Nikolozi Meladze

Last updated: 20 October 2026

[email protected]
+995 599 998 451 (Georgia)
+61 410 866 257 (Australia)
(Both numbers support WhatsApp and FaceTime Audio)

Citizenship: Australia and New Zealand
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
(Planning to relocate to Sydney)

Summary

I have over 20 years of software development experience, with particular depth in iOS, macOS and real-time audio. One highlight is Mela, a modular music-making app I created for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Over the past eight years, I’ve designed its architecture, DSP and user interface while expanding its capabilities through frequent releases informed by user feedback. Beyond Mela, I’ve worked on a wide range of projects and technologies with teams of different sizes, from leading software development at Smart AV to building iOS apps at Tabcorp and News Corp Australia.

Highlights

• Native iOS and macOS development with Swift, Objective-C, C++, UIKit, SwiftUI, Xcode and Apple frameworks
• Designing maintainable app architectures and improving performance and reliability through refactoring, debugging and testing
• End-to-end app development, from design and implementation to App Store releases and ongoing improvement
• Reviewing code, guiding other developers and improving CI and release workflows
• Designing accessible, user-friendly interfaces informed by Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and user feedback
• Collaboration with product, UX and QA teams, and direct work with users
• Communicating complex features clearly through documentation, detailed release notes and tutorials
• Real-time audio and DSP, including synthesis, audio effects, MIDI processing and AUv3 plug-ins
• Using AI tools to speed up development, while reviewing every line of generated code and refining it as needed before committing it

Qualifications

• Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science, The University of Auckland, 2004
• Bachelor of Computer Science, The University of Auckland, 2003
• Diploma in Audio Engineering, SAE Institute, Auckland, 2008

Employment History

Independent iOS & macOS Developer

Self-employed · Dec 2010 - present

I began developing and releasing iOS and macOS apps for music and audio production in 2010, initially alongside my full-time roles. My apps have since reached over 200,000 unique downloads.

Mela:

• Mela is a modular music-making app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Its unique composable patch system lets artists build custom polyphonic synthesisers, audio effects and MIDI processors quickly and intuitively.
• It has been my full-time focus for the past six years. I’m responsible for its product direction, architecture, DSP, user interface, releases and support.
• It runs as a standalone app and as an AUv3 plug-in in music production apps such as Logic Pro and Ableton Live.

Product evolution:

• Evolved Mela from a UIKit-based, iPad-only virtual-analog synthesiser with fixed modules and routing into a general-purpose, cross-platform modular app with a SwiftUI interface.
• Reworked the architecture as Mela grew, adding automatic patch migrations and preserving access to legacy projects through Mela Classic.
• Almost every release adds a simple, focused module that combines with existing modules to expand what users can build.
• Moved from a paid app to a free download with in-app purchases for module collections, preserving existing customers’ access.

Architecture and DSP:

• Designed an audio engine with sample-by-sample signal processing, enabling one-sample feedback delays and sample-accurate polyphonic modulation.
• Built more than 100 modules, implementing MIDI-processing and audio DSP algorithms from scratch.
• Optimised DSP code with SIMD and reduced operation counts for efficient real-time processing.
• Engineered bidirectional communication between the real-time DSP kernel, user interface and host app, carefully managing threading to prevent audio glitches.

User experience:

• Designed a highly visual interface that shows how signals are transformed and animates parameter changes during modulation.
• Made the patch layout reflect signal flow through a tree of nested modules, supporting serial and parallel processing without virtual cables.
• Built a custom interface for touch and pointer input that adapts to different window sizes.
• Implemented drag-and-drop to quickly rearrange modules, import and export subpatches, and assign parameter modulation.
• Made patches and modules interchangeable, preserving their structure, parameter values and modulation routing when copied between Mela instances or transferred as patch files through Finder and Files.

Releases and user support:

• Release frequent updates with new features, improvements and bug fixes.
• Worked directly with host app developers to resolve Audio Unit integration issues and improve plug-in compatibility.
• Maintain built-in module help, documentation and detailed release notes, and create video tutorials.
• Provide direct user support, using feedback to guide development.

App portfolio:

• Other apps I’ve released include NPD, NFM, NS1, MIDI Sketch, Easy MIDI and Lyrics View.
• Received positive feedback from professional film composers, electronic music producers and hobbyists.
• You can learn more about my work at nikolozi.com/mela.

Software Engineer

Monarc Media Labs Pty Ltd · Australia · Mar 2019 - Feb 2020

We worked on Sotto Voce, a system that monitors instantaneous sound levels throughout an orchestra, creates sound level logs and provides individual headphone mixes for each musician. My contributions included:

• Worked on real-time, low-latency audio programming.
• Implemented DSP modules from first principles, including equalisers, dynamics processors, a mixer and sound level measurement.
• Implemented a sophisticated audio mixer to create individual headphone mixes for each musician.
• Built sound level logging into the system.
• Programmed Cycling ’74 Max objects and built patches to help prototype the Sotto Voce audio server in Max.
• Helped implement the Open Control Architecture (AES70) protocol on the server to allow control from remote clients such as the iPad app.
• Added the ability to capture mixes in Ogg Vorbis format in real time.
• Key technologies: Xcode, CMake, Visual Studio, Cycling ’74 Max, Git, Ubuntu, Ableton Live.

Senior iOS Developer / iOS Lead

News Corp Australia · Australia · Oct 2016 - Jun 2018

I played a key role in building iOS apps for The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser, as well as many regional news apps. Some highlights include:

• Helped migrate the apps from Swift 2.3 to 3.0 while following Swift’s API Design Guidelines, and carried out minor migrations to Swift 4.x.
• Performed major refactoring to improve the apps’ architecture, performance and code reuse.
• Implemented a newspaper-like news feed layout for iPad.
• Worked on app navigation, remotely configurable app settings and news feeds, in-app article commenting, article saving and a weather widget.
• Worked closely with product, business, QA and UX teams.
• Carefully reviewed pull requests.
• Guided other developers on code quality and coding style.
• Installed and configured Jenkins CI for beta and release builds for all apps.

Additionally, I worked on the SuperCoach AFL & NRL apps, resolving major bugs and improving performance.

iOS Developer

Tabcorp Pty Ltd · Australia · Jul 2015 - May 2016

I worked with a mobile team on iOS betting applications, including Luxbet and Tab. My work covered most of these apps’ features, including:

• Worked on race and sports event screens and historical data.
• Implemented various bet types.
• Added bet slip and cash-out features.
• Worked on user account screens, including statements and sign-up.
• Helped modernise the code and UI.
• Worked closely with the UX team.
• Reviewed pull requests.

iOS Developer

Social App Stories Pty Ltd · Australia · Jun 2015

During a short contract, I worked on a social networking app. I improved news feed performance, added video caching, refactored the internal architecture and fixed many bugs.

Software Engineer / Software Manager

Smart AV Pty Ltd · Australia · Jul 2008 - Apr 2015

At Smart AV, we built mixing consoles with touchscreens that controlled professional digital audio workstations (DAWs). These consoles ran custom-built touchscreen software that communicated with DAWs over Ethernet. The DAWs ran on Mac or PC and communicated with the consoles through control surface plug-ins. I started as one of the company’s software engineers. A few years later, I was promoted to oversee all aspects of software development.

During my time at Smart AV, I also built two experimental iOS apps. The first let users control the console remotely, adjusting the mix or controlling playback from their iPhone while walking around the studio. The second was a basic DAW for iPad with essential mixing and arranging capabilities. Users could import audio clips, arrange them on a timeline and render the mix.

Some highlights while working at Smart AV include:

• Handled all software development for Mac.
• Implemented new features to improve the user experience on the console.
• Improved software performance.
• Developed solutions for limitations imposed by DAW communication protocols.
• Developed software plug-ins and drivers for Mac and Windows.
• Moved all source code from Visual SourceSafe to Git.
• Introduced a bug tracking system used by all developers.
• Managed development cycles.
• Liaised with customers to improve user experience and resolve bugs.
• Key technologies: C/C++, Objective-C, Xcode, Visual Studio.

Software Developer

IDIOM Ltd · New Zealand · Sep 2006 - Aug 2007

• Worked on a client-server application that allowed users to build and test a repository of business rules.
• Added many new features to the system and fixed bugs.
• Improved code quality by decoupling program logic from the user interface and adding unit tests.
• Worked with C#, .NET and other Microsoft technologies.

Application Developer

Optimation Ltd · New Zealand · Jan 2005 - Sep 2006

• Worked on a wide variety of projects using .NET, Java and web technologies.
• Integrated new mobile phones with the Vodafone Live platform.

Computer Science Tutor

The University of Auckland · New Zealand · Mar 2004 - Nov 2004

• Tutored computer science students and graded their assignments.