Mixedinkey Wingman

author screen — payable

Wingman is a practical compositional aid that runs as a DAW plug‑in. It can suggest chord sequences to fit an existing melody, and can handle stem‑splitting to separate vocals, drums, bass, and instruments from a full mix. It then converts the instrument, vocal and bass stems into MIDI. Machine learning is used for the stem splitting, but the chord‑generation and bass‑part‑generation elements are algorithmic, based on established musical principles. In the first version, up to 16 bars can be worked on at a time, but Mixedinkey say this limit will be removed in an imminent update. Wingman supports macOS (12 and above) and Windows hosts; I tested the AU version in Logic Pro X and encountered no problems with installing or in operation.

A Record button starts the DAW from its current position and begins the ‘listening’ process, analysing the audio from the track, bus or mix on which Wingman is inserted. The source track(s) can be audio or MIDI. The stem‑splitting process begins automatically, and Wingman also works out the key of the incoming material. Once split, the individual stems can be muted or soloed, and there’s a separate level control for each stem and any generated chord and bass parts. At the top of the screen, the input...