Lunacy Audio Launches Nova, a Platform to Build and Sell AI-Powered Music Plugins
Lunacy Audio has launched Nova, an AI-assisted platform for creating, sharing and selling music plugins. Ten instruments are available at launch, and a Nova Builder tool is planned to let users make or remix their own plugins.
At launch, Nova offers 10 plugins from Lunacy and a small group of partner developers. They cover sounds ranging from crunchy chiptunes and warbly vintage synths to evil ambient drones. The Verge said none of them do anything particularly unique, but they all sound solid. Its reviewer picked the lo-fi Drift Cassette synth, which delivers nostalgic 1980s tones, and Silhouettes, which focuses on sci-fi soundscapes, as early favorites. The interfaces are simple and reminiscent of Native Instruments’ Play series, with bright colors and a handful of controls.
The plugins are not built with code in a text editor. Instead, they are assembled using premade effects blocks and AI prompts. The approach is similar to Polyend’s Endless, except that Nova is for creating music software rather than a guitar pedal. Lunacy eventually plans to launch Nova Builder, which will let anyone build their own plugins or remix existing ones.
Nova instruments do not require dedicated hardware and can run directly in a browser without a digital audio workstation. That option has limited use, so Lunacy also provides a Nova host plugin that runs in a user’s DAW of choice. The host plugin lets users browse and load any Nova plugin from their library and swap between them quickly.
Lunacy presents Nova as a tinkerers’ paradise. Cofounder and CEO Casey Kolb said in a press release that users could take a shared step sequencer, add a custom shimmer reverb to the end of the signal chain, and share the new version with a friend, who could then expand it further. “The tools are never fixed; they are always evolving,” Kolb said.
The music-making community has so far responded to AI with limited enthusiasm. Tools such as Endless have met with cautious curiosity at best and outright hostility at worst. Lunacy is developing Nova in the open, posting developer diaries and actively seeking customer input, in an attempt to avoid some of the same pitfalls and win over wary musicians.
Editor's Summary
Lunacy Audio has launched Nova, an AI-assisted platform for building, selling and sharing music plugins, with 10 instruments available initially. The platform aims to let users create and remix plugins without code, though AI music tools have drawn mixed reactions. Lunacy is soliciting musician input as it develops Nova Builder.