Embarking on your songwriting journey can feel intimidating, but the good news is that AI technology can lend a helping hand. The following tools can quickly generate ideas to spark your creativity or even aid you in composing a full piece.
BandLab SongStarter is an intuitive online tool designed to help you quickly develop musical concepts. You begin by inputting some basic information about the kind of track you want to create, after which you can explore various styles, tempos, and keys.
To get going, I entered a few of my favorite artists and chose a genre for my song. Just like that, SongStarter generated three distinct options, including a laid-back R&B groove featuring swinging eighth notes that would provide a solid foundation for a full track.
I selected the groove and clicked Edit in Studio, which opened an online audio editor complete with separate tracks for melody, chords, bass, and drums.
Within SongStarter’s audio editor, you can record vocals, tweak levels, apply effects like reverb, and refine your overall composition. While I wouldn’t necessarily use it for a polished demo, it serves as an effective brainstorming tool, enabling me to generate song ideas swiftly and efficiently.
ChatGPT is widely recognized for its text-based conversational capabilities but is also quite adept at lyric writing and can assist in developing melodies and sounds. You can provide the AI with various prompts regarding themes or topics, and it will generate lyrics that align with your vision.
While ChatGPT is capable of constructing complete verses, choruses, and even bridges, I find that it’s best utilized as a source of inspiration rather than as a replacement for your own lyricism.
For testing purposes, I asked ChatGPT to create lyrics inspired by Van Gogh’s Sunflowers using an AABA structure. Although the lyrics seemed lackluster at first glance, many lyrics do without the accompanying music, and they could easily serve as a solid foundation for a song with some additional refinement.
I also inquired about a melody for the chords Am7, D9, G11, and Am7. To my surprise, it produced a straightforward melody in guitar tablature that could translate well into a vocal line.
ChatGPT can also help you push through creative roadblocks. If you’re feeling stuck mid-song, you can request suggestions from the AI to help you advance your work.
Although I was initially hesitant to incorporate ChatGPT into my creative process, I’ve grown to appreciate its role as a valuable resource for overcoming obstacles and reigniting inspiration in my musical projects.
CassetteAI is a groundbreaking online platform that fuses AI with MIDI technology to create distinct songs customized to your preferences. While it caters especially to beginners, even experienced composers can find it a valuable source of inspiration and a tool for quickly producing professional-quality backing tracks for content creation.
To test CassetteAI, I input prompt variations. The first was, “Create a summer anthem in A major with a beach atmosphere,” which produced unexpectedly impressive results—complete with a convincing MIDI guitar sound.
Next, I employed a more intricate prompt: “Compose a space-themed tune with science fiction elements and an intergalactic vibe.” This yielded a piece that could serve as effective incidental music fit for various types of media.
CassetteAI’s ability to compose full songs, along with its various “Finetuned” models tailored to different genres, truly distinguishes it from others. You can define several parameters including genre, tempo, and mood with the click of a button, while the AI manages the beat, melody, and overall arrangement, with options to refine the song as you wish.
LANDR Composer is a premium AI-driven music creation plugin that lets you start a song from scratch or enhance an existing piece. It can generate arpeggios, bass lines, melodies, and beats based on your inputs, and it’s available in both Audio Unit and VST3 formats for Mac and Windows.
Key features include intricate chord progression generation, smart MIDI sequencing, and Song Mode, which allows you to create entire compositions from diverse musical ideas. Priced around $75, LANDR Composer is compatible with all major digital audio workstations (DAWs). While it’s a fantastic tool for newcomers to songwriting, a basic understanding of DAWs and plugins will help you maximize its potential.
Soundful is a straightforward online platform that helps users create unique, high-quality tracks across different genres. If you’re seeking a solution that handles most of the creative work with minimal input from you, Soundful is likely the best option on this list.
Once you sign up, it’s as easy as picking your preferred genre, selecting a style, and clicking the Create Preview button. Your track will be ready in under a minute, and you can modify various aspects like chord type, tempo, and key to tailor it to your liking.
After finalizing, you can name your track and download it to your music library. The result was an impressive uptempo pop/rock piece that could easily compete with standard karaoke backing tracks in terms of quality and could harmonize well with vocals.
However, similar to many AI-generated tracks, **Soundful** compositions may lack the depth and intricacy a human touch can provide. While ideal for background music or quick projects, professional musicians might find it restrictive for crafting more sophisticated pieces. As a guitarist, I appreciate that I can easily generate music in any key or tempo and use it for practicing scales and modes.
