AI meets the DAW: Check out WavTool
WavTool is a FREE AI-assisted online DAW with some very impressive features. In preparation for some upcoming talks that I am presenting on AI in Music Education, I found this site and have been playing around with it for a few weeks now. WavTool bills itself as AI-assisted music production and feels like they have implemented ChatGPT to assist you in coming up with musical ideas. Users can type in descriptions of what they would like each instrument to sound like and WavTool generates musical clips based on those descriptions. For example, if you want to create a Hip Hop bass line - just type that in. Add more descriptive text like “Create a hard driving and complex hip hop bass line” and you get better results. I am very impressed by the way AI has been implemented in WavTool and I think it can serve as a musical idea generator and then exported into other DAWs. Definitely worth signing up for this one.
When you first open up the WavTool workspace (you’ll need to create a free account using a Google or Facebook account), there is a very well-done tech tip tool that guides you through the process of using WavTool. It’s one of the best tool tip series I have seen. There are also a series of tutorial videos that are really helpful.
I am quite certain that the AI integration in WavTool will be replicated in other DAWs over the coming months. Rather than getting in the way of creating, it is really useful and intuitive. Users may find that the DAW controls are different than other DAWs like Soundtrap and Soundation, but if you understand the basics of a DAW, you’ll figure it out pretty quickly.
Here are some of the key features in WavTool:
Powerful music production tools: WavTool levels up with their standard tool set, including side-chain compression, advanced synthesis, and versatile signal routing - things that you really don’t find in other basic DAWs. Some great teaching opportunities here for high school level music technology courses.
Conductor AI-Assistant: Perfect for young composers, the "Conductor" feature provides intuitive guidance. From suggesting chords and beats to crafting melodies, students can understand and apply foundational music concepts by typing in the kind of melodies, harmonies and beats that they are looking for.
Learn music production as you go: As your students get more and more comfortable with WavTool, they can gradually bring in some of the more advanced features, such as plugin editing and detailed signal routing - things that you don’t really need when you’re first starting out.
Chatbot: In addition to the Conductor feature (which lives in the lower left corner of the interface, there is also a Chatbot feature (lower right) that you can enable to help you with the form, structure and general compositional guidance (see example below).
MIDI controller support: You can connect USB MIDI devices such as keyboards and grid controllers like the Novation Launchpad to make the music making process easier.
Export Options: Once you’ve completed your composition, you can export work as an MP3, WAV or MIDI file. You can also create a ZIP file with all of the stems individually available - VERY cool.
So far, I am extremely impressed with WavTool and I think it is a great opportunity to allow students to interact with an AI chatbot that is actually useful for creating music. If you’re a music teacher, I would strongly suggest checking this out. It is NOT quite fully ready for use in classrooms yet (no class management tools, not COPPA compliant, etc.) but hopefully they will be in the future. For now, using it as a tool for musical idea generation is what I would suggest doing with students - as well as an example of how AI can assist in the composition process.
The Basic version of WavTool is completely free, but they do have a Pro version. Here is what you get by spending $20/month:
