AI Tool: Moises
I realized this morning that I haven’t written anything about one of my all-time favorite AI-powered music tools - Moises. I cannot speak highly enough about this incredible suite of AI-tools for music production. They are the PERFECT example of how AI can be used to help musicians with all aspects of music production, and some of their tools also have incredible value for teaching music. Moises is an audio processing tool that utilizes advanced AI algorithms to analyze and manipulate audio files. The software's standout feature is its ability to separate tracks within a song into individual stems, isolating vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments. This powerful functionality allows students and teachers to focus on specific elements of a composition, making it easier to study arrangement, instrumentation, and performance techniques. Here’s a quick promo video to give you an idea of the look and feel:
Another impressive function of Moises is its pitch and tempo adjustment tools. Users can change the key of a song without affecting its tempo, or change the speed without altering the pitch. This is a REALLY cool feature for students who are learning to play along with recordings or for teachers who need to adapt pieces to suit different skill levels or vocal ranges.
Moises goes beyond basic audio manipulation by offering a variety of practice tools. Its loop function allows users to repeat specific sections of a song, while the metronome feature helps maintain steady timing. Additionally, the software provides real-time feedback on pitch and rhythm, helping students refine their performance skills.
So how these features can be practically applied in a music classroom setting? One possibility is in the choir rehearsal environment. Using Moises, a choir director can easily mute or solo the individual vocal parts from audio recordings, allowing students to practice their specific parts along with other vocal parts. And if a piece is not in an ideal vocal range for the ensemble, the pitch adjustment tool can be used to transpose the piece to a more comfortable range. Pretty cool.
In the instrumental classroom, a band director can use Moises to create custom backing tracks for students to practice with. By removing the lead instrument from a recording, students can play along with a professional ensemble (or whatever ensemble is on the recording). It’s always better to practice with other musicians playing alongside you, so this is a cool feature for when students are practicing on their own at home. The tempo adjustment feature (they call it a speed changer) is also pretty awesome, allowing students to slow the tempo of the piece they are working on and then gradually increase the speed as they get better, without effecting the pitch of the recording.
In a composition or songwriting course, Moises can serve as a powerful creative tool. Students can experiment with remixing existing songs by manipulating individual stems, or use the transcription feature to quickly notate their original compositions. To me, it NEVER gets old being able to mute and solo each individual track of an audio recording. It’s really like magic, and I think that students find it equally as cool as I do. Being able to have students get a more hands-on interaction with music creation is inspiring - especially when they are working with tracks that they already know and love. To be able to manipulate them can help them develop a deeper understanding of arrangement and production techniques.
In my opinion, Moises is an extremely powerful tool for musicians and music educators. There is a FREE version that limits the number of stem separations as well as how many tracks you can work with on a monthly basis. I actually paid for the Premium Version ($39.99/year) and it really unlocks almost all of the most powerful features. You can either use the web-based version (which is what I do) OR they have a download to run the software locally on your Mac or PC. I strongly recommend checking out Moises. If you already are using it with your students, I would love to know what you’re doing, and perhaps more importantly, what your students think of it!