Drum loop in, MIDI out: the free AI drum converter

WAV and MP3 to MIDI online, free, in your browser: drop a drum loop, hear it on the grid, drag the MIDI into your DAW. Then split a song, turn a bass line into notes, or let the generator cook you a groove.

Try the drum transcriberAny instrument to MIDI

free · in your browser · email once per browser

Also on your Mac

CedarGrooveNET for macOS

The drum transcriber and the drum generator as one native app. The same models, running on your machine, nothing uploaded. Free.

Get the macOS appWhat is inside

macOS 13 or later · Apple Silicon and Intel · 156 MB

A short video tour of the app.

A note from Paul, who built this

CedarGroove stays free for as long as I can keep the lights on for the server infrastructure. Drop a file, get your MIDI or your stems, and go make something.

I'm dedicated to music and cool software, and this site is where the two meet. If a tool here saved you an afternoon, tell me what to build next.

— Paul · read the story · say hi

Every tool, one place

All free. Every tool runs in your browser, and one also lives on your Mac. Pick a lane.

Drums

Drum generatorOur own model. Give it a bar or two, get the next four, in nine genres.Drums to MIDIDrop a loop, get the hits on a grid and a MIDI file. The thing we trained.Isolate drumsPull the drums out of a whole track, then transcribe them.macOS appTranscriber and generator on your Mac, offline, no uploads.

Audio to MIDI

Audio to MIDIOne instrument in, notes out: MIDI, a score, a piano roll.Bass to MIDIOctave-aware. It knows a low E from a high one.Piano to MIDIBoth hands, chords and all.Guitar to MIDIRiffs and chords to notes you can edit.Vocals to MIDIHum it, sing it, get the melody back as notes.

Stems

Stem splitterVocals, drums, bass, other. Or just vocals and the rest.Drumless backing trackThe song minus the drums. Your turn.Bassless backing trackThe song minus the bass. Bring the low end.Vocal removerKaraoke night, sorted.Acapella extractorJust the voice, for the remix.

More

Song key & BPM finderKey, tempo and meter in seconds, nothing stored.

How it works

  1. Drop

    A drum loop, a song, or one instrument. WAV, MP3, AIFF or FLAC, up to six minutes (ten for one instrument in audio to MIDI).

  2. Listen

    The result plays back on the page: hits on a grid, notes on a piano roll, stems with a waveform. Fix what you want.

  3. Download

    MIDI, MusicXML or WAV. Your email once per browser; the link in the mail unlocks it.

Under the hood, if you like that sort of thing:

The drum transcriberHow a loop becomes hits on the grid. The generation modelThe network that continues a groove. Nine genresNinety sub-styles as influence data. ResearchThe papers the models stand on. The stackWhat runs where, and why your audio stays here.

Not sure where to start?

Three taps. We point you at the right tool and say something nice about your taste.

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Questions

Is CedarGroove free?

Yes. Every tool is free and runs in your browser, with nothing to install. A download asks for your email once per browser; the link in the mail unlocks it.

What files can I drop in?

A drum loop, a song, or one instrument: WAV, MP3, AIFF or FLAC, up to six minutes (ten for one instrument in audio to MIDI). The drum generator also reads a MIDI file, or you draw on its grid.

What do I get back?

MIDI, MusicXML or WAV, depending on the tool: hits on a grid from the drum transcriber, notes and a score from audio to MIDI, stems from the stem splitter. The result plays back on the page before you download it.

Where does my audio go?

To a machine we run ourselves; nothing goes to a third-party cloud. Drum transcription keeps your audio in memory only. A stem split or an audio-to-MIDI job is kept on the server for one hour so you can download it, then deleted; the MIDI from an audio-to-MIDI transcription stays in your account for twelve months, or until you delete it. The macOS app runs the drum transcriber and the drum generator on your Mac, with nothing uploaded.

Does CedarGroove run on Windows?

The web app runs in any modern browser on any operating system, including Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS. The standalone desktop app is a notarised macOS universal binary only — there is no Windows installer today.