The songwriting canvas, inside your DAW.
Chord and melody stream as live MIDI to your own instruments, locked to host transport. Chord palette, lyric editor, word panel, and a beat‑grid timeline, all inside the session.
Drop in. Write. Hear it through your own instruments.
The full Song Cage editor inside your DAW, with MIDI streaming to whatever instruments you've loaded on the track.
Drop it on a MIDI track
Add Song Cage to a MIDI track in Logic, Ableton, FL Studio, Cubase, Reaper, Studio One, or GarageBand. The plugin loads with a blank "Untitled" song.
Write your song
Chord palette, lyric blocks, syllable-aware melody pitches, rhyme and synonym panels. The same canvas as the desktop web app, with playhead and tempo following your DAW transport.
Hear it through your instruments
Chord notes route to MIDI channel 1, melody to channel 2. Set the "Output Role" parameter to Chords, Melody, or Both: one instance can send the whole song to a single instrument, or two instances can each feed a different track. Want it as a clip instead of a live stream? Drag the part straight onto a track.
The full canvas, not a chord library.
- Chord palette In-key, borrowed, and secondary dominant chords for whatever key you're in. Suggestions rank against melody and surrounding chords.
- Beat-grid timeline DAW-style chord and lyric blocks on a beat grid. Tempo and time signature follow the host.
- Lyric editor with syllable splits Each syllable carries its own pitch. Drag dividers and the melody re-snaps to the grid.
- Hold to sing Hold the button under the inline piano, or just hold M, and sing. The pitch you sang lands on the selected syllable. Needs host mic access.
- Offline word panel Rhymes, slant rhymes, synonyms, and word associations. No network call. Works on stage with no Wi-Fi.
- Auto Chords Rule-based scorer that harmonizes a melody you've tapped in. Deterministic, not AI.
- Your MIDI keyboard, straight onto the timeline The keyboard already routed to the track does double duty. Play a chord and Song Cage names it and places it; play a note and it fills the syllable under the cursor.
- Drag MIDI onto a track Drag the chords, the melody, or both straight out of the plugin and drop them on a DAW track as an editable MIDI clip. Which part you get follows the Output Role.
- Optional cloud library Sign in and import songs from your Song Cage web library. Edits stay in the DAW project until you explicitly push them back.
Tested in the DAWs you already use.
Pro Tools (AAX) is not supported in this version. It's on the v1.2 roadmap if demand calls for it.
Audio Unit · macOS
- Logic Pro
- GarageBand
- Reaper
- Studio One
VST3 · macOS + Windows
- Ableton Live
- Cubase
- FL Studio
- Reaper
- Studio One
Requirements
- macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later
- Windows 10 or later, 64-bit
- One universal download, native on Apple Silicon and Intel
The installer puts each format in the standard plug-in folder, so there is nothing to copy by hand. Relaunch your DAW afterwards so it rescans, and Song Cage appears alongside your other plug-ins.
Plugin setup guideOne price. No subscription.
macOS · Windows · The desktop app is a separate download on the same license
Common questions.
Is this a sample library?
No. The Song Cage plugin generates MIDI. You choose the instruments inside your DAW. Same chord palette, lyric editor, and word panel as the desktop web app, with MIDI streaming to whatever you have loaded on the track. For the full walkthrough, read The Plugin manual.
What DAWs does it work in?
Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase, Reaper, Studio One. The plugin ships as AU and VST3 on macOS and as VST3 on Windows. Pro Tools (AAX) is on the v1.2 roadmap.
Does it need an internet connection?
No. Rhymes, synonyms, similar-meaning, and associations all ship inside the plugin. The full word panel runs offline. Sign-in is optional and only required if you want to import songs from your Song Cage cloud library.
Do I lose my song if I close the DAW project?
No. Songs save inside the DAW project. Open the project a week later and the chord palette, lyric blocks, and melody all come back exactly as you left them. Multiple plugin instances in one project each remember their own song.
I already pay for Song Cage Pro. Is the plugin included?
No. Pro covers the web and mobile apps: cloud sync across your devices, unlimited songs, exports, and sharing with your band. The plugin and the desktop app are a separate one-time purchase of $69, and that one payment covers both, on both macOS and Windows, permanently.
Your 14-day plugin trial runs independently of your subscription, so you can put it through a real session before deciding.
How is chord and melody routed?
The plugin emits chord notes on MIDI channel 1 and melody notes on channel 2. Each plugin instance has an Output Role parameter you can set to Off, Chords, Melody, or Both. Both sends the whole song down one wire, so a single instrument plays chords and melody together and a multi-timbral one can split them by channel. For two separate tracks, drop the plugin on two MIDI tracks, set one to Chords routed to a piano and the other to Melody routed to a lead synth.
What about Apple Silicon and Intel Macs?
The installer ships a universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon (M1 and later) and Intel Macs.
Does it use AI?
No. Chord suggestions come from music theory rules: voice leading, melody-chord-tone scoring, and progression patterns. Rhymes and synonyms come from dictionary lookups. Auto Chords is a deterministic rule-based scorer. Same melody and key produce the same progression every time.
Out now for your DAW
Download the installer, drop Song Cage on a MIDI track, and write where you record. 14-day free trial, no sign-in required.
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