Read the manual

Chord Chameleon

Real-time MIDI processing

Transform chords and bass as you play.

Combine chord inversions and voicings with independent chord and bass sequencing. Use separate octave controls, patterns, and loop lengths with live playing or existing MIDI clips.

See how it works

Read the manual

The complete Chord Chameleon interface in its dark theme: the Invert knob set in the chameleon’s eye, voicing buttons, the keyboard, Auto Invert, and the Chord Sync and Bass Sync rows.

Live input or existing MIDI clips

Processes MIDI before it reaches your instrument

No built-in sounds. Your MIDI instrument makes the sound.

SYNC Sequencer

Independent chord and bass sequencing

Give chords and bass separate patterns, rates, note lengths, and loop ranges. Sync both parts, or sync the bass while playing chords freely.

The Chord Sync and Bass Sync panel on the plug-in, dark theme, both rows on. Each row has its own Length and Rate controls, Latch, and a step grid: orange for chords, teal for bass.

Chord Grid

Steps for every chord you play

Bass Grid

Steps for the bass note under it

Patterns

Click or drag the grid squares to choose which steps play, separately for chords and bass.

Rates

Each part has its own Rate: half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes, plus dotted quarter and dotted eighth.

Note lengths

Length sets how long each synced chord note or bass note lasts.

Loop ranges

Repeat a shorter section of either grid. Each Rate remembers its own pattern and loop range.

Chord Sync & Bass Sync

Three ways to sync

Chord Sync and Bass Sync can run separately or together. Scroll, or use the tabs, to compare the three modes.

Chord GridSync on1/4

Bass GridSync off1/8

Chord Sync Only

All played notes follow the Chord Grid.

Illustration of the two grids at Rates of 1/4 and 1/8. Not a working plug-in, and no audio.

01 / 03

Chord Sync Only

Turn on Chord Sync by itself and all played notes follow the Chord Grid.

02 / 03

Chord + Bass Sync

Chord Sync and Bass Sync

Turn both on. Chords follow the Chord Grid while bass notes follow the Bass Grid, each with its own pattern, Rate, Length, and loop range.

03 / 03

Bass Sync Only

Play chords over a synced bassline.

Turn on Bass Sync and leave Chord Sync off. The bass follows its pattern while higher notes and chords play freely, with inversions and voicings.

Real-time chord control

Shape the next chord

Change the inversion, voicing, and spacing of incoming chords.

Voicing off

Light-theme keyboard with a four-note chord highlighted in root position.

Default

The chord as played: root position, no voicing.

Labelled comparison from the manual: the same chord, struck again after each setting is selected. Notes you are already holding do not move.

01.

Chord inversions

Select the inversion for your next chord without changing the notes you are already holding.

02.

Combined inversions and voicings

Use Drop 2, Drop 3, Drop 2-4, or Open alongside your chosen inversion.

03.

Spread voicings

Tighten or widen the spacing between chord notes.

Four voicing presets

Voicings rearrange the spacing and order of notes within a chord. Spread is a separate control.

Drop 2

Lowers the 2nd highest chord note by one octave.

Drop 3

Lowers the 3rd highest chord note by one octave.

Drop 2-4

Lowers the 2nd and 4th highest notes by one octave.

Open

Lowers the highest and 4th highest notes by one octave.

Bass & melody separation

Independent chord and bass control

Apply inversions and voicings to chord tones while bass and melody notes outside the chord stay where you played them.

The Invert knob in the dark theme, set to plus two.

The Open voicing button in the dark theme, engaged.

Close crop of the dark faceplate: the Chord Octave knob with minus and plus buttons, the Spread slider above the four voicing buttons, and the Bass Octave buttons minus two, minus one and zero.

Set chord and bass octaves separately.

Chord Octave shifts the chord. Bass Octave adjusts the bass notes. They move separately, so the bass can be adjusted without changing the chord.

Grid loops

Different loop lengths. Shared tempo.

Create cross-rhythms with different loop lengths for chords and bass. Each rate remembers its own pattern and loop range.

Illustration · example loop ranges

Chord GridSync on1/16

Chords follow the Chord Grid. Loop range: steps 1–6.

Bass GridSync on1/16

Bass notes follow the Bass Grid. Loop range: steps 1–4.

A six-step chord loop against a four-step bass loop, both at 1/16. The two loops realign every twelve steps while staying synced to tempo. Not a working plug-in, and no audio.

The Chord Sync and Bass Sync grids on the plug-in at a Rate of one sixteenth, each showing its own outlined loop range; steps outside each loop are dimmed.

From the plug-in: each grid with its own loop range.

Set a loop

Right-click and drag across a grid to choose the repeating range. Double-right-click to restore the full grid.

Saved steps

Changing the loop range does not erase steps outside the loop.

Per-Rate memory

Each Rate remembers its own grid pattern and loop range.

Presets & automatic control

Presets for chords and bass together

Start with a preset built around the interaction between chord and bass patterns. Then adjust the grids, rates, loops, and swing.

The complete Chord Chameleon interface in its light theme on a wooden desk, with Chord Sync and Bass Sync on at a Rate of one sixteenth and the preset Funk Groove loaded.

The Preset menu open on the plug-in, listing Default, Natural Selections Vol. 1, four BPM groups and Cross Rhythms, with the Natural Selections presets shown.

Coordinated Chord Sync and Bass Sync settings

Browse Natural Selections Vol. 1, BPM-based groups, and Cross Rhythms. Play chords with a bass note to hear the full rhythmic result.

Auto Bass Octave

Add repeating octave movement to synced bass notes.

Octave menu: Off · Up Down · Two Step · Octave Arp 1–5

Auto Invert

Cycle through inversion patterns as you play. Choose the range and how often the inversion changes.

The next inversion is prepared when the current chord is released.

MIDI-mappable controls

Map inversions, voicings, octave controls, and sync settings to MIDI hardware through your DAW.

Setup varies by DAW.

Playing chords

Rolled chords and grace notes

Strike three or more chord notes together to apply inversions and voicings. Build a rolled chord one note at a time to leave it as played.

Struck vs. rolled chords

Played one at a time

Rolled chord

Play and hold notes one at a time to create a rolled chord. Chord Chameleon leaves the rolled chord unprocessed, preserving the notes as played.

Rolled chord, left as played

Grace notes stay with the chord.

After a chord is detected, nearby follow-up notes use its current inversion and voicing while any note from that chord remains held.

Live input or existing MIDI

Apply the controls to a keyboard performance or MIDI notes already in your track. Chord Chameleon processes the notes before they reach your instrument.

Your playing

Play live, or use existing MIDI from the track.

MIDI in

Notes arrive as MIDI, from the keyboard or a clip.

Chord Chameleon

Processes chords and bass notes independently, in real time.

Your instrument

Plays the transformed notes. Chord Chameleon has no built-in sounds.

Before you start

Practical questions

Setup steps, control descriptions, and performance examples are in the manual.

Read the manual

No. Chord Chameleon processes incoming chords rather than generating them from single-note triggers. The notes can come from your playing or an existing MIDI clip.

Setup, controls, and examples

Explore the chord and bass controls.

See the sequencing modes, performance examples, and setup instructions in the manual.

Read the manual

Real-time MIDI processing

Real-time control of chords and bass.

Apply inversions and voicings to your chords, with separate octave controls and tempo-synced patterns for chords and bass. Use it with live playing or existing MIDI clips.

See how it works

Read the manual

The Chord Chameleon interface in its dark theme, shown oversized: the Invert knob set in the chameleon’s eye, Chord Octave, Spread, the four voicing buttons, Bass Octave and the keyboard.

Chord Sync and Bass Sync

A separate grid, Rate and Length for each part.

Chord Sync · Bass Sync

Transform chords and bass as you play.

Combine chord inversions and voicings with independent chord and bass sequencing. Use separate octave controls, patterns, and loop lengths with live playing or existing MIDI clips.

See how it works

Read the manual

Chord Sync

Chords

Chords follow the Chord Grid.

Bass Sync

Bass

Bass notes follow the Bass Grid.

Illustration

Sync both parts, or sync the bass while playing chords freely.

Chord GridSync on1/4

Bass GridSync on1/8

Illustration of the two grids at Rates of 1/4 and 1/8. Not a working plug-in, and no audio.

For live playing and existing MIDI

Live input or existing MIDI

Reshape existing MIDI with chord inversions, voicings, and independent chord and bass patterns.

Chord Chameleon processes the notes before they reach your instrument.

See how it works

Read the manual

The complete Chord Chameleon interface in its dark theme: the Invert knob in the chameleon artwork, Chord Octave, Spread, the four voicing buttons, Bass Octave, the keyboard, Auto Invert, and the Chord Sync and Bass Sync rows.

Chord Octave · Bass Octave

Separate chord and bass octaves

Chord and bass octaves move separately, so the bass can be adjusted without changing the chord.

From the plug-in

Chord Octave

Shifts the current chord by octave.

Bass Octave

Adjusts bass notes by octave.

Chord Octave

Knob with − and + buttons.

Bass Octave

Buttons −2, −1 and 0.

Auto Bass Octave

Repeating octave movement for synced bass notes, set from the Octave menu in Bass Sync.

Additional controls in the manual

Chord inversions

Select now. Hear it on the next chord.

Select the inversion for your next chord without changing the notes you are already holding.

Hold a chord

The notes you are holding stay exactly as they are.

Select an inversion

Turn the Invert dial. Nothing you are holding moves.

Play the next chord

The new chord arrives with the selected inversion and voicing.

Figure from the manual, headed Live Chord Input: four keyboards labelled Root Position, 1st Inversion, 2nd Inversion and 3rd Inversion, each beside a Chord Inversion setting of 0, plus 1, plus 2 and plus 3. Coloured lines trace each note that moves up an octave from one setting to the next.

The bass part

Bass notes outside the chord stay where you played them.

Bass Octave, Bass Sync and the Auto Bass Octave patterns are separate bass controls.

Bass & melody separation in the manual

Bass & melody separation

Bass and melody notes stay where you played them

Apply inversions and voicings to chord tones while bass and melody notes outside the chord stay where you played them.

Dark-theme keyboard showing the processed chord after Invert plus two with the Open voicing: the low bass note and the high melody note are where they were played, and the two chord notes that moved are coloured gold.

SYNC

Chord Sync & Bass Sync