Named as you play it
The active chord, its notes, the scale it came from, the voicing it is wearing and the turnaround waiting on Control. Nothing is hidden behind a menu, and hovering anything on the console says what it does.
Chord instrument for macOS
One finger.
The whole voicing.
A laptop key becomes a real chord, voiced the way a pianist would voice it, sent straight to your DAW.
ACm7 / C Eb G Bb
LIVE UI / HTML + CSSNATIVE SOURCE / BUILD 5
Play it before
you read about it.
Press A, S, D, F,G, H, or J, or tap the keys. These are the app's own chords in C natural minor, 7ths, drop 2. The same seven the console above is holding.
MAC KEYBOARDONE KEY / FOUR NOTES
Cm7i
CEbGBb
Web Audio, in this page. The app itself sends MIDI, and plays its own piano if you switch that on.
You can hear the chord. Your hands can't play it.
Fmaj9 with the third on top. A ii V I that actually voice leads. The idea takes a second. Drawing it into a piano roll takes twenty minutes, and by then the idea has gone.
It already knows what the chord is.
Pick a key and a scale. The seven pads under your fingers become that scale's chords, named as you play them, every one a single keystroke away.
The library
26scales and modes, plus two modal interchange sets and one you build yourself
36chord types, triads through 13ths, altered and symmetric
60voicings in six banks, piano and guitar, jazz through neo soul
One strip of controls
Everything that shapes the chord, tabbed in a single window.
- QUALITY
- VOICING
- VOICE LEAD
- HUMANIZE
- MONTUNO
- APPROACH
Every switch on the face
Key, velocity, hold, single note, glide, strum and the walking bass, all one click from where you are playing. No page to open first.
Then it stops being a chord player.
Switch these on and the same seven keys start playing figures a hand would play, not blocks a grid would print.
- MONTUNO
- Salsa and timba piano. Six figures, each with its own route up and down the chord across two bars, or pick the frame up by hand and play the rhythm yourself. \ climbs the whole shape an octave, the way a pianist moves going into the mambo.
- APPROACH
- A guitarist rarely drops onto a grip from nowhere. The hand starts a fret away and slides in. Switch APPROACH on and a shape a half step out sounds just before the chord and resolves into it, from an audible slide down to a tight grace note.
- TURNAROUND
- Hold Control and the chord becomes a ii V I. Step the walk with; and ' without dropping the montuno. Tritone sub and backdoor are there too.
- WALKER
- A walking bassline underneath whatever you are holding, following the chord you are on.
- VOICE LEAD
- Inversions picked so the top line moves as little as it has to. Tie the common tones, step the nearest voice, or hold the melody on top.
- STRUM & GLIDE
- Roll the chord like a guitarist, or bend into it. GLIDE RANGE sets how far the bend reaches.
- HUMANIZE
- Velocity and timing that vary the way a hand varies, so a held progression stops sounding printed.
- CHROMATIC SLIDE
- Arrow keys walk a held chord a semitone at a time. Roots inside the key play that chord, roots outside become the passing chord that belongs there.
Already in your DAW's input list.
Harmonik broadcasts itself as a virtual MIDI source the moment it opens. No plugin, no wrapper, no host to crash.
Open Harmonik
Harmonik MIDI appears as a source straight away. Nothing to configure, no clock or BPM to match.
Arm any instrument track
Most DAWs listen to every active MIDI input, so a record-armed track just plays. If yours doesn't, set its input to Harmonik MIDI.
Play
Your computer keyboard, a USB or Bluetooth controller, or the pads on screen. Record it like anything else you play in.
Works with
- Logic Pro
- Ableton Live
- FL Studio
- Studio One
- Cubase
- REAPER
And anything else that accepts a virtual MIDI input. It plays a built in piano too, if you would rather not open a DAW at all.
One time purchase
$100once
Lifetime updates. No subscription.
- Platform
- macOS 11 or later. Universal, Apple Silicon and Intel.
- Play it with
- Your keyboard, any USB or Bluetooth MIDI controller, or the pads on screen.
- Output
- Harmonik MIDI, broadcast on launch. Optional built in piano.
- Windows
- In development. Join the list and you will hear when it lands.
- Version
- 1.0 build 5, beta
Currently in beta, and ad hoc signed rather than notarized, so macOS asks you to confirm the first launch. Both change before release. More in the questions below.
Before you buy.
Does Harmonik make sound on its own?
It is a MIDI instrument first: it plays whatever synth or sampler you point it at. There is also a built in piano using macOS's own sound bank, off by default, for playing without opening a DAW.
Is it a plugin?
No. It is a standalone macOS application. It broadcasts itself as a virtual MIDI source called Harmonik MIDI as soon as it opens, so there is no plugin to install, no wrapper, and no host that can take it down with it.
What can I play it with?
The letter keys on your computer keyboard, any USB or Bluetooth MIDI controller, or the chord pads on screen. The space bar works as a sustain pedal, and a real pedal on your keyboard works at the same time. Press ⌘K for the full key map.
macOS says it cannot verify the developer.
Expected on the current build. Harmonik is ad hoc signed rather than notarized, so the first launch needs one confirmation: Control-click the app, choose Open, then Open again. If that option is not offered, go to System Settings, Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway.
This changes when the app is signed with a paid Apple Developer ID and notarized, before release.
What does “beta” mean here?
The instrument is complete and played daily. It is called beta because it has not been through a signed, notarized public release yet, and because the changelog is still moving quickly. You get every update after that at no extra cost.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet. A Windows port is in development and is not available to buy. Join the list and you will hear when it lands.
What does $100 get me?
The macOS application and every future update to it, once, with no subscription. That is the whole commercial arrangement as it stands today. Anything else, such as a seat count or a refund window, is not settled yet, so it is not claimed here.