AI Tools That Are Actually Useful in Music Production
By Hussam Alkurdi
There’s no shortage of AI tools claiming to revolutionize music production. I’ve spent the last few months testing a bunch of them .Here’s where I’ve landed.
The ones that actually deliver
Stem separation has gotten ridiculously good. Tools like LALAL.ai and the latest iterations of Demucs are saving hours of work that used to require clean multitracks or painstaking manual isolation. For remixing, sampling, and catalog work, this is a genuine game-changer.
Mastering assistants like LANDR and iZotope’s AI mastering have found their lane. They’re not replacing skilled mastering engineers for major releases, but for demos, quick references, and independent releases, they’re more than good enough. I use them regularly for rough mixes I want to share quickly.
Melody and chord suggestion tools are interesting but not essential. Things like Orb Composer or the AI features in Ableton and Logic can spark ideas when you’re stuck, but they’re more like a creative nudge than a co-writer.
What’s still mostly hype
Full AI-generated tracks. Yes, tools like Suno and Udio are impressive demos, but the output still lacks the intentionality that makes music connect. They’re fun to play with, not ready to ship.
My take
The best AI music tools are the ones that remove friction, not the ones trying to replace creativity. If a tool saves me 30 minutes of tedious work so I can spend that time actually making decisions, I’m in. That’s the filter I apply to everything.
Keep experimenting. Stay skeptical. Use what works.
Get the signal before the noise.
I send occasional emails about what I'm building, what I'm learning, and what's coming next in music and tech — no filler, no spam, just the stuff I'd actually want to read.