MONOCHORD — chord plugin & harmony workstation with vintage synth and instrument sounds (VST3/AU for macOS) by orph
Press or click one key and build full,
chord-based arrangements in the character of classic production hardware.What normally takes piano training,
a chain of plugins and a slow setup
happens here in under a minute,
leaving only the music.
chord-based arrangements in the character of classic production hardware.What normally takes piano training,
a chain of plugins and a slow setup
happens here in under a minute,
leaving only the music.
Click a preset row to hear dry sound.
Click again for Factory mode.
Click again for Factory mode.
TimeSound PresetKey
00:00Pharaos Dream 2C
00:00NY Grand PianoA
00:00M1 Deep OrganE
00:00Synth BellsA#
00:00Synth 21C
00:00Hand ChimesA#
00:00J8 Tech SynthG
00:00EP73 Classic PianoC
00:00K3 Special HorrorF#
00:00K3 Spec SwooshF#
00:00VPO Section ViolaF#
00:00Wavstation K BrightE
00:00AX73 Clav IIIF#
00:00DW 8000 PianoC
Rooted in 1980s to 2000s analog and digital hardware, decades of studio sound built into one instrument.
For music producers, composers and sound artists who seek full authorship and an individual voice, within the assurance of built-in harmony and theory.
MONOCHORD
WHAT IS MONOCHORD?
MONOCHORD is a harmony workstation, chord synthesizer, multisampler, texture engine and MIDI effect in one.
FACTORY
FACTORY builds a complete sound in one click. The same preset, a new character and starting point each time.
CHORDS, VOICED BY HAND
Over 600 chords and 70 tonal sets, from pianistic nine-note voicings down to triads. Adjust or trim each individually.
THE PROCESS
MONOCHORD makes no choices for you and holds no generative AI. It removes the effort, not your intention.
425 STUDIO QUALITY SOUNDS
All rooted in vintage studio hardware, MONOCHORD's sample library and synth engines reach from the concert hall to the club, in the language of chords. Across genre and mood it assists, never replacing intention or choice.
- E-MU Proteus
- Korg Wavestation
- Kawai K1–K5
- Kurzweil K-Series
- PPG Wave
- Jupiter-8
- Oberheim OB-X
- Yamaha DX7
- Korg M1
- D-50
- Moog Minimoog
- Moog Memorymoog
- Yamaha CP-10
- Yamaha CP-70
- Yamaha TG500
- Yamaha TS12
- Suzuki Omnichord
- SQNTL Prophet VS
- MKS-70
- SQNTL Prophet-5
- Fairlight CMI
- Korg DW-8000
- Korg Mono/Poly
- Fender Rhodes
- NY Grand Piano
- Juno-106
- Juno-60
- Real Instruments
- Casio CZ-101
- Akai AX73
- Akai AX80
- Casio V10
- Korg Poly-61
- Yamaha S80
- Bontempi B3
- Voyetra-8
- Ensoniq Mirage
- E-MU Emax
- Casio VL-1
- Siel Opera 6 Kiwi
EFFECTS & CHARACTER
15 effect engines with over 80 sub-modes, applied across the full signal path to shape character and sound, in any direction the music takes. The engines and their characters were chosen to work as one, drawn toward a warm, analog-leaning sound, captured and finished to today's standard.
All effects are inspired by
- Spatial Pan
- Reverbs
- Delays
- Flanger
- Phaser
- Glide
- Shimmer
- Tape Machines
- Sampler Engines
- Filter Effects
- Arpeggiator
- Atmosphere
- Inflater
- Brilliance
- Bass Mode
All effects are inspired by
- Juno-60 Chorus
- Boss CE-1
- Dimension D
- RE-201 Space Echo
- Boss DM-2
- EHX Memory Man
- MXR Phase 90
- Eventide H3000
- Lexicon 480L
- EMT 140 Plate
- Bricasti M7
- Akai S950
- Akai MPC60
- Akai MPC2000
- E-MU SP-1200
- Ensoniq Mirage
DYNAMIC AND EFFORTLESS
Complex chord voicings, sound textures, melodies and phrases, the kind heard in essential film scores, club records, ambient and jazz albums, are more often recognised than reproduced by an untrained hand. MONOCHORD closes that distance. Where other plugins increasingly decide for you, here the choice stays yours.
MIDI ROUTING TO HARDWARE AND DAWS
Everything MONOCHORD plays is sent as MIDI, not the chords alone but the full performance: the arpeggios, the strum, the humanisation, the timing. It routes to external hardware or to any instrument in the session, so other synths and plugins receive the complete part and play it note for note.
MULTISAMPLE - USER SOUNDS
The library is left open, so your own recordings can be placed into the sample zones and saved beside the original sounds. The instrument then voices your material as it voices its own, sounding your samples as a full chord.
AUDIO
- WAV
- AIFF
- FLAC
INSTRUMENTS
- SFZ
- Decent Sampler
- SoundFont
MIDI
- MID
MAPPING
- Auto key zones
- Root & loop detection
- From metadata
TECH SPECS
FORMATS
- Standalone · VST3 · AU
- macOS 10.13+ · Windows 10 / 11
- Universal · Apple Silicon + Intel
- 64-bit only
AUDIO
- 32-bit float internal
- 44.1–192 kHz
- 6 synthesis engines · FM · analog · wavetable · additive · granular · PCM
LIBRARY
- ~11.6 GB sample library · one-time first-launch download (streamed)
- 425 sounds · 70+ multisampled instruments
SYSTEM & I/O
- ~12 GB free disk space · SSD recommended
- 8 GB RAM minimum · 16 GB recommended
- Internet for activation + one-time sample download
- MIDI in / out · DAW automation
- Export: MIDI · audio (key · scale · tempo)
- Hosts: Logic Pro · GarageBand · MainStage · Ableton Live · Cubase / Nuendo · Studio One · Reaper · Bitwig · FL Studio
MONOCHORD by the pool
Watch an uninterrupted improvisation, performed entirely by mouse. The audio is an iPhone field recording. No further signal or plugin was added.
“Every session begins with stolen time: plugin chains to wire, music theory to learn, static sound presets scrolled in search of a certain character. I never trained as a pianist, and the chord voicings of my favorite film scores, club records, ambient and jazz albums often stayed out of reach. MONOCHORD ends that argument. The final design is a chord instrument, with an on-screen keyboard drawn large enough to play by mouse or a single key press. The effort falls away, leaving the sound and feel of vintage studio hardware and sampling culture. It is here to assist, never to replace creative intention and choice.”
— Damiano von Erckert
ALSO BY ORPH
NEWSLETTER
Subscribe and download PLUSH, an inflator and brilliance tool, free of charge.