Mela

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Modular Music-Making on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Dream Up an Instrument, Then Build It

Mela is a modular music-making tool that grows with you, from your first patch to deep custom designs. Create polyphonic synthesisers, unique audio effects, and complex MIDI processors. Mela runs standalone on iOS and macOS, or as an AUv3 plug-in inside your favourite DAW, including Ableton Live, AUM, Cubasis, Drambo, and Logic Pro.

Everything Is a Module

In Mela, there are no virtual cables to untangle. Instead, a patch is a tree of nested modules, where a module can chain its submodules in series or run them in parallel. The layout of your patch is its signal flow. Almost any parameter can be modulated or automated. Everything moves with a drag, and a patch can stay tiny or grow wonderfully elaborate.

Meet the Modules

Each module is focused yet powerful, and built-in help lets you quickly learn how it works. Here is a quick tour.

• MIDI processors: arpeggiator, chord, Euclidean sequencer, groove, note echo, note modifiers, quantiser, scale, strummer, MIDI capture.
• Synth building blocks: virtual-analog oscillator, FM operator, phaseshaping, noise, glide, unison, VA filter, amp envelope.
• Modulators: envelope generator, envelope follower, LFO, mod sequencer, XY pad, macro control, random.
• Audio effects: reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, distortion, ring mod, dynamics, EQ, pitch and frequency shifters, stereo tools.
• Visualisers: level and correlation metering, oscilloscopes, MIDI logger, notepad.

The full module list is at the end of this page.

Your First Patch

Load Mela as an Instrument, an Audio Effect, or a MIDI Processor, then take your pick: over 200 included patches to play, pull apart, and learn from, or a blank patch and total freedom.

Pay Once, Own Forever

Mela ships with 109 modules and counting, organised into collections. Collection 0 is free and has everything you need to learn how Mela works. The rest are single purchases. A patch that uses modules you do not own still plays in full. Locked modules process signals as normal, and a purchase simply unlocks their controls.

Say Hello

Mela keeps evolving, shaped by its long-term vision and the people who use it. Wondering if Mela can do something specific? Just ask. The answer often arrives as a short demo video of a patch doing exactly that. And emailed feature requests somehow keep jumping the queue. Say hello, ask anything, and help shape where Mela goes next.

Module Collections

Collection 0

Amp Envelope, Arpeggiator, Audio In, Audio Out, Group, LFO, Meter, MIDI Group, MIDI In, MIDI Meter, MIDI Out, MIDI-to-Poly, Notepad, Overlap Remover, Poly-to-Mono, Relative Pitch, Stack, Stereo Delay, Transposer, VA Filter, VA Oscillator, Volume.

Collection 1

Balance, Chord, Chorus, Compressor, Control Change, Distortion, DS Oscillator, Envelope Follower, Envelope Generator, Flanger, Glide, Level, MIDI Logger, MIDI Source, Noise, Note Echo, Note Length, Note Range, Note Stack, Phaser, Pitch Bend, Random, Scale, Strummer, Velocity.

Collection 2

Clipper, Comb Filter, DC Blocker, Degrader, EQ Band, Fixed Pitch, FM Operator, Macro, MIDI Capture, MIDI Channel, Oscilloscope, Pitch Oscilloscope, Pitch Ratio, Rectifier, Vibrato, Voice Activity, VPS Oscillator.

Collection 3

All Pass, Audio-to-Mod, Band Pass, Correlation, Digital Delay, Dual Pan, Euclid, Macro Button, Mid-Side, Multiply-Add, Noise Gate, Note Chance, Note Event, Pitch Follower, Reverb, Ring Mod, Simple LFO, Stereo Pan, Stereo Tool.

Collection 4

Crossover, Delay, Effect, Feedback, Gain, Gain Computer, Groove, MIDI Delay, Note Hold, Note Pulse, Note-to-Pitch, Phase Distortion, Pitch Ramp, Quantiser, Splitter, Vel-to-Amp.

Collection 5

CC Modulator, Frequency Shifter, Limiter, MIDI Echo, Mod Oscilloscope, Mod Steps, Pitch Shifter, Slew, Unison, XY.