Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (hereinafter "Sony CSL") has developed DrumGAN, a technology that uses AI to generate drum sounds.

Sony CSL develops AI technology to support music creators and have previously announced Flow Machines, an AI based music production tool. Our latest technology, DrumGAN, was developed following a study on drum music design with several producers. Now that the technology is fully developed, Sony CSL is delivering it to the music creators of the world through a partnership with Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH ("Steinberg"), a company renowned within the global music community. On June 22, DrumGAN will be incorporated into Steinberg's "Backbone" drum design software.

Sony CSL will continue accelerating its research and practical application of AI technology empowering music creators to enhance their creativity.

About DrumGAN
Drum design plays a prominent role in arranging and producing a song. While professionally-recorded sound libraries are available for editing, browsing sample packs or fiddling with expert controls in a sampler can be a barrier to creativity for some people.

DrumGAN is a technology researched and developed by the members of the music team in Sony CSL Paris to generate unique drum sounds using AI. Instead of relying on existing audio samples, DrumGAN allows creators to effortlessly synthesize original drum sounds from scratch by adjusting smart parameters, such as "kick-ness", "snare-ness", and "cymbal-ness".

DrumGAN's core technology is Neural Audio Synthesis, a new audio generation technology based on neural networks. Neural networks are widely used in the field of imagery, such as in generating realistic-looking pictures of human faces but they can also be applied to audio. With its incorporation in Backbone, DrumGAN will be the world's first commercially available technology to employ Neural Audio Synthesis.

In 2020, Sony Music Publishing-affiliated music producer Twenty9 released the world's first AI-powered drum kit using DrumGAN. Today, thanks to the Sony CSL-Steinberg partnership, DrumGAN is more user-friendly as a tool and is available to creators around the world.

DrumGAN：https://www.sonycsl.co.jp/paris/13101/

DrumGAN to be part of Steinberg's Backbone software
DrumGAN will be a key feature of Steinberg's drum design software Backbone in its latest version 1.5, set for release on June 22.

With the addition of Sony CSL's DrumGAN, creators can now easily generate new drum sounds from scratch and break away from overused imported audio samples. Users can then further work with DrumGAN-generated sounds in Backbone to create an infinity of drum sounds original to them.

Steinberg press release：https://www.steinberg.net/press/2022/backbone-1-5/
Backbone：https://www.steinberg.net/vst-instruments/backbone/

About Sony CSL Music team:
Sony CSL is a fundamental research laboratory whose "Music and Artificial Intelligence" team, based in Tokyo and Paris, has a strong artist-centric vision: Tomorrow's production tools should stimulate creators' imagination, and offer new possibilities for interaction while fitting in the modern production process. Working hand in hand with Sony-affiliated musicians and content creators, they develop a new generation of music production tools based on Artificial Intelligence that will extend the scope of musicians' capabilities and push the boundaries of creativity.

^*Steinberg and Backbone are trademarks or registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.
^*Flow Machines is a trademark of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.