Splice, the popular music production service with a seemingly bottomless supply of samples, has just unveiled a new way to find inspiration from those sounds. CoSo is what it calls an "intelligent musical sketch pad" that lets you create "using your ear to find what appeals to you," the company wrote in a press release.
CoSo allows you to you stack up to eight samples based on genre or instrument type to quickly create loops, with a big assist from AI. Everything stays (more or less) in key and in time, and you can swipe to delete a sample or swap in a new one automatically. You can also solo specific loops (or mute them) by pressing and holding.
Once you create a loop, it's easy to share it on TikTok and the ability to export as an Ableton-ready project file is coming soon. We've attached an example of what a creation looks like when shared via links, showing the final result and sounds used.
Splice has countless millions of samples, so dredging through them for good stuff can be tedious, particularly if you're not sure what you're looking for or want to avoid overused samples. Still, the app could be a good way of sparking inspiration as a form of musical roulette, or as a musical fidget toy, much like the novice-friendly Orba music device.
"I believe we will hear a richer and more diverse selection of sounds bubbling up through this technology, that we might surprise creatives with new ideas," said Ale Koretzy, who heads the ML and Audio Science Innovation Team at Splice. "Some people will use it to discover sounds and others will use it to create music." CoSo is now available for Android and iOS devices.
Update 5/3 8:55AM ET: The story has been updated to clarify that Ableton exports are not live yet, but "coming soon" according to Splice.