Orb Plugins

Orb Plugins

Orb Plugins (acquired by LANDR) · Other

Orb Plugins makes AI music composition plugins, best known for Orb Producer Suite 3, which generates chords, melodies, basslines and arpeggios as editable MIDI. LANDR acquired the brand in 2024.

Interface preview of Orb Plugins

About Orb Plugins

What Is Orb Plugins

Orb Plugins is the brand behind Orb Producer Suite 3, a bundle of four composition plugins for people who want musical ideas fast. One plugin writes chords, another writes melodies, a third handles basslines and a fourth builds arpeggios. Each one produces MIDI you can edit note by note instead of audio you have to accept as it comes. Most people find the brand while searching for an AI chord generator or a MIDI generator plugin that runs inside a DAW, and Orb built its name on both.

The suite ran inside a DAW as a VST3, AU or AAX plugin and came with a wavetable synth for auditioning parts without loading a second instrument. Version 3.0 arrived in September 2021 and became the version most producers know.

The brand's story changed in October 2024. LANDR bought Orb Plugins and rebuilt the advanced Orb Producer Pro plugin as a new product called LANDR Composer. Producer Suite 3 and the rest of the Orb line stopped getting updates, and existing owners were emailed upgrade details. That matters if you're shopping today: the original store no longer sells these plugins.

The limits are worth saying plainly. Orb is an idea starter, not a mixing or mastering tool, and it doesn't finish a track for you. Its output follows music theory rules, so parts stay in key, but arranging them is still your job.

Getting Started

  1. Buy the suite from the Orb Plugins store and register the license to your account.
  2. Install the plugin for your system, then rescan plugins in your DAW so the four modules appear.
  3. Open the chord module, pick a key and a style, then generate a progression and adjust single chords by hand.
  4. Send that progression to the melody, bass or arpeggio module, tweak the modifiers, then drag the MIDI into a track.

Product Information

A quick look at Orb Plugins's pricing, supported platforms, and performance.

Free PlanNo
Paid Plans$8.25/mo (LANDR Studio, includes LANDR Composer)
PlatformmacOS 10.14 or later (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10 64 bit or later; VST3, AU, AAX
DeveloperOrb Plugins (acquired by LANDR)
CategoryOther
Release DateSep 2021
Latest UpdatedOct 2024
Website VisitsN/A
Website Global RankN/A
API AvailabilityNo

Best for

The users, tasks, and scenarios where this tool fits best.

Users

  • Songwriters who hear a chord movement in their head but can't play it
  • Producers stuck on a loop
  • Beginners without formal theory

Tasks

  • Drafting chord progressions
  • Writing basslines that lock to the chords
  • Creating arpeggio patterns
  • Sketching melody ideas

Scenarios

  • Opening a session with nothing but a tempo
  • Hitting writer's block halfway through a track
  • Learning how harmony fits together

Key features

Assistive Chord Generation

The chord module builds progressions and single chords from a key, a scale and a style setting. You can generate a whole sequence in one go or ask for one chord at a time, which suits producers who already know the sound they want. Every result stays editable in the piano roll.

Melody, Bass and Arpeggio Engines

Three separate modules read the chord track and write parts that stay in key. The melody engine works as an AI melody generator and aims for singable lines, the bass engine acts as a bassline generator that follows roots and passing notes, and the arpeggio plugin repeats chord tones in a set pattern. Each module has its own density and rhythm controls.

MIDI Editing and Drag and Drop

Generated parts arrive as MIDI, so nothing is locked. You can open the piano roll inside the plugin, move notes, shorten them or delete the ones you don't want, then drag the pattern straight onto a DAW track. That last step is what makes the suite usable in a normal workflow.

Scenes and Song Mode

The suite can hold several musical ideas as scenes and then arrange them into a longer structure. Producers who write in sections use this to try an intro, verse and chorus without starting a new project each time. It's a sketch pad for song form, not a full arranger.

Built In Preset Sounds

A wavetable synth ships with the suite, with presets grouped into bass, keys, lead and pad categories. You can audition a generated part without opening a separate instrument, which keeps the writing session moving. The sounds are serviceable for demos rather than final production.

DAW Sync and Modifiers

The plugin syncs to your project tempo, and modifiers shape how mechanical the output sounds. Polyphony, humanization and chord strum controls let you loosen timing or thicken a chord without rewriting it. Small changes here separate a stiff pattern from one that sits in a track.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Four linked modules share one chord track, so bass, melody and arpeggio parts stay harmonically consistent.
  • Output is plain MIDI, which means you can edit every note and keep using your own instruments.
  • The chord generator is quick to learn, and you don't need theory training to get a usable progression.
  • Scenes make it easy to sketch verse and chorus ideas in the same session.
  • Drag and drop into the DAW takes seconds, so it fits an existing workflow instead of replacing it.

Cons

  • Orb Producer Suite 3 no longer receives updates, and the original store stopped selling it after the LANDR acquisition.
  • There's no free tier, so trying the workflow means paying for a subscription bundle or finding a secondhand license.
  • Generated melodies lean toward safe, in-key phrases, which can sound generic next to hand written lines.
  • The bundled synth is fine for sketching but rarely good enough to keep in a finished mix.

Frequently asked questions

Orb Plugins is known for Orb Producer Suite 3, a set of four AI assisted plugins that generate chords, melodies, basslines and arpeggios as MIDI inside a DAW. The brand also shipped the advanced Orb Producer Pro plugin, which LANDR later rebuilt as LANDR Composer.