Notes
by Future Audio Workshop · Sampler · Chord instrument and progression player
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Notes is a chord instrument: white keys play full chords and black keys transform them, with a library of hundreds of progressions.
The Lab detects chords from audio, and sounds come from sampler, synth and multi-sampled engines, for $79 ($39 intro price when checked).
Best for: Keys & Synths, Sound Design. Genres: Pop, Hip-Hop & Trap, Electronic & EDM, Lo-Fi.
Keywords: chord generator, sample-based, creative, multisampled, digital classic, hardware emulation, macro controls, 80s, 90s, arpeggiator, beginner-friendly, electric piano, FM, guitar instrument, lo-fi, sound design, granular, textures, transformer, vintage.
What it does
Notes is Future Audio Workshop's chord instrument: a song starter that pairs chord progressions with ready-made sounds. The developer calls it an "Ideas Machine built to break out of creative blocks", focused on fast ideas rather than music theory.
- Chord playing: white keys play full chords; black "transformer keys" change how they play, with play style, strum, arpeggio, reverse and ramp.
- Voicing styles: Wide, Pop, Ghibli, R&B, House, Dilla and Caesar.
- Progressions: hundreds of built-in progressions written by sound designers and musicians, or enter chords from scratch.
- The Lab: drag in a loop, audio or MIDI file and Notes detects the chords and maps them to playable keys.
- Three sound engines: a synth (sine, triangle, saw, square and supersaw), a sampler with pitch detection and looping, and 12+ multi-sampled instruments such as Minimoog, DX7, Rhodes and classical guitar.
- Packs and effects: six packs (Dark Synths, LA Vibes, LoFi, Pedal Dust, Notes Keys, Textures), plus chorus, distortion, phaser, tape and pedal effects and master delay, EQ, grains, OTT, shimmer and eight reverb types.
- MIDI out and macros: send chords to other instruments, and shape the sound with two macros and a responsive "Blob" control.
The current version is 2.2.1. There is no demo, but there is a 30-day return policy.
Source: Future Audio Workshop product page
When to use it
Notes is the better pick for songwriters and beatmakers who want chords and a finished-sounding instrument in one step. Compared with Kontakt 8 or HALion 7, it does one job instead of many: there are no deep sampling or scripting tools, but chord progressions, voicings and strums are built in. Compared with Serato Sample, which chops audio into playable slices, Notes detects the chords in a loop and turns them into playable harmony. Compared with a theory-led chord tool like Scaler, it puts sound first, with designed patches and effects on every progression.
- Best for: sketching chord progressions quickly, finding chords from a sample or loop, and getting past a creative block.
- Genres: pop, hip-hop, R&B, house, lo-fi and electronic music.
- Look elsewhere if: you need a full sampler (Kontakt 8, TAL-Sampler) or detailed music theory tools.
What producers say
Early users in the Native Instruments community found it clever and fast-moving, with NKS support the main wish.
- NI Community thread one user called it "a very clever plugin", and others noted how quickly the developer added features such as MIDI Out.
- Criticisms: NKS mapping for Native Instruments keyboards was described as basic.
Where to buy
- Future Audio Workshop: $39 (regular $79)
- Plugin Boutique: $80
Tutorials and reviews
- Notes 🎵 — Full Walkthrough in Under 5 Minutes
- How to Play Chords in Notes (Transformers Explained)
- Steal Chord Progression with this! FAW NOTES VST Plugin
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