CHORDYFree download ↓

The app & plugin · Chordy 1.1.0

A first idea.
Plenty of places to take it.

Chords have a shape, a weight, a way of leaning into the next one. Chordy gives you the tools to hear those differences and follow the ones that feel like your music.

01 / Starting points

A few words.
Or a familiar shape.

Describe a mood, a genre or a scene in AI mode. Chordy takes that harmonic idea, checks the chord names and voices the notes locally, with attention to how they move between chords.

Then steer it: “Keep the opening, make the ending unresolved.” Or start in Internal mode with one of 43 named progressions, from a Dorian vamp to an Andalusian cadence. Generate again for a variation of the same shape.

You don’t need an AI account to use the library—or anything that follows.

Internal mode with the named progression picker, bars and chord count
Loops, turnarounds, descending lines and borrowed chords, grouped by what they do.
Scale and voicing controls for key, mode, style, octave and note range
Try another key or scale. Keep the notes close, spread them out, or leave room for your bass.

02 / Explore · New in 1.1

Hear another way
through the chords.

Open a chord’s Explore tab and browse alternatives in six families: Best fit, In key, Same job, Colour, Borrowed and Lead in. Each suggestion has a short reason, and each can be heard between the chords either side.

The Explore tab showing explained alternatives for Fmaj7, including borrowed Fm7 and a D7 lead-in to G7
Try a suggestion on its own, then use Hear in context. Replace keeps the chord’s position and length, with one-step Undo.

Follow a sound. “Borrowed from minor, bittersweet” gives you a musical reason to try a chord, even if its name is unfamiliar.

Keep your place. Auditioning changes nothing. The original chord stays one click away until you replace it.

Stay in the session. Suggestions come from Chordy’s local theory engine. They work offline and never use your AI allowance.

03 / Reshape

Same idea.
A different turn.

Sometimes you want another take without starting over. Reshape works on the progression you already have, and every change can be undone.

Reshape controls: Vary, Shuffle, Invert and Rhythm with the Breathe pattern

Vary

Try a chord that does a similar musical job: a borrowed colour, a passing pull, a different route home.

Shuffle

Reorder the middle while keeping the opening and cadence. Hear the same chords tell a different story.

Invert

Move to the next inversion. The harmony stays recognisable, but the spacing and top line change.

Rhythm

Let chords breathe or push towards a cadence. Reshape their lengths with patterns and an amount control.

04 / The chord editor

Move one note.
Change the feeling.

Double-click a chord to get inside it. Change the symbol, inversion or bass note, enter a Roman numeral, or place notes directly in its piano roll.

Move a note up an octave, bring it in late, let it hang over. Chordy recognises the new chord where it can, and preserves your hand-placed notes. Your next edit starts from what you actually played.

On the timeline, drag to reorder, stretch a chord, duplicate a favourite or leave a rest. Undo is always there.

The chord editor’s Notes tab, with individual notes on a piano roll and controls for chord, quality, inversion and bass
Six voicing styles—Close, Open, Drop 2, Shell, Rootless and Spread—or your own notes.

05 / Creative playback

Now give it
a little movement.

Hold the harmony steady and change how it feels. These controls affect playback and exported MIDI, so the idea you hear carries into the track.

Playback controls for arpeggiator, strum, humanise, legato and Bass only

Arp

Turn a chord into a pattern. Choose direction, rate, gate, distance and octave steps—from a gentle pulse to a quick run.

Strum

Let notes arrive one after another, up or down. A held chord becomes a small gesture.

Humanise & Legato

Loosen timing and velocity, or let chords ring into each other. The humanised feel repeats consistently with your loop.

Bass only

Hear the roots or slash-bass notes on their own. Export the chords, switch Bass only on, then export a matching bass part.

06 / Built-in synth

Press play.
Hear the idea.

Chordy’s built-in synth lets you audition immediately. Choose Simple pad, Organ, Slow pad, Electric piano or Strings; Bass only mode adds a dedicated Bass voice.

Try the same voicing as a soft pad and an electric piano. The preview sounds give you a way to listen while the idea is forming; the exported MIDI can play any instrument in your DAW.

Chordy’s transport with play, loop, tempo, preview instrument, output and MIDI export
Sketch in the standalone app, or let your DAW’s transport and tempo lead.

07 / Into your session

Your instruments.
Your arrangement.

Use Chordy as an AU or VST3 instrument, run Chordy MIDI into another synth, or sketch in the standalone Mac app. Drag MIDI into your arrangement or export a file. Projects retain your voicings and note edits.

Tested in Ableton Live 12. Other AU/VST3 hosts have not yet been verified.

Chordy MIDI in Ableton Live

Load the VST3 version on a MIDI track. Put your instrument on a second track, select Chordy MIDI in both MIDI From menus, and set Monitor to In. Live’s AU plugins cannot send MIDI out.

Follow the routing guide
Ableton’s MIDI From menu with Chordy MIDI selected instead of Pre FX or Post FX
Wavetable receiving from the Chordy MIDI track with Monitor set to In

Your AI, your choice

One musical tool.
Several ways in.

Chordy is AI-agnostic. Choose which provider supplies your starting ideas, then use the same musical tools to shape them.

BYOK is free forever.

BYOK means bring your own key. For cloud AI, connect your own provider account and API key; that provider sets any usage charges and limits. AI usage isn’t included in the free download.

The library, Explore, editing, performance tools and MIDI export are all included. Local Ollama needs no API key, and Internal mode needs no AI at all.

Keep the music in your hands.

The model suggests chord names; voicing happens on your Mac. Your key stays out of projects and presets, and providers are contacted only when you generate or test a connection.

Connect your provider

See where it takes you.

Chordy 1.1.0 · macOS · Instrument, MIDI plugin and standalone app.

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