Chordio vs SongEngine

Chordio is a music composition and theory app for iOS and macOS, with workspaces for composition, scales, modes, sheet music, music theory and lessons. Its library includes more than 40 scales. Connect a USB, MIDI or Bluetooth MIDI keyboard and it identifies chords in real time, naming them on the grand staff. Harmony Explorer finds matching scales and suggests diatonic and borrowed chords, secondary dominants and tritone substitutions. Progressions can be dragged into Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio and other DAWs as MIDI; MIDI chords can also be imported for re-harmonization. Sheet Music includes tempo adjustment, looping, separate-hand practice, transposition and PDF printing. Lesson Packs let users play pieces in any key and at any tempo. The free download includes built-in sounds, an on-screen keyboard and every workspace. Full Unlock costs $14.99 as a one-time purchase and includes Mac, iPad and Vision Pro, plus lifetime updates. The iPhone version is purchased separately, and there is no Android app.

SongEngine creates chord progressions and generates matching basslines, phrases, and melodies. Users can make chords with Chord Pads, import MIDI progressions, or generate progressions in the plug-in. Its free core includes 60+ presets for basslines, arpeggios, phrases, and melodies. Live Mode turns MIDI chords sent from a keyboard or DAW into new MIDI phrases in real time. Generated parts can be dragged into a DAW as standard MIDI files; an optional MassExporter can write hundreds of phrases to a computer folder. SongEngine runs as a VST2, VST3, or AU plug-in and needs a compatible host such as FL Studio or Ableton Live. It supports 64-bit Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11, and macOS 10.13 or later on 64-bit Intel or Apple Silicon processors. There is no official Linux build, though the manual says users have reported using Wine. The maker says its algorithms were crafted by human musicians, not AI, and generated MIDI files may be used in commercial releases.