Chords — Free Download

Purpose and Overview

Chords is a MIDI effect plugin designed to generate chord progressions directly in your DAW. It is intended to kickstart creativity when starting from a blank project, providing a source of inspiration. Originally developed for EDM, its chord generation capabilities apply to various genres. The plugin handles everything from single four-note chords to full eight-chord riffs.

Use it by placing it ahead of any MIDI-triggered audio plugin and pressing play. The plugin syncs to your host’s BPM, generating looped options for up to eight chords. You can then drag the resulting MIDI directly into your project for further editing. This makes it a practical tool for quickly exploring harmonic ideas.

Key Capabilities

The plugin offers both global and granular controls. Global controls adjust inversions, length, speed, and root key for the entire playback, allowing on-the-fly changes to the whole riff. For detailed editing, you can click a segment to modify chord shapes, including major and minor variations, individual inversions, and velocity.

Up to eight segments are available, each with a different chord type, and you can trigger between one and four notes per chord. Playback remains locked in time with your DAW. You can add or remove segments and adjust parameters independently. The 18 buttons in the interface select Tonic, Subdominant, or Dominant chord shapes, from simple triads to complex variants like G7sus4.

Workflow Integration

To incorporate progressions into your projects, drag and drop the MIDI from the plugin to your DAW. This allows you to edit the generated sequences freely, chopping up, transposing, and modifying them to fit your style. This export function is central to the plugin’s workflow, enabling seamless transfer of ideas.

Chords includes a large number of factory preset progressions, each labelled in detail. These presets provide useful musical motifs to get you started quickly, potentially serving as the basis for entire tracks. The plugin also features a preview mode for in-plugin playback, letting you audition suggestions before exporting.

Practical Applications and User Experience

This plugin is suited for music producers who want to quickly generate chord ideas without music theory knowledge. It streamlines the process of finding chord progressions, making it useful for songwriting and track development. The intuitive interface reduces the time spent on chord experimentation, focusing instead on creative output.

The resizable interface and included PDF manual and tutorial video enhance usability. W.A. Production positions it as a tool for real-life producers, aiming to facilitate studio-quality processing. Whether you’re composing a full track or just exploring harmonic setups, Chords offers a practical way to generate and refine progressions.

Key features

• Chord-creating MIDI effect
• Connects to any sequencer
• Global and per-segment control
• Intelligent harmonic progressions
• Preview mode for in-plugin playback
• Export MIDI
• Factory presets

Best for

Ideal for music producers seeking quick chord inspiration, especially in EDM and related genres. It suits those who want to generate progressions and riffs efficiently, using pre-made presets and exportable MIDI to streamline workflow. Best for overcoming creative blocks and starting new projects.