Topic

Free tools

  • Is Ultimate Vocal Remover (UVR5) the best free stem separator?

    UVR5 is the best free stem separator if you have a capable GPU and want to keep audio on your own machine, because it is a free, MIT-licensed front end for many open models, not one model. It is not automatically the most accurate: public leaderboards are now topped by newer band-split models, and the free web service MVSEP runs many of them for you.

    Workflows

  • Which DAW should a beginner start with? The free desktop options in 2026

    Start free. On a Mac, GarageBand costs nothing and has built-in lessons; on Windows, Cakewalk Sonar has a free tier with unlimited tracks; on any OS, Waveform Free and LMMS are free outright. Reaper's 60-day full trial and Ableton's 30-day Suite trial let you test the paid tools before you spend.

    Music tech

Subscribe to We are the music makers

One email a week: the music-tech and AI-in-music news that mattered, and what we think about it.

Sign-ups open soon.