What is Signals & Sorcery?

Signals & Sorcery is a Generative Audio Workstation (GAW), a new kind of music tool built around contract-based composing. Define a musical contract (key, chords, tempo, bars), then generate MIDI via Gemini and audio via Stable Audio and Lyria within those constraints. Preview and refine your layers, arrange your scenes into a full song, then export a mix, a master or stems, or send everything to Ableton Live.

Most generative music tools are one-shot: type a prompt, get a finished song, and you're done. That works for background music, but it skips the creative process. Signals & Sorcery takes the opposite approach. You generate infinite MIDI and audio layers within a contract you define, then compose, preview, and arrange them yourself. You get the speed of generation without giving up creative control.

Who is this for?

• Producers & Electronic Musicians who want generated layers without giving up creative control
• Songwriters & Composers who sketch sections quickly and arrange them into full songs
• Live Coders & Experimental Artists who want intuitive, prompt-driven music generation
• Streamers & Content Creators who want to make music while broadcasting
• Ableton Live users who want to generate parts and finish them in Live

How does it work?

Core Technology

• Native Audio Engine: Built on Tracktion Engine (C++) with JSON-RPC communication
• Generative Models: Uses Gemini for MIDI generation, and Stable Audio and Lyria for audio generation
• Contract-Based Composing: Define key, chords, BPM, and bars, and the generators compose within those constraints
• Composer + Arranger: compose scenes on top, arrange them into a song at the bottom (Arrange mode)
• Plugin SDK: All generators (synths, samples, audio textures) are built on the extensible Plugin SDK
• Custom Instrument Support: Load any VST3/AU instrument plugin on synth tracks

The Workflow

1. Define - Set up a musical contract (key, chords, tempo, structure)
2. Generate - The generators compose MIDI and audio that fit your contract
3. Preview - Press Play to hear the scene in the composer
4. Refine - Iterate on the generation until you're satisfied
5. Arrange - Lay your scenes out as a song in Arrange mode
6. Export - Render a mix, a master or stems, or send the song to Ableton Live

Key Features

• Contract-Based Generation: Musical contracts ensure coherent compositions across tracks
• Gemini MIDI + Stable Audio & Lyria: Purpose-built models for music generation
• Arrange Mode: Build a full song from your scenes with copies, linked copies, bar-by-bar layers, fades and effects
• Export: A reference mix, a loudness-targeted master, stems that sum to the mix, and a hand-off to Ableton Live
• Plugin SDK: Built-in synth, drum, instrument, sample, and audio generators plus a chat assistant, with upcoming integrations for Splice, ElevenLabs, live coding, and agentic prompting
• Custom Instruments: Load any VST3/AU synth plugin alongside or instead of the default Surge XT

Video Tutorials

See Signals & Sorcery in action. Check out the Video Tutorials for demos of MIDI generation, samples, plugins, and audio generation.

Current Limitations

• macOS (Apple Silicon) & Windows 10/11 (64-bit): Intel Macs and Linux are not supported
• Surge XT Default: Ships with Surge XT as the default synth, but any VST3/AU instrument can be loaded