London based creative music technology start-up, Vochlea Music, has launched the Dubler Studio Kit, a highly innovative, live vocal recognition MIDI controller.

Vochlea Music are graduates of the Abbey Road Studios music technology incubator and winners of the SXSW 2018 Pitch Competition.

The kit offers a method for musicians to translate their musical ideas into reality using just their voice. Capturing musical ideas using traditional instrumentation and MIDI inputs can be challenging and requires know-how, even for the most accomplished musician. Vochlea Music’s vocal recognition AI technology unlocks the power of the voice, allowing musicians to create music and control sounds quickly and intuitively.

The Dubler Studio Kit allows artists to hum a synth pattern, beatbox to trigger a virtual drumkit, or manipulate effects and filters with a “hmmm”, “laaaa” or “oohhh” sound — all in real-time straight into a DAW. Pre-launch beta testers of the new technology include Mercury Prize Nominated MC and producer Novelist, alongside a number of other musicians and producers.

The kit comes as two parts. First is the Dubler software, a virtual MIDI instrument for Mac and PC that’s compatible with any DAW. Second is the Dubler microphone – a custom low-latency USB mic – tuned for the Dubler software.

“The Dubler Studio Kit unlocks musical expression, fuels creativity and is generally a lot of fun. It speeds up the traditional music creation workflow by allowing the user to control and manipulate MIDI outputs through audio inputs,” said George Wright, Vochlea Music CEO and founder. “Essentially meaning you can lay down melodies, drum loops, effects tracks… whatever you want, directly from voice to DAW.”

Using all of the timbral qualities of the voice, Dubler Studio Kit allows musicians to trigger samples, control synths, manipulate filters and effects, track pitch, pitch-bend and control envelopes, velocity and MIDI mapping values simultaneously, based on the way they make their unique sounds.

The Dubler Studio Kit launched as a Kickstarter project this week and is looking to raise £40,000 over 35 days. During the campaign, backers will have the opportunity to pledge to be amongst the first Dubler Studio Kit users. Kickstarter backers will receive fulfilment priority when the kits are delivered in mid-2019.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vochlea/2044359653?ref=763509&token=dee3df6a