Lunacy Audio Nova is a place to build and sell your own AI-powered music plug-ins

Lunacy Audio Nova：一个让你构建并销售 AI 驱动音乐插件的平台

Lunacy, purveyor of fine VST plug-ins like Cube, a synth that you control by moving a ball around a 3D space, has just launched Nova, a platform where creators can build custom music tools using AI and sell them to others. At first, there will be a handful of instruments available, built either by Lunacy or a small selection of partner developers. But eventually, the company will launch Nova Builder, which will let anyone build their own plug-ins or remix existing ones.

Lunacy 曾推出过 Cube 等优秀的 VST 插件（一种通过在 3D 空间中移动球体来控制的合成器），近日他们发布了 Nova 平台。创作者可以在该平台上利用 AI 构建自定义音乐工具并进行销售。起初，平台上将提供少量由 Lunacy 或少数合作伙伴开发的乐器。但最终，该公司将推出 Nova Builder，允许任何人构建自己的插件或对现有插件进行二次创作。

There are 10 plug-ins available initially, covering everything from crunchy chiptunes to warbly vintage synths and evil ambient drones. None of them do anything particularly unique, but they all sound pretty solid. The lo-fi Drift Cassette synth and Silhouettes are my two favorites right off the bat. The former gets you nostalgic ’80s tones, while the latter is all about sci-fi soundscapes. They all have pretty simple interfaces reminiscent of Native Instruments’ Play series, with bright colors and a handful of controls.

目前首发有 10 款插件，涵盖了从清脆的芯片音乐（chiptunes）到颤动的复古合成器，再到诡异的环境音效等多种类型。虽然它们的功能并非独一无二，但音质都相当扎实。Lo-fi 风格的 Drift Cassette 合成器和 Silhouettes 是我目前最喜欢的两款。前者能带来怀旧的 80 年代音色，而后者则专注于科幻音景。它们都拥有类似 Native Instruments Play 系列的简洁界面，色彩明快，且仅有少量控制选项。

What makes Nova different is that plug-ins aren’t built using code in a text editor. Instead, they’re assembled using premade effects blocks and AI prompts. It’s not unlike Polyend’s Endless, except instead of vibe-coding a guitar pedal, you’re creating music software anyone can use on their computer.

Nova 的独特之处在于，插件并非通过文本编辑器编写代码来构建，而是使用预制的特效模块和 AI 提示词（prompts）组装而成。这与 Polyend 的 Endless 有些相似，只不过你不是在为吉他效果器编写“氛围代码”，而是在创建任何人都能在电脑上使用的音乐软件。

Nova instruments don’t require dedicated hardware. Heck, they don’t even require a digital audio workstation (DAW) and can run directly in a browser. That’s of limited use, though. So there’s also a Nova host plug-in that runs in your DAW of choice. It lets you browse and load any Nova plug-in from your library and swap between them quickly.

Nova 乐器不需要专用硬件。甚至，它们连数字音频工作站（DAW）都不需要，可以直接在浏览器中运行。不过，这种用法局限性较大。因此，官方还提供了一个可以在你常用的 DAW 中运行的 Nova 宿主插件，让你能够从库中浏览、加载任何 Nova 插件，并实现快速切换。

Lunacy envisions Nova as a tinkerers’ paradise. Cofounder and CEO Casey Kolb said in a press release that, “Say someone makes a step sequencer and shares it. You open it and wish you could add a custom shimmer reverb to the end of the signal chain. You can add that, then you can share your new version with a friend, and that friend expands it further. The tools are never fixed; they are always evolving.”

Lunacy 将 Nova 设想为“折腾者”的天堂。联合创始人兼 CEO Casey Kolb 在新闻稿中表示：“假设有人制作了一个步进音序器并分享出来。你打开它后，希望能在信号链末端添加一个自定义的闪烁混响（shimmer reverb）。你可以直接添加，然后将你的新版本分享给朋友，而你的朋友可以进一步扩展它。这些工具永远不会固定，它们一直在进化。”

So far, though, the response from the music-making community to AI has been rather tepid. Tools like Endless have been met with, at best, cautious curiosity, and at worst, outright hostility. Lunacy is developing Nova out in the open, posting developer diaries and actively seeking customer input, in an attempt to avoid some of the same pitfalls and win over wary musicians.

然而到目前为止，音乐制作界对 AI 的反应相当冷淡。像 Endless 这样的工具，得到的评价充其量是谨慎的好奇，最坏的情况则是直接的抵触。Lunacy 正在公开开发 Nova，通过发布开发者日志并积极寻求用户反馈，试图避免重蹈覆辙，从而赢得那些持怀疑态度的音乐人的认可。