Noesis Intelligent Harmony Generator & Assistant
by Dystopian Waves · Utility · MIDI chord progression generator
Not rated yet
Noesis generates chord progressions from a music-theory engine or 35 genre Flavors, and can harmonize a melody, mutate progressions and set voicings.
It runs as VST3, AU or standalone and costs $19.99; a free Lite edition is also listed.
Best for: Keys & Synths, Sound Design. Genres: all genres.
Keywords: AI assistant, A/B compare, experimental, perpetual licence, preset-driven, resizable UI, sound design, standalone app, utility, wide.
What it does
Noesis is a chord progression generator and composition assistant from Dystopian Waves. It mixes music theory rules, generative algorithms and genre-aware engines to give songwriters harmonic ideas "in seconds".
- Three engines: a Theory Engine that ranges from functional harmony to experimental moves, a Flavor Engine with 35 genre styles such as Neo-Soul, Dark Trap, Lofi, Cinematic and Synthwave, and a Mutation Engine that spins variations of a progression.
- Melody Harmonizer: works in reverse, building chords under a single-note melody.
- Bridge Builder and improvising: Bridge Builder finds a path between two anchor chords, and six Improvise modes (Bridge Builder, Diatonic, Chromatic, Advanced, Flavor, Axis) fill slots; a Transition Engine can insert passing chords.
- Suggestions: twelve suggestion modes covering modulations, substitutions, extensions, polychords, alterations and emotional targets.
- Chords and voicings: 100+ chord types, 28 scales and 19 voicing styles, including Drop 2 and Drop 3, Shell, Rootless, Quartal, So What and Gospel Spread.
- Shape and performance: a Tension Curve for the emotional arc, progressions of 4 to 16 chords, and 30+ performance styles such as Block, Strum, Swell and arps, with humanization.
- Workflow: a Circle of Fifths interface, lockable slots and transpose, up to 8 snapshots with A/B/C comparison, built-in audition sounds, MIDI import and export, 120 presets and a resizable, themable interface.
The current version is 1.6.0. It is a one-time purchase from the developer's Gumroad store. A free Lite edition and a Max for Live device are listed separately.
Source: Dystopian Waves product page
When to use it
Noesis is a songwriting aid rather than an analysis tool, so it does a different job from the rated meters in this category such as Insight 2 and SPAN. It sits in the same space as chord tools like Scaler or Captain Chords, and its strengths there are generation and reworking: the Mutation Engine, Melody Harmonizer, Bridge Builder and Tension Curve all go beyond picking chords from a scale. Its 19 named voicing styles are unusually detailed for an inexpensive tool. It has only built-in audition sounds, so for finished parts you route its MIDI to your own instruments.
- Best for: finding chord progressions, harmonizing a melody, breaking out of habitual changes and exploring jazz and gospel voicings.
- Genres: any style; the Flavor Engine targets neo-soul, trap, lo-fi, synthwave and cinematic music among others.
- Look elsewhere if: you want an arranger with full instruments and song sections built in, or just a quick scale-locked chord pad; a dedicated songwriting suite or a simpler chord tool fits better.
Where to buy
- Dystopian Waves: $39.99
Tutorials and reviews
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