While its focus has been mainly on the latest Djay Pro release, software company Algoriddim has also just quietly launched version 2 of its stem preparation tool for Mac, Neural Mix Pro – and it has a killer trick up its sleeve.
Neural Mix Pro 2.0 brings Algoriddim’s second generation of stems separation technology that’s already been added to its DJ software to this app, which means the sound quality of stems created by Neural Mix Pro is now on par with the best out there. Using this software, it is possible to batch prepare acapellas, instrumentals and more, which can then be used in any DJ or production software.
Read this next: Acapella & Stems – Prepare First, Or Use Real-Time Features?
Maybe more intriguingly, Algoriddim has also incorporated its acclaimed AI-driven “fluid beatgridding”, meaning the software can accurately calculate the tempo of any track it analyses, even those with varying grids.
Why fluid beatgrids are important
This is primarily useful because, as well as outputting full acapellas, instrumentals, or any other combination of track elements desired, Neural Mix Pro 2.0 can also output loops, making it useful for DJs or producers wanting to extract, say, accurate drum loops from tracks to use in productions. Fluid beatgrids make sure those loops are accurate, plus this feature has been further improved in the new version with an easy snap-to-beat option.
But we’ve long been requesting another feature – and it’s now (almost!) here. We always felt one advantage of this kind of prep tool would be to output quantised versions of whole songs, making them easier to DJ with on any DJ set-up. Indeed, this is something we discussed with Algoriddim way back at the launch of the first version. DJs have often turned to Ableton Live’s “warp” feature to achieve this in the past, but for many, it’s complex and difficult to master.
Fixing BPMs on full tracks
Happily, using the fluid beatgrids and v2’s auto quantise feature, the app can now be used to re-output, say, disco or funk tracks that were played by a real drummer and therefore would be traditionally hard to beatgrid, to versions with a perfectly constant BPM, really easily – indeed, instantly. In this instance, we’re not using the stems separation at all, just taking advantage of the audio engine and beatgrids to achieve another goal.
Currently in v2.0, this has to be done on a track-by-track basis, but today we spoke to Algoriddim about the possibility of having a “quantise” button added to the batch output screen to enable this, and they indicated that this will be easy to add in an imminent update, along with an “output full track” option to make all of this easy.
At the time of writing, they say the “Phil button” (their words!) should be ready within the week. When it is added, this will make Neural Mix Pro v2 supremely useful for the many DJs in our community who’ve been seeking an app to do just such a thing.
Get our course: How To Mix With Acapellas (& Stems)
While this app is Mac only, if you like the idea of having truly constant BPM versions of any tracks, fully tempo-quantised acapellas, clean drum loops and so on, at the highest possible quality, to use anywhere, it is currently a great choice that will only get better in the next small update.
Neural Mix Pro 2.0 is available now for Mac only on the App Store, free to use or $49 for the full unlock.
Phil Morse
