A MIDI chord, bass and drum instrument that plays like one hand.
still.synth turns a handful of keys into full chords, a matched bassline and a drum pattern — live, quantized to the beat, and recordable straight to WAV and MIDI.
See it in action
still.synth walkthrough videos are on the way — the three below are reference points for the kind of live, one-hand chord/bass/drum playing still.synth is built for, not still.synth itself. Real demo footage replaces these shortly.
Live sound-design demo (Vital, free synth)
Patch walkthrough (Surge XT, open source)
Sound bank tour (Dexed, free FM synth)
The interface
Four tabs, one panel each: Main, Bass, Drum and Play. Everything you touch during a take stays one tap away.
What it does
Play one key, get a full voiced chord — seven diatonic roots plus a shape row (Maj, Min, Dim, Sus, 6, m7, M7, 9), with smart voice-leading between changes so nothing jumps around.
A dedicated bass register and a built-in drum engine follow the same key and chord automatically — solo the bass on its own tab, switch drum kits and patterns, trigger fills on the beat.
9 synth presets, 12 bass presets and 8 drum kits to start from, each drum kit playable across 10 built-in rhythm patterns — dial in a tone in seconds, then make it yours.
Switch how a chord plays back — block chord, strum, up/down arpeggio — quantized to the bar so timing always lands.
Layer parts on the fly, bar-quantized, up to 32 tracks per session — undo the last one, reset, or keep stacking.
Capture a full take — audio and MIDI together — straight to a WAV file and a Standard MIDI File, one MIDI track per loop layer plus your live overdub, ready to drag into a DAW.
Learn any CC, note or pad to any control in seconds — Play Mode, Bass Register, Drum Pattern and every fader are all assignable from one table.
Locks to your DAW's transport and tempo in VST3/AU — no manual tapping required. Standalone falls back to a manual BPM fader and Tap button.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is still.synth?
A MIDI instrument plugin (and Standalone app) for macOS that turns single-key playing into full chords with a matched bassline and drum pattern, all quantized and recordable. It's not a sample library or a sound bank — it's a live playing instrument.
Which formats and platforms are supported?
macOS 11.0 and later, Universal binary (Apple Silicon & Intel), as VST3, AU and a standalone app. An iOS version is being developed separately.
Do I need a MIDI keyboard?
No — the Standalone app and the plugin's Play tab both work from a computer keyboard or mouse. A MIDI controller is fully supported and can be mapped to any control via the Mapping page.
How much does it cost, and is it a subscription?
still.synth is a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring charge. Pricing shown at launch is beta pricing and may change for later releases; anyone who buys during beta keeps their license.
How do I get my license after buying?
Automatically and immediately. Checkout is handled by Stripe, and your license key is generated and emailed to you within a minute of payment — see Delivery for details.
Can I get a refund?
No — as a digital product delivered instantly on purchase, all sales are final. See the full Refund Policy for the rare exceptions (duplicate charges, a license that fails to activate and can't be fixed by support).
How many machines can I activate a license on?
Your activation limit is shown at checkout before you buy. Deactivating on one machine frees up a slot for another.
Does still.synth work with any DAW?
Any macOS host that supports VST3 or Audio Units — Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig and others. The Standalone app runs with no DAW at all.
What happens to my recordings?
Session recording writes a WAV and a Standard MIDI File to disk on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded — still.synth doesn't phone home or transmit your musical data anywhere.
Is a Windows version coming?
It's on the roadmap for after the macOS/iOS launch. No date yet — check back or get in touch.
Before you buy
- One-time purchase, no subscription
- Key-based activation, no dongle
- Free updates within the 1.x line
- macOS 11.0 or later, Universal (Apple Silicon & Intel)
- Digital delivery, no refunds — see Delivery and Refund Policy