Earlier this year, Google Labs launched MusicFX DJ, an AI-powered music generator that produces evolving and layered musical compositions based on text prompts.
Since then, the team behind MusicFX DJ has been busy developing the tool in partnership with Grammy-winning musical polymath Jacob Collier, and today they’ve unveiled an updated version that considerably expands what you can do with the platform, while making it more intuitive and user-friendly.
Like its earlier version, MusicFX DJ lets you stack multiple text prompts together to create music based on your instructions in real time. Simply type in the instrument, genre or vibe that you want to hear, and MusicFX will instantly generate sounds in response, blending them into the music in real time - a bit like you’re giving requests to a virtual, AI-powered DJ.
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MusicFX DJ’s interface lets you adjust the influence of each prompt on the overall composition or mute individual layers. In the latest version, you’re able to specify BPM and key to shape its tempo and tonality, mute drums, bass and other instruments, and even dial up or down the density and brightness of the music. Once you’ve landed on a result that you’re happy with, you can share the results or download a minute-long audio clip.
The results are a mixed bag. As was the case with MusicLM, an earlier version of MusicFX, the majority of its output sounds a little confused, and the quality is decidedly lo-fi - it's miles behind tools like Suno and Udio. It is, however, a lot of fun to play around with, and could be an interesting way to create musical ideas that can be fleshed out elsewhere, or generate royalty-free samples to use in your own tracks.
In a video premiered on Collier’s YouTube channel, the artist compares working with MusicFX DJ to improvising on a traditional instrument. “The joy of improvisation is I’m also in the audience,” he says. “I’m also watching what’s coming out. I can make choices based on what happens and what’s inspiring me at any given time. It’s trusting the first thought that comes into your mind.
“It’s a similar process when I’m prompting something into existence [with MusicFX]. It’s a continuous form that’s consistently creating things you’ve never experienced before. It’s an amazing premise. What am I dreaming up today?
“You craft this real-time sonic putty that’s endlessly surprising, and essentially seeks to alchemize or forge connections between things that would otherwise be unlikely… can you put a banjo in a dubstep drop?”
