# Daydream

> Daydream is the first AI-native instrument for music and sound design — built for musicians, producers, sound designers, and developers. Powered by the open-source DEMON engine. Scope, our real-time AI video project, is also fully open source.

Daydream brings real-time, parametric AI to music and sound design. Where prompt-and-wait generators give you a finished track, Daydream gives you an instrument: every parameter is steerable at frame rate (25Hz), with sub-100ms end-to-end latency from your hand to the audio stream. Play it like a synth, perform it live, remix audio in real time, or score to picture — across the web, your DAW, TouchDesigner, MCP/API, or your own GPU.

Two open-source engines power the suite:

- **DEMON** (Diffusion Engine for Musical Orchestrated Noise) — the real-time music and sound design engine, built on ACE-Step v1.5. 12.3 generations per second of 60-second audio on a single consumer GPU, with per-frame parametric control. The only open, real-time, locally-runnable music generation system with per-frame steerability.
- **Scope** — real-time AI video generation. Point any source at it, pick a model, and watch generation happen in real time. Runs locally or in Daydream's cloud.

## Products

- [Daydream web app](https://music.daydream.live): The browser instrument. No install, no GPU required.
- [VST plugin — early access](https://music.daydream.live/alpha): Native synth-style VST for your DAW.
- [TouchDesigner Operator](https://github.com/daydreamlive/DEMONtd): DEMON inside TouchDesigner.
- [Daydream Scope](https://daydream.live/scope): Free open-source real-time AI video for Windows + macOS.
- [DEMON engine](https://daydream.live/demon): Documentation, demos, and source for the music engine.
- [Pricing](https://daydream.live/pricing): One plan, every Daydream tool. Free / $10 / $30 monthly. Rent-to-own VST after 24 months of continuous subscription.

## Docs

- [Documentation](https://docs.daydream.live): Full documentation for Scope, DEMON, the API, and integrations.
- [Learn](https://daydream.live/learn): Video lessons and written how-to guides on Daydream Music, the DEMON engine, and DAW setup.
- [Node Registry](https://daydream.live/nodes): Browse composable real-time workflow nodes.

## Learn: DreamSampler workflows

Step-by-step how-to guides for putting DreamSampler to work.

- [Instrument generation](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-instrument-generation): Generate an original, playable instrument from an input sound, then perform it like any patch.
- [Sample creation](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-sample-creation): Turn a rough input — a hum, a click, a scrap of noise — into any sound you want.
- [Loops & beats](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-loops-and-beats): Build a drum kit or beat from novel hits you shape live, not sounds pulled from a pack.
- [Backing tracks](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-backing-tracks): Track a simple riff, feed it into DreamSampler, and generate a backing track around it.
- [Instrument transformation](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-instrument-transformation): Turn one instrument into a different one — same idea, new identity — in real time.
- [Style & genre exploration](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-style-and-genre): Load a region from your track and audition it in a radically different genre, live.
- [Found sound & field recording](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-found-sound): Turn a raw field recording into usable production material at whatever creative distance you want.
- [Vocal manipulation & chops](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-vocal-manipulation): Reshape a vocal take into anything, from a subtly different version to a horn solo.
- [Chopping & slicing](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-chopping-and-slicing): Slice a phrase into pads, and decide per hit how far each drifts from the original.
- [Sample-based composition](https://daydream.live/learn/guides/workflow-sample-based-composition): Build a piece from source material where every fragment gets its own transformation depth.

## Open Source

- [DEMON on GitHub](https://github.com/daydreamlive/DEMON): Open-source music + sound design diffusion engine.
- [Scope on GitHub](https://github.com/daydreamlive/scope): Source, issues, releases.
- [DEMONtd on GitHub](https://github.com/daydreamlive/DEMONtd): TouchDesigner operator for DEMON.
- [Community Workflows](https://app.daydream.live/workflows): Browse and share community-built workflows.
- [Download Scope for Windows](https://github.com/daydreamlive/scope/releases/latest/download/DaydreamScope-Setup.exe)
- [Download Scope for Mac (Apple Silicon)](https://github.com/daydreamlive/scope/releases/latest/download/DaydreamScope-arm64.dmg)

## Key Capabilities

- Real-time music and sound design via DEMON: 12.3 generations/sec on consumer GPU, per-frame parametric control at 25Hz, sub-100ms end-to-end latency
- Native VST plugin (alpha) — drop Daydream on a DAW track and automate via envelope lanes, macro knobs, and MIDI hardware
- Live remixing — load an existing track and bend it on the fly without breaking flow
- Style exploration and continuous genre/key trajectories without re-rendering
- Separate stem control — lock vocal elements while diffusing instrumentals beneath
- Real-time video compositing (inpainting, outpainting) via Scope, powered by VACE
- Style control for fine-grained aesthetic tuning across audio and video
- MCP server and API for programmatic and agentic workflows
- Native integrations: OSC, MIDI, Syphon, Spout, NDI
- Local-first execution; optional cloud inference; subscriptions earn perpetual VST ownership after 24 months (rent-to-own)

## Audiences

- Musicians and producers using DAWs (Ableton Live, Logic, FL Studio, Bitwig, Pro Tools)
- Sound designers for film, games, and post-production
- Live performers and VJs working in TouchDesigner, Resolume, or with MIDI hardware
- Developers and agentic-AI builders integrating via MCP and API
- Open-source contributors and researchers building on DEMON or Scope

## Blog

- [Blog](https://blog.daydream.live): Product updates, builder stories, and technical guides.

## Optional

- [About](https://daydream.live/about): Team, mission, and company information.
- [Careers](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/daydreamlive): Open roles.
- [X / Twitter](https://x.com/DaydreamLiveAI)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/daydreamlive)
- [Discord (Music)](https://discord.gg/g7F2HCa9VB)
- [Discord (Community)](https://discord.gg/pF2Akym5bV)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviyh_-8H2vkYq9ROHMBffQ)
- [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/daydreamlive_/)