Six chord qualities
Choose Major, Minor, Sus2, Sus4, Diminished or Augmented. Add 6, b7, maj7, 9, 11 or 13 individually.
MIDI chord generator
Chord Lab
One note. More possibilities.
Your instrument, reimagined.
$29 USDAvailable now
One-time purchase.
How to use it in Ableton Live
VST3 only · macOS & Windows.
Logic Pro is not supported
in this initial release.
- macOS 11+
- Universal Intel / Apple Silicon · VST3
- Windows
- 64-bit · VST3
- Host requirement
- Receives a VST3 instrument’s MIDI output
- Price
- $29 USD · One-time purchase
Play the possibilities
Build chords.
Keep your sound.
Chord Lab turns a played root note into a chord and sends it to another instrument. Your synth or sampler provides the sound.
Stay In Key
Choose a tonic and one of nine scales. Auto chord type builds diatonic triads; scale-relative extensions follow your selected key.
Shape the voicing
Five inversions, Close/Open/Wide spread and a two-octave shift in either direction. Auto Voicing finds nearby inversions and octave placements.
Chords and melody
Enable Melody Mode: C2–B2 plays chords and C3 upwards plays single melody notes at their original pitches.
Make it playable
Map modifier notes and computer keys with Edit mappings and MIDI Learn. Hold and Latch control modifiers; root notes follow note-offs and sustain.
Save your setup
Save user presets and recall musical settings with your DAW session. Choose System, Light or Dark and resize the editor.
Ableton Live / How to
Two MIDI tracks. One clear signal path.
Put Chord Lab on its own MIDI track. Put your synth or sampler on a separate MIDI track receiving Chord Lab’s generated MIDI. Chord Lab is listed as an instrument, not a native Live MIDI effect, and is silent by itself.
From one note to your next idea
C→C · E · G
01 / MIDI trackChord Lab
Play a root. Shape the chord.
Generated MIDI ↓
02 / MIDI trackYour instrument
Your synth. Your sampler. Your sound.
- Load Chord Lab on an empty MIDI track.
- Send your keyboard to that track. Arm it with Monitor → Auto, or use In.
- Add your synth or sampler to a second MIDI track.
- On the second track choose MIDI From → the Chord Lab track; in the lower chooser select Chord Lab. Set Monitor → In.
- Play C2 or higher with the default settings. MIDI note 60 (C3 in Ableton’s numbering) produces C, E and G.
Seeing Audio To on Chord Lab’s track is expected. Route generated notes with the receiving instrument track’s MIDI From selectors. Do not route that track back into Chord Lab.
Record or capture a progression
Put root and modifier notes in a MIDI clip on the Chord Lab track. To capture generated chords, arm the receiving MIDI track and record its incoming MIDI. When playing the captured clip later, use Monitor Auto with that track unarmed, or Off, so the clip can play its instrument.
Keyboard zones and MIDI channels
By default C1–B1 (MIDI 36–47) selects modifiers; C2 and above (MIDI 48–127) plays roots. With Melody Mode on, C2–B2 plays roots and C3 upwards plays single melody notes. Live merges channels during internal routing: use the default note split and Root/Modifier input channels set to All unless your setup preserves separate channels.
Before you get started
Compatibility & questions
Will it work in my DAW?
The initial offering is VST3 only: universal Intel/Apple Silicon on macOS 11+ and 64-bit Windows. Your host must receive MIDI output from a VST3 instrument. Ableton Live uses the two-track setup above. Linux is not a supported launch platform.
Does it support Logic Pro?
No. Logic Pro does not support this VST3-only offering. AU support is deferred until real Logic testing is complete; it is not included in this launch.
Why is there no sound?
Chord Lab generates MIDI, not audio. Check the receiving instrument’s MIDI source and monitoring. If it receives only one note, check the lower MIDI From chooser selects Chord Lab, and remember Melody Mode plays single notes from C3 upwards.
How much does it cost?
Chord Lab’s launch price is $29 USD as a one-time purchase. Checkout provides the download links after purchase.
Need a hand? Contact the lab with your OS, DAW/version and a routing screenshot.