis. Reason’s audio editing features aren’t as deep as Cubase or Logic Pro, but they’re adequate for most users’ needs. You can’t get into very fine-detailed, sample-level manipulation of sound and its range of processing options is more limited, but if that’s not an issue for you, you’ll find the tools it does have are quick and effective to use. Automation is also straightforward, even though you can automate practically every single one of the thousands of parameters available to you.

Reason 13 rack
What is Reason Rack?
An interesting feature that Reason has had for a few years is that a version of the software – its Rack, minus the mixer and sequencer, can be used as a VST3 and AU plugin inside another host.
Load it up as a software instrument in another DAW and you’ll see its Rack and full complement of modules available to use as a source. None of the mixing or sequencing stuff is there since this would probably be overkill (although FL Studio uses it when in plugin mode) so you’re really just accessing all the sounds from another DAW.
There are plugin suites and bundles around that also let you add loads of modules to a DAW, like Arturia’s V Collection at £300, but Reason’s Rack is more varied in terms of the selection of types of modules it provides.
Reason is different to other DAWs. There are some big omissions when compared to Logic Pro and Cubase Pro, both of which cost less than Reason 13 at full price. There are no tools for working with surround, no scoring support, no video support, and no integrated support for working via the cloud. The depth of MIDI and audio editing tools is also limited in comparison.
Reason 13 sequencer
Despite that, Reason is a lot of fun to work with and more than capable of producing professional quality tracks. Its workflow encourages experimentation and the cabling system that’s been there from the start remains a strength. It has everything you need to play, program, mix and edit music and the whole approach – drag and drop modules, load up a sound, tweak, drag some effects and so on – is user-friendly in a way that most DAWs cannot quite match. That comes at the cost of a more streamlined feature set, but the content is strong (with the subscription version especially) and the integration of the sounds with other DAWs via plugin mode is genuinely useful.
Should you get Reason or Reason+?
For some people, Reason alone can be a creative studio for end-to-end music-making, especially since it can access your third-party plugin collection. Its strengths are its intuitive workflow, sound design and easy sequencing.
You may not abandon your existing DAW for Reason but its unique approach to sound design and its user-friendly sequencer make it a fine companion; an alternative way to compose and build tracks. And though the plugin mode isn’t as tight an integration as ReWire was – you could stream audio and MIDI between both DAWs for deeper manipulation — it can still capably complement your main DAW.
The £499 purchase is a hard sell compared to the subscription. It sadly has fewer Rack devices and is pricier than competing DAWs — though this feels like it’s by design. On the flip side, by taking the subscription option with its full set of sounds, you get to see how Reason fits into your workflow over a period of time without the big initial payment, so it might suit you well. After all, the launch offer of £1 for the first month means there’s no reason not to give it a try.

Reason 13 audio edit
Key features

Standalone DAW for Mac and PC
Wide selection of Rack instruments, effects and utilities
Supports VST plugins and works as a plugin in other DAWs
Audio recording, time and pitch stretching
Virtual cable routing system
New tag-based browser
5 new Rack modules
ReGroove MIDI system
Flexible window system
ReMote MIDI mapping system

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“I began to feel like I had no control over the whole thing”: Imogen Heap on making an AI voice modelImogen Heap has constantly been ahead of the curve when it comes to technological innovation in music. So, now that she’s returning from a 10-year hiatus, it seems fitting that she’s diving into the world of AI.
In April, she released her first remix using her AI voice model, ai.mogen, collaborating with Slovakian alt-pop singer Karin Ann on  false gold. Heap made the remix alone but her vocals were made by an AI model that she developed with her team.
In an interview with MusicRadar, Heap revealed that she’d had numerous offers from companies to make an AI  model of her voice. “They knew that I’m interested in technology, and they knew my answer probably wouldn’t be a flat no,” she tells the outlet.
Her excitement was dampened, however, by the list of caveats and terms and conditions attached to the offers. “I began to feel like I had no control over the whole thing. Everybody kept saying how hard it is to create an AI voice model… but I just thought, it can’t be that hard.”
Heap turned the offers down and worked with an audio engineer on an open-source model, which they trained on recordings from throughout her career. “You know what? It came out pretty good,” Heap says. “After that, I was feeling more empowered, like I had a leg to stand on.”

Heap fed the entirety of false gold through ai.mogen, working with over twenty instrumental and vocal stems. “It was the weirdest thing, but it sounded amazing,” she enthuses. “It was my voice trying to sing the kick and snare, the bassline, the keys. My voice became a kind of aura surrounding everything and it really decided the direction I wanted to take the remix.”
The artist is also asked whether she’ll ever use ai.mogen’s text-generation capabilities to write song lyrics. “I mean… yeah? Perhaps I wouldn’t use her because there are other services out there that do a much better job right now,” she says. “If someone wanted to generate something in the style of my lyrics that would be fine, though I would like to be credited at some point.”
She also has plans to expand ai.mogen’s capabilities to eventually become a songwriting and production assistant. “Every single scrap of unused or used audio that I ever create goes into a folder,” she says. “We’re preparing to semantically describe all of it so that, in the future, I can come into my studio and Mogen will say ‘may I suggest this thing that you created in 1998 and as good a place to start?'”
Elsewhere in the interview, she discusses some of the issues AI poses in the music industry, particularly unauthorised voice models. “It does worry me. I will eventually release ai.mogen so that everyone can use it, but I don’t want my voice to say hateful things. So, I need to find a way to do it on acceptable terms.”
She adds: ““I’m in the middle of creating an app that enables musicians to train their own vocal models with privacy and security. The hope is that we can educate and protect people and help them feel a bit more in control of their voice.”
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Creative sound design with mix correction pluginsThe music production world is awash with mix correction plugins, with many using ground-breaking AI that can take a less-than-stellar vocal recording from dud to ‘dude!’ with the click of a button. Elsewhere, de-reverb and stem separation software can pull active sonic elements from a finished track. However, have you ever wondered if they could be used in less corrective and more creative ways? Long answer short: they sure can.

READ MORE: 12 best stem separation software for vocals, ranked

You can use a variety of correction plugins as part of the sound design process. While many will yield crunchy and funky lo-fi artefacts, others can elicit unexpected — and extremely useful — results.
This tutorial heads into experimental territory so be sure to don your cleanest lab coat. You may want to have a few beakers of your favourite spirits on hand as well to encourage out-of-the-box thinking. And don’t worry: if you make a mess, just fix it with the same plugin!
Lossy melodies with stem separation
Stem separation is a popular and powerful type of correction software that splits a piece of audio up into its constituent parts — drums, bass, vocals — and lets you work them individually. RipX DAW Pro from Hit’n’Mix does one better, turning the stems into malleable audio that you can adjust on a per-note basis. What happens if you feed it just a single instrument, like a marimba line with baked-in delay effects?
Start by loading your audio into RipX DAW Pro. It will do its thing, analyzing the audio and then separating it out into individual notes. Move the pieces of audio up and down the piano roll to create a new melody, deleting unnecessary ones as you go. There are a number of pitch effects as well, such as Pitch to Scale, Quantize Pitch and Flatten Pitch. Play around with these until you end up with something you like. Finally, bounce it out and import it into your main DAW project.
While RipX DAW Pro does have a Repair section to reduce artefacts, you can ignore this for this technique. After all, swimmy, low-bit MP3 effects are gaining popularity thanks to plugins such Goodhertz Lossy and Lese Codec. It’s an extreme effect but could be just what your next lo-fi creation needs.

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Transient enhancing with de-reverb
De-reverb plugins are a handy way to remove room sound from vocals, particularly recordings for interviews and podcasts. However, there’s no rule saying they can’t be used on other types of material.
In this example, the De-reverb module from iZotope’s RX 10 Elements does its best to clean up the reverb from a noisy tambourine loop. By tweaking the controls, you can emphasise the transient attack of the tambourine — the portion when the hand strikes the skin — and bring out some lo-fi artefacts in the process.
First, click the Learn button and let the in-built AI listen to the signal. Next, bring up the Reduction slider and adjust the different frequency bands in the Reverb Profile until you’ve brought out the strike of the tambourine. Engage the Enhance dry signal button for a more pronounced effect. Try lowering the Artifact smoothing slider to bring out lo-fi goodness. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!

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Transient smoothing with de-click
In the same way that de-reverb can remove the sustain portion of a signal, so can de-clicking take away the transient. Here, RX 10 Elements De-click from iZoptope is confusing the attack potion of a clave in a loop with a click and doing its best to wipe it away.
Start by placing De-click on the track you want to affect. It’s a pretty simple plugin; just bring up the Sensitivity slider until the transient is suitably smooshed. Try using the Click widening control and changing the algorithm for different results.
For an extreme lo-fi effect, try strapping De-click across an entire drum bus.

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Psychedelic drums with vocal processing plugins
Designed to correct pitch imperfections, vocal processing plugins can work wonders on the human voice. But can they be used on non-vocal material? Percussion sounds tend to not have much pitch information — sounds like the perfect opportunity for experimentation.
While full-on pitch correction like Auto-Tune might not have too much of an effect, there are plenty more plugins in Antares’ Auto-Tune Unlimited suite that do, such as Choir.
Auto-Tune Choir, as the name suggests, is a vocal multiplier. Instead of voices, try running percussion through it, like this conga loop. Turning up the Choir Size to 32 voices creates a psychedelic and tightly delayed drum line. Use the controls in the Variation section – Vibrato, Pitch and Timing – to further tweak out the drums. Results are sure to be unique and unexpected.

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Drum loop tightening with drum removal technology
It may seem paradoxical but slapping a drum removal plugin onto a drum bus can result in some surprisingly useful results. Tightening, levelling and punch-ifying are all possible with judicious use of the technology.
Zynaptiq’s Unmix::Drums is a top-quality plugin for removing or reducing the level of drums in mixed stems. When you put it on a drum bus or percussion loop, as in this example, you can make some interesting adjustments.
Start with the big Drum Level control in the middle and fine-tune it until you have a nice balance of punch and room sound. Use the Attack and Release controls to affect the transient and tail. In the Fine-Tune area, bring up the Bass Synth slider to add power back to the kick drum, if necessary. Finally, engage the compressor and limiter functions at the top for extra punch.

Learn more at https://musictech.com/learn/.
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12 best stem separation software for vocals, rankedStem separation has long been a fascination in the audio world, the end goal being able to split a mixed track into separate parts without any noticeable glitches or audio artefacts. A few years ago, it felt like the stuff of science fiction, but more powerful computers and access to machine learning datasets have turned it into a reality that’s only getting better.

READ MORE: The best DAWs for music producers in all genres, styles and workflows

Which is the best stem separation software?
To find out which stem separation software is best on vocals, we’re using the track Restless Mind by Steven Beddall.
In all cases, the highest-quality configurations were chosen on the software. These examples should give you a rough idea of the stemming quality, but the results can vary from track to track. It’s possible that one algorithm may perform slightly better than another when fed a certain audio, but the results could be reversed with a different track.
Here’s what to listen for when comparing the results:

Do any other instruments leak into the vocal stem at any point?
Are there any timbral changes? Does the algorithm get confused with other instruments and take some information away?
Are natural reverb tails included?
How does it handle backing vocals?
Are there any additional artefacts like metallic whistles, glitches, hiss or phasing issues?

After carefully analysing the acapellas, and cross-referencing with a few other examples, we found the results from Gaudio Studio to be the cleanest overall — a surprise, given that it’s one of the cheapest.
Gaudio Studio provided an effective reduction of noise and instrument spill, a clean capture of backing vocals and reverbs, and the most consistent high-end frequency content.
If you’re willing to put the time into experimenting with the various models, then you can probably get similar results with the free Ultimate Vocal Remover 5. After that, Moises, Lalal.ai, AudioStrip and Logic Pro were all very impressive, with each offering variations on the amount of reverb and backing vocals captured.

Best stem separation software, ranked

Gaudio Studio
Ultimate Vocal Remover 5
Moises
AudioStrip
Logic Pro
Lalal.ai
Hit’n’Mix RipX
Akai MPC Stems
FL Studio
Serato Sample
iZotope RX11
Acon Digital REMIX

What do you think? Have a listen to the files and see which you think sounds best. Each option has different pros and cons including processing speed, price and workflow, so the final decision isn’t necessarily black and white. Different tracks could result in a different leaderboard. Whichever one you go for, we can all agree at least that the technology is mind-blowing — and it’s only going to get better.
Note that you should always respect the copyright of any original material you use these tools on. Also, some of these tools will process the audio using their own servers, so an internet connection is required and the waiting times can vary.
Stem separation software available in 2024
iZotope – RX11
iZotope RX11. Image: MusicTech
Music Rebalance is a feature inside of RX11 that uses a tweaked version of Spleeter to split stereo audio into Vocals, Percussion, Bass and Other stems. You can then change the volume of each to rebalance a track, or solo an element and bounce it to a new audio file. You also get controls for each stem to edit the strength of the separation and three different quality settings.
It comes as part of RX11 Advanced, but you can get it cheaper inside of RX11 Standard, and both go on sale regularly. Music Rebalance has had an update for RX11 and features upgraded machine learning based on modern neural networks.
Price: £389 RX10 Standard, £1,149 RX10 Advanced
VST3, AU, AAX, AAX Audiosuite Plug-in
Separation options: Vocals, Percussion, Bass, Other
Library/Algorithm: Spleeter algorithms implemented in iZotope’s own code
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Acon Digital – Remix
Acon Digital REMIX. Image: MusicTech
Remix is the only option here that processes audio in real-time in your DAW. It runs as a plug-in (or inside of Acon Digital’s Acoustica Suite) and features a low-latency algorithm from HANCE.
You can split your audio into Vocals, Piano, Bass, Drums, and Other stems and then balance the volume or solo each. You also get sensitivity controls to fine-tune each stem, plus the ability to route the output of each channel to its own track.
It may not have the competitive quality as some of the offline options, but it might prove useful for quickly rebalancing stem volumes within your DAW.
Price: £39.90 (also comes bundled with Acoustica Standard Edition for £49.90)
VST, VST3, AU, AAX plug-in
Separation options: Vocals, Piano, Bass, Drums, Other
Library/Algorithm: HANCE Realtime Stem Separation
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Hit’n’ Mix – RipX DAW
Hit’n’Mix RipX DAW. Image: MusicTech
RipX DAW and RipX DAW Pro are based on the unique Rip Audio format, which deconstructs audio down to its individual elements and treats audio and MIDI as one. You can split audio into stems for voice, drums + percussion, bass, other sounds + instruments, and guitar + piano. The beauty of RipX is that you can further refine the detection to get the best results, and even edit the harmonic and unpitched elements separately.
Other features include Melodyne-style note editing, the ability to change and randomise the key or generate new harmonies, adding effects to individual notes, replacing any note with a different sampled instrument, advanced repair and cleanup, and more.
Price: £99 RipX DAW, £198 RipX DAW Pro
Standalone
Separation options: Voice, drums & percussion, bass, other sounds & instruments, and guitar and piano
Library/Algorithm: Ripper Engine + Modified Demucs
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Omnisale – Lalal.ai
Lalal.ai. Image: MusicTech
Lalal comes as both a web-based and desktop/mobile app stem separator. You can try several files for free, or choose from a range of one-off fees that get you a set number of processing minutes. This is a great alternative to monthly payment plans if you think you’ll only occasionally want to use the service.
The latest version is based on a state-of-the-art, in-house developed neural network called Orion, which uses direct synthesis to recreate stems with exceptional quality. Currently, you can extract Vocals, Backing Tracks, Drums, Piano, Synthesizer, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Strings, and Wind, making Lalal one of the most versatile options in the list.
Price: £18 for 90 minutes, £70 for 500 minutes (other options also available)
Web-based, plus desktop iOS and Android apps
Stems: Vocal and instrumental, Voice and Noise, Drums, Bass, Piano, Synthesizer, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Strings, Wind
Library/Algorithm: Orion/Phoenix
www.lalal.ai
Serato – Serato Sample
Serato Sample. Image: MusicTech
Serato Sample is a refined sampler with a lightning-fast workflow. It features Serato’s renowned Pitch ’n Time algorithm for stretching audio, and the recent V2 update added built-in stem separation.
You simply load an audio file, and Serato Sample will automatically work out the bpm and key, and will then sync it to your host tempo. You then get access to four buttons for vocal, bass, drums, and music/other parts. These can then be switched on and off at will whilst you trigger samples in the normal manner.
The separation isn’t the best, but being able to import audio into a plug-in, and then instantly get to work chopping and composing is a bonus for workflow.
Price: $149 (or $9.99 pm subscription
VST, VST3, AU plug-in
Stems: Vocal, Drums, Bass, Other
Library/Algorithm: Serato’s proprietary machine-learning algorithm
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Image-Line – FL Studio 21.2
Image-Line FL Studio 21.2. Image: MusicTech
Image-Line added built-in stem separation in a recent update to FL Studio. Alongside the extensive production features of the program, you can now right-click on a piece of audio and select Extract Stems from Sample. You then get a dialogue box where you can select from Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other Instruments, and it gives an estimate of how long the processing will take.
FL Studio was the first DAW to include this feature and the fact it’s all built-in is a massive workflow boon. Logic Pro has recently followed suit, and hopefully, it won’t be long until Ableton Live and other DAWs jump onboard with their versions.
Price: £164 Producer Edition, £245 Signature Bundle, £409 All Plugins Edition
Standalone DAW
Stems: Vocals, Drums, Bass, Instruments
Library/Algorithm: Customised Demucs
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Gaudio Studio
Gaudio Studio. Image: MusicTech
Up until recently, Gaudio Studio was a completely free online splitter that used the Gaudio Source SEParation (GSEP) model to separate audio into Vocal, Drums, Bass, Electric Guitar, Piano, and Other Instruments. The website and services have recently refreshed, so you can now purchase bundles of minutes for a very reasonable price.
You can also try out 20 minutes of audio for free with an MP3 format output, or if you upgrade then you get the option of a fast-track service and WAV files.
As mentioned above, this is the most convincing option for separating vocal stems.
Price: $7 for 50 minutes, $16 for 200 Minutes, $50 for 1000 minutes
Online
Stems: Vocal, Drums, Bass, Electric Guitar, Piano, and Other Instruments
Library/Algorithm: GSEP (Gaudio source SEParation)
https://studio.gaudiolab.io
Moises.AI
Moises. Image: MusicTech
Moises comes as a slick web application, plus a desktop and mobile app. The pro version lets you separate audio into vocals (with separate backing vocals), drums (including individual elements), bass, guitar, background vocals, piano, and strings, making this a versatile option. It also has the ability to separate multimedia tracks into dialogue, soundtrack and effects.
If you want to enhance your workflow, then there’s also a Stems plug-in available as part of the Pro Plan, with Voice Studio and Mastering plug-ins coming soon.
The free Starter plan will get you 5 audio separations per month, with the other plans offering unlimited separations, higher quality and a host of bonus features. Moises also updates its algorithms fairly regularly.
Price: Free, £4.99pm Musician Plan, £24.99pm Producer plan (discounts for paying annually)
Online, Desktop app, mobile app
Stems: Vocals, backing vocals, drums (with separates), bass, guitar, background vocals, piano, and strings
Library/Algorithm: Moises AI Proprietary Stem Separation Model
www.moises.ai
AudioStrip
AudioStrip. Image: MusicTech
AudioStrip is a high-quality online option that uses the results of both the MDX-Net and Demucs libraries. The company also notes on its website that the algorithms will be updated as and when new methods come out.
When you upload a file, you can choose from three different algorithms, and then separate out to vocals, instrumental, bass, drums, other, piano and guitar.
You can choose from a basic free option that includes 3 isolations, 3 masters, and 3 transcripts per month, with a slower isolation speed, limited file size and MP3 output format. Or alternatively, the Premium option gives you unlimited uploads, faster isolation, larger files, WAV, FLAC and MP3 formats and batch uploads.
Price: Free / £7.99pm Premium
Online
Stems: Vocals, Instrumental, Bass, Drums, Other, Piano and Guitar
Library/Algorithm: DemucsV4, VB-Splitz V3, VB-Splitz V4
https://audiostrip.co.uk
Apple Logic Pro 11
Apple Logic Pro 11. Image: MusicTech
One of the front-running new features in Logic’s latest update is its built-in stem separation. You can right-click on any audio region and then choose whether to separate it into Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other instruments. It’s a feature that uses the grunt of the Apple Silicon chips, so it’s only available for more recent computers. However, the offshoot is that it’s incredibly fast to process.
As Apple is always incredibly tight-lipped about what goes on behind the scenes, it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out exactly what models and libraries they’ve been using. Suffice to say that the quality isn’t the best in show, but it is still impressive.
Price: $199 (Stem separation requires Apple Silicon chips)
Standalone DAW
Stems: Vocals, Drums, Bass, Instruments
Library/Algorithm: Unknown
[products ids=”4cOxjY9hweLJpjNiHjUXjk”]
Akai MPC Stems
Akai MPC Stems. Image: MusicTech
Akai MPC Stems can be purchased for £9.99 as an add on for the MPC 2 software. This is a feature-packed DAW that runs on your desktop, but it can also be used in Controller Mode to seamlessly sync to the full MPC hardware lineup. The ability to use MPC Stems without the need for a computer will be coming to certain hardware units at some point in the future.
Whether you’re using the interface on the software or the screen on the hardware, you simply select the audio, hit the Stems button and then select which of the vocals, bass, drums and other stems you’d like to create.
Price: £9.99 for MPC Stems, plus £199.99 for MPC2 software (comes free with hardware)
Standalone
Stems: Vocals, Bass, Drums, Other
Library/Algorithm: zplane STEMS PRO
www.akaipro.com
Ultimate Vocal Remover 5
Ultimate Vocal Remover 5. Image: MusicTech
If you want to delve deep into using a range of different models, then you might want to check out the free Ultimate Vocal Remover 5. With this standalone program, you can choose from a wide range of free algorithms, with more downloadable as they become available. You can even use an Ensemble mode to run your audio through two models to get improved results.
The only downside, is that it’s not very user friendly, and the processing can take quite a long time with certain settings. It’s also a little overwhelming as it’s not obvious which settings will yield the best results, although you can check mvsep.com for separation quality leaderboards of results from other users.
Price: Free
Standalone
Stems: Vocals, Bass, Drums, Other
Library/Algorithm: Multiple Demucs, MDX-Net and VR Architecture models
www.ultimatevocalremover.com
The post 12 best stem separation software for vocals, ranked appeared first on MusicTech.

New multiband saturation #plugin from the creators of Gullfoss. Need to test, it can be really good. #Musicians #Producers #musicproduction

Google’s AI can now create an “unlimited number” of soundtracks for videoGoogle’s AI research lab, DeepMind, has shared an update on the development of its video-to-audio (V2A) technology, a process that makes synchronised audiovisual generation possible.
According to Google’s AI page, V2A “combines video pixels with natural language text prompts to generate rich soundscapes for the on-screen action.” DeepMind says the technology can “understand raw pixels”, allowing for the real-time generation of video soundtracks.
READ MORE: EU AI Act explained: What does it mean for music producers and artists?
Additionally, the feature uses text prompts to generate rich audio soundtracks. Together, Google’s V2A technology supports the creation of dramatic scores, “realistic sound effects or dialogue that matches the characters and tone of a video.”
Google’s new AI feature means “enhanced creative control” meaning V2A technology can create an “unlimited number” of soundtracks.
While the tech company’s update on AI sounds creatively promising, there is still some progress to be made until the tool is rolled out to the general public.
The development of V2A is “improving”, however, it will be some time before the update will be widely available: “Still, there are a number of other limitations we’re trying to address and further research is underway,” the blog post reads.
The statement continues: “Since the quality of the audio output is dependent on the quality of the video input, artefacts or distortions in the video, which are outside the model’s training distribution, can lead to a noticeable drop in audio quality.”
Watch example clips of Google’s new V2A tool in action below.

In related news, Google recently came under fire from Sony Music, after the label raised suspicions that Google — along with OpenAI, Microsoft and over 700 other tech firms — have made “unauthorised uses” of Sony’s music catalogue to train AI. The public letter was titled ‘Declaration of AI Training Opt-Out’, and reads:
“We support artists and songwriters taking the lead in embracing new technologies in support of their art. Evolutions in technology have frequently shifted the course of creative industries. AI will likely continue that long-standing trend.
“However, that innovation must ensure that songwriters’ and recording artists’ rights, including copyrights, are respected. For that reason, SMG’s affiliates, Sony Music Publishing (SMP) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME), on behalf of themselves and their wholly owned or controlled affiliates, are making this affirmative, public declaration confirming that, except as specifically and explicitly authorized by either SME or SMP, as the case may be, each of them expressly prohibits and opts out of any text or data mining, web scraping or similar reproductions, extractions or uses.”
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The post Google’s AI can now create an “unlimited number” of soundtracks for video appeared first on MusicTech.

The Doobie Brothers at the Forum, Los AngelesLegendary rock band the Doobie Brothers played the KIA Forum on Sunday night and it was their first time at that venue in three years. For the first half of the tour, blues legend Robert Cray opened the show, and the second half will see Steve Winwood take over. 

Back in 2019, to celebrate the Doobie Brothers' 50th Anniversary, the group announced a tour with Michael McDonald to take place in 2020 which had been postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 also happened to be the year that the Doobie Brothers were finally inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame along with McDonald.

Before the pandemic, they had most recently played the KIA Forum in 2018 with Steely Dan and in 2017 with Chicago. The Doobie Brothers also played Classic West at Dodger Stadium in 2017. The Doobie Brothers have gone through a number of lineup changes over their 50 year history but have always included founding members Tom Johnston (Guitar/Vocals) and Pat Simmons (Guitar/Vocals).

From 1971 to 2016, there had always been two drummers in the group, but in 2016 Ed Toth, who joined in 2005 (Vertical Horizon), became the sole drummer and in 2018, former Allman Brothers percussionist Marc Quinones joined the group.

In the past decade, there was another lineup change when Guy Allison, the group’s keyboardist of nearly 20 years, left the group and former Little Feat. Keyboardist Bill Payne joined from 2015-2021. The Doobie Brothers also include John McFee (guitar/violin/harmonica), who was a member from 1979-1982 and joined again in 1993. 

Bassist John Cowan was a member from 1993-1995 and then again starting in 2010. Since 1998, Marc Russo has been the sax player. McDonald joined in 1975 and in the seven years he was a member until the band split up. In that time the group released four of their biggest selling albums. McDonald had a majorly successful solo career following the end of the group and has appeared with the Doobie Brothers on and off since they reformed in 1987, and this is the longest tour he's had with Johnston and Simmons in around 40 years.  

The Doobie Brothers played a set of 19 songs, full of hits. The Doobie Brothers had over 30 charting singles. A Doobie Brothers show is all about the music and no special effects or guests. The set was all Doobie Brothers songs rather than including songs from McDonald's highly successful solo career. The last time they played the KIA Forum, it took place just a week after the release of their first album in seven years Liberte, but it was their first release with McDonald since One Step Closer (1980) with the exception of Southbound in 2014 which was a duets album of the group’s classics. 

The opening song was “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While).” Other hits included “It Keeps You Runnin’,” “Minute By Minute,” and “Jesus Is Just Alright." McDonald wad featured on songs "Minute By Minute," "What a Fool Believes," and "Takin' It to the Streets." I would call the last seven songs the sing-a-long portion of the show since they spaced out some hits earlier.

Three of those songs made up the encore. McFee delivered an outstanding harmonica solo for “Long Train Runnin’” and also included a drum/percussion solo from Toth and Quinones. Throughout the show, McFee played several instruments including guitar, pedal steel guitar, harmonica, and for “”Black Water” played the fiddle. McDonald played both keyboard and organ. The second to last song of the encore was “Takin’ It to the Streets,” which started with an extended saxophone and keyboard intro between McDonald and Russo. The final song of the evening was a song that can always make people happy, "Listen to the Music.”

The post The Doobie Brothers at the Forum, Los Angeles first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Denis Ladegaillerie’s consortium now owns 94.99% of Believe, as ex-Shazam boss joins company boardFour months after Ladegaillerie launched bid with EQT and TCV, we're nearly at the finish line
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A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffsThe tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized […]
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Why is Bitcoin price down today?The Bitcoin price is down today, hitting a 6-week low as BTC ETF outflow ramps up and traders anticipate selling intensifying in July.

Audius signs licensing deals with ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESACThe artist-centric streaming platform Audius has signed licensing agreements with all four U.S. Performing Rights Organizations (PROs): ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC. Songwriters whose songs are played on Audius will. Continue reading
The post Audius signs licensing deals with ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESAC appeared first on Hypebot.

An Easy Transparent Edge Lit DisplayDisplays are crucial to modern life; they are literally everywhere. But modern flat-panel LCDs and cheap 7-segment LED displays are, well, a bit boring. When we hackers want to display the progress of time, we want something more interesting, hence the plethora of projects using Nixie tubes and various incantations of edge-lit segmented units. Here is [upir] with their take on the simple edge-lit acrylic 7-segment design, with a great video explanation of all the steps involved.
Engraving the acrylic sheets by hand using 3D printed stencils
The idea behind this concept is not new. Older displays of this type used tiny tungsten filament bulbs and complex light paths to direct light to the front of the display. The modern version, however, uses edge-lit panels with a grid of small LEDs beneath each segment, which are concealed within a casing. This design relies on the principle of total internal reflection, created by the contrast in refractive indices of acrylic and air. Light entering the panel from below at an angle greater than 42 degrees from normal is entirely reflected inside the panel. Fortunately, tiny LEDs have a wide dispersion angle, so if they are positioned close enough to the edge, they can guide sufficient light into the panel. Once this setup is in place, the surface can be etched or engraved using a CNC machine or a laser cutter. A rough surface texture is vital for this process, as it disrupts some of the light paths, scattering and directing some of it sideways to the viewer. Finally, to create your display, design enough parallel-stacked sheets for each segment of the display—seven in this case, but you could add more, such as an eighth for a decimal point.
How you arrange your lighting is up to you, but [upir] uses an off-the-shelf ESP32-S3 addressable LED array. This design has a few shortcomings, but it is a great start—if a little overkill for a single digit! Using some straightforward Arduino code, one display row is set to white to guide light into a single-segment sheet. To form a complete digital, you illuminate the appropriate combination of sheets. To engrave the sheets, [upir] wanted to use a laser cutter but was put off by the cost. A CNC 3018 was considered, but the choice was bewildering, so they just went with a hand-engraving pick, using a couple of 3D printed stencils as a guide. A sheet holder and light masking arrangement were created in Fusion 360, which was extended into a box to enclose the LED array, which could then be 3D printed.
If you fancy an edge-lit clock (you know you do) check out this one. If wearables are more your thing, there’s also this one. Finally, etched acrylic isn’t anywhere near as good as glass, so if you’ve got a vinyl cutter to hand, this simple method is an option.

Moog is reportedly discontinuing the Moog One polyphonic analogue synthThe Moog One polyphonic analogue synthesizer has reportedly been discontinued, according to Belgian music instrument retailer Turnlab.
Introduced in 2018, the Moog One was the brand’s first analogue polysynth in over three decades. Its release marked a significant milestone, combining Moog’s heritage designs with powerful architecture and highly advanced features. With over 200 knobs and switches on its front panel, the synth has been described as a “dynamic conduit for the expression of one’s own unique creative voice.” And it certainly looks the part.

READ MORE: Beetlecrab Tempera: “As soon as we placed our hand on the grid and played a chord, we knew immediately, ‘Okay, this is it’”

Turnlab announced the news via Instagram, writing: “Moog One is now Discontinued (EOL) Still want one of these beauties? We still have a very limited stock!”.
The retailer has also responded to users in the comment section, confirming that both the eight and sixteen-voice models will be discontinued. Neither Moog nor inMusic (which acquired Moog in 2023) has released an official statement on the discontinuation at the time of writing.

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Among the Moog One’s most celebrated users are Flying Lotus, Flume, Skrillex, Arca, Suzanne Ciani, Jean-Michel Jarre, Jamiroquai’s Matt Johnson, and Lisa Bella Donna. Screenwriter and comedian Duncan Trussell has also appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to express his love for the Moog One and other Moog products. “It would be fucking cool if you started playing the Moog One,” Trussell said to Rogan.

MusicTech has reached out to Moog for comment, with a response pending.
Although the Moog One may no longer be available, Moog is still looking to future projects. Last month, the American synth maker debuted the Spectravox, a semi-modular analogue synth that specialises in spectral processing.
Moog said that the Spectravox is more than just a synthesizer, and is “an exploration and expansion of the traditional vocoder and filter bank topology, engineered to inspire and transform the landscape of modern music production”.

 
Earlier this year, Moog announced it is moving out of its famous home on Broadway Street in Asheville, North Carolina, where it has resided since 2011. The move came shortly after the brand’s acquisition by inMusic, which also owns Akai, Alesis, M-Audio, Numark, and others, and it was reported that most of its synths would be manufactured in Taiwan moving forward.
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The post Moog is reportedly discontinuing the Moog One polyphonic analogue synth appeared first on MusicTech.

Virgin Music Group, Island sign agreement with Carín León’s Socios Music to release new materialThe first release under the new partnership has already resulted in León’s best first-week album debut to date
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