Written by Katrina Proctor, Content Manager at Midnight Music
Introduction
As we all know, technology has been playing an increasingly interesting role in the world of music education. From digital sheet music to interactive learning platforms, it’s transforming how we teach and how our students learn. Today, I want to introduce you to an innovative tool that’s taking music tech to the next level: Moises. Moises is one of the hundreds of free music tech tools that are covered in the Ultimate Free Music Tech Resources Guide – grab your free copy here!
Moises is a platform that uses artificial intelligence to offer a range of features that can completely transform your music lessons. Its capabilities include AI Audio Separation, a Smart Metronome & Audio Speed Changer, Pitch Changer & AI Key Detection, as well as Chord Detection and other tools. It also allows you to remove or isolate vocals and instruments from any song, creating highly customizable teaching materials. The platform is accessible on multiple devices and offers a Cloud-Based Library for easy storage and retrieval of your work.
In this blog post, we’ll be diving deeper into each of these features and exploring how they can enhance your teaching methods and your students’ learning experiences. Whether you’re teaching instrumental lessons, directing a choir, or guiding aspiring future music producers, Moises is a very groundbreaking tool. Let’s dive in.
What is Moises?
Moises is an AI-powered platform that uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to offer a range of features that have incredible potential for both teachers and students. The service is available on multiple devices, allowing you to access your work no matter where you are. Moises is available as an iOS app, Android app, web-based platform, PC desktop app, and an app for Mac desktops.
The power of Moises is in its ability to use artificial intelligence to achieve tasks that are typically too difficult or time-consuming to do before. For example, it can quickly and accurately separate audio elements from a track and create custom music elements with isolated vocals and instruments called “stems.” It can also change the tempo of any song without altering the pitch, as well as detect the key and chords of any given track. All of these features can be used to create highly personalized teaching materials in a fraction of the time it would typically take.
Click here to watch a short intro to Moises:
How Does Moises Work?
At its core, Moises operates through a very complex process known as audio separation. Audio separation is the act of isolating individual components of a song—such as vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments—from a mixed track. This is done with cutting-edge AI algorithms. In simple terms, the platform essentially ‘listens’ to a track, identifies different elements based on their unique audio characteristics, and then separates them into editable tracks, allowing users to isolate or remove specific parts of the song at will. Whether you’re looking to isolate the bass line of a jazz piece or the vocals of a pop song, Moises’ technology makes it possible with pretty remarkable precision and clarity.
How Much Does Moises Cost?
Moises has both a free option and a premium plan. The free plan is a really solid way to play around with the tool before committing to a subscription and is a good starting place for students who will be experimenting with AI audio tools.
Here is a basic breakdown of the free vs. premium versions:
- Free: Users can upload and edit up to 5 tracks of 5 minutes each per month. Each track is available in your account for up to 3 days. After that, your access to the track will expire.
- Premium: $3.99/month or $39.99/year. Access to unlimited tracks of up to 20 minutes in length each. Unlimited, saved songs to access later (no time limit). Ability to export audio files in MP3 or WAV format.
For more in-depth information about free vs. premium features, you can read more here in the Moises blog.
Key Features and Benefits of Moises
AI Audio Separation
Moises’ track separation feature allows users to isolate or remove specific elements from a song, such as vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments. This is a very cool tool for both music educators and students, as it enables focused practice and study on individual parts of a composition. Music teachers can create custom backing tracks for their students, while students can play along with different songs or focus on mastering specific sections.
Pitch and Tempo Control
With Moises, you have complete control over the pitch and tempo of any track. The platform’s audio speed changer allows you to adjust the speed of a song without affecting its pitch, making it easier for learners to practice at their own pace. Meanwhile, the pitch changer and AI key detection capabilities enable users to alter the key of a song to suit their vocal range or instrumental tuning, offering a more personalized learning experience.
Chord Detection & Lyric Transcription
Moises can find and break down your song into chords that can be used for play-along activities, and it can transcribe lyrics for karaoke-style tracks that sync to the music.
Smart Metronome
The Smart Metronome feature in Moises is designed to provide a customizable, intelligent tempo guide for musicians. It can automatically detect the tempo (beats per minute or BPM) of a song and provide a click track that aligns with the rhythm. This is particularly useful for musicians who want to practice along with a track at its original speed or adjust the speed to suit their own practice needs. The metronome can also easily be adjusted to mark at 0.5x, 1x, or 2x the tempo of the piece.
Ways to Use Moises in Your Music Classroom
- Customized Practice: Teachers can create custom backing tracks by isolating certain instruments or vocals. This allows students to focus on practicing a particular part without distractions. For instance, a guitar teacher could isolate the guitar parts of a song for a student to learn and practice along with or mute the guitar track for students to play along
karaoke-style. - Tempo Control: The tempo adjustment feature enables students to slow down a song without changing its pitch. This is especially useful for beginners who might need to practice at a slower pace before gradually increasing their speed as they gain proficiency.
- Key Adjustment: The Pitch Changer & AI Key Detection feature allows teachers and students to adjust the key of a song to match their instruments or vocal ranges. This can help students learn to play or sing a song in a key that’s comfortable for them.
- Ear Training: By isolating specific elements like vocals or individual instruments, students can improve their ear training skills. They can focus on understanding how each part contributes to the overall song, helping them develop a more nuanced understanding of music composition.
- Integration with Other Tools: Moises can be integrated with other software and digital tools that teachers and students may already be using. This makes it a versatile addition to any
music teaching or learning toolkit or Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) such as GarageBand, Soundtrap, BandLab, Logic, Ableton or Audacity. Not sure how to use these tools? Click here to take a look at the GarageBand for Mac, Soundtrap & Bandlab lesson plans & teacher tips course.
Privacy Laws & Copyright Infringement
It’s always really important that, as with any online tool, you observe the privacy policy before using it with your students. The Moises privacy policy is listed here. As of this writing Moises is only approved for students age 13 and up, and 13-17 with parental consent. Moises does collect some personal information for account creation. Take some time to understand your local privacy laws, your district/area regulations, and use at your own discretion.
We are also in an exciting but unprecedented age of music production and AI. It is essential now more than ever before to respect copyright laws and not use copyrighted music with Moises unless you have been granted written permission from the copyright holder. Until there is some formal legal framework around restrictions regarding AI audio-separation tools and educational fair use, it will be safest for now to use music that is copyright-free and under Creative Commons licenses. You can learn more about how to find legal music to experiment with in this blog post and this podcast episode.
Ok… but does it actually work?
Before we wrap up, I’ll be honest, I was pretty skeptical when I first was introduced to Moises. It couldn’t possibly work as well as it claimed to. So, I signed up and tested Moises with a demo account for this article, and I’m incredibly thrilled to say that Moises REALLY does do what it says. I uploaded two pieces and both pieces separated out into stems remarkably well. It almost felt like musical magic, and I really don’t say that lightly. In fact, there was very little (if any at all) bleed between instruments. You really can input an MP3 into Moises and end up with multiple stems of music that you can use on their own.
The only part of Moises that still needs just a touch of refinement is the lyric transcription tool. It’s on its way and is still surprisingly accurate, but there were a couple of times when the lyrics didn’t quite match the audio. However, for a quick transcription, it’s absolutely still worth using!
Final Thoughts
From track separation and pitch and tempo control to lyric transcription and chord analysis, Moises offers a bunch of advanced tools that really do set it apart from traditional music software. Whether you’re a music teacher looking for new ways to engage your students, seeking to practice at your own pace, or eager to experiment with remixes and stems, Moises is an exciting tool to explore, and it really works! It is user-friendly, versatile, and built to integrate well with your existing digital audio workstations.
As the landscape of music technology continues to evolve, AI-powered platforms like Moises are leading the way into new territory. By making complex processes like audio separation accessible to everyone, they’re not only democratizing music production but also transforming how we teach, learn, and experience music. However, in the end, it’s important to constantly work to understand the legal implications of AI – especially as it impacts musicians’ right to their creative work.
If you’ve tried Moises, we’d love to hear about your experience! What questions do you have about this exciting new tool? Leave a comment below!
About the author
Katrina Proctor is the Content Manager at Midnight Music and is also a former music teacher from Colorado, USA. She taught middle school music for nearly 10 years in northern Colorado, where her passion is low-income students in Title 1 schools. Katrina has taught 5th-8th grade chorus, advanced-level chorus, class piano, general music, band, and orchestra. She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education & Master’s Degree in Music Education-Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder. You can connect with Katrina on Facebook or via her website, She The Teacher.
Want more resources for music tech teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
