Graph-Based Orchestration
Sketch sections, variations, layers, and routing containers as a graph instead of starting with empty linear tracks.
Version 4.6.1 | Free Player available | Windows release
Orch
A useful alternative DAW for composers who prefer structure, routing, node-based MIDI orchestration, and a visual synth engine over a conventional track-first timeline. Signed modules install through the same built-in catalog on Windows and Mac, including in the free Player version.
Local first
Runs on your machine with local project files, a browser interface, and a native audio bridge.
Node-based
Plan musical structure as containers, relationships, and reusable sections.
VST3 capable
Route instruments, effects, busses, and outputs without leaving the composition workspace.
Module-ready
Install signed user module plugins, and use MCP-compatible AI tools to help draft modules for review and signing.
Core Workflow
A DAW for building music from connected ideas.
Visual VST Mixer
Patch VST3 instruments, effects, audio busses, and outputs on a routing canvas that stays with the project.
Orch Synth Patch Builder
Design playable instruments visually with a node-based editor. Wire oscillators, filters, envelopes, and physical modelling nodes into a VST3 instrument in real time. Install the editor from the signed module catalog and use the standalone OrchSynth VST3 package for your platform.
Sample Browser
Catalog local libraries, browse instruments with artwork, build collections, and keep sample choices visible.
Piano Roll Editing
Edit notes, velocity, quantize, legato, staccato, triplets, trimming, undo, zoom, and articulations.
Live MIDI Recording
Record a performance directly into a routing container, preserve MIDI 2.0 expression, and place the captured phrase into the structure you are already editing.
MCP Agent Control
Use an MCP-compatible AI assistant to inspect projects, make edits, and help draft module code for developer review.
Orch Synth
A visual synth engine you build yourself.
Orch Synth is a node-based patch builder that compiles directly into a VST3 instrument. Drag oscillators, filters, envelopes, exciters, strings, tubes, membranes, bodies, resonators, and modulation onto the canvas, wire them together, and hear the result immediately. No preset menus, no hidden signal paths — every connection is visible and editable.
The aim is not to replace specialist instruments that focus on one perfected piano, string, or percussion model. Orch Synth is for creative instrument design: building new playable behaviours inside the same environment where you compose, route, and arrange music. The editor module is distributed through Orch's signed catalog and works with the free Player version.
- Free Player support — install modules from the built-in catalog on Windows or Mac, with OrchSynth distributed separately as a native VST3 package
- Real-time compilation — patch changes sync to the VST instantly
- Physical modelling — build with exciters, strings, tubes, membranes, bodies, modal resonators, and sympathetic strings
- Preset management — save, load, rename, and delete patches from the editor
- Built-in MIDI keyboard — test patches without leaving the editor
Comparison
Why choose Orch?
Visual VST Canvas Routing
Unlike linear mixer strips in traditional DAWs, Orch exposes a visual node-based VST routing canvas out of the box, offering modular flexibility for sound design and instrument patching.
Structure-First Containers
Rather than starting with an empty linear timeline, Orch lets you organize musical ideas into modular, hierarchical containers. Build blocks, repeat segments, and filter layers programmatically.
Tag-Based Semantic Routing
Forget hardcoded MIDI channels 1-16. Orch routes musical events using semantic tags (e.g., "Violins", "Solo_Flute"). The router maps tagged containers dynamically, letting you change instrumentation without editing notes.
Next-Gen MIDI 2.0 Support
Built for the future of digital music. Orch's standalone C++ bridge incorporates native MIDI 2.0 capabilities, supporting high-resolution parameter control, per-note expressions, and next-generation MIDI hardware.
Python-Powered Customization
Install signed user module plugins for extra workflows. MCP-compatible AI assistants can help draft new module ideas, which must be reviewed and signed before packaged releases can load them.
No Ecosystem Lock-in
Orch integrates natively with the open DAWProject exchange standard. Easily draft generative arrangements or raga phrases locally and export them directly to Bitwig or Tracktion Waveform.
Native OSC Control API
Orch is built on a decoupled architecture where parameter updates, timeline triggers, and routing state are communicated in real-time over OSC. This open network protocol makes it simple to integrate custom hardware controllers, tablet layouts, or modular audio software.
Built-In Visual Synth Engine
Traditional DAWs usually separate composition from instrument design. Orch Synth lets you build the instrument itself as a visible signal graph, combining classic synthesis and physical modelling components inside the same composition workspace.
MCP Agent Control
Use an MCP-compatible AI assistant to inspect projects, make edits, and help draft module code for developer review.
Orch Synth
A visual synth engine you build yourself.
Orch Synth is a node-based patch builder that compiles directly into a VST3 instrument. Drag oscillators, filters, envelopes, exciters, strings, tubes, membranes, bodies, resonators, and modulation onto the canvas, wire them together, and hear the result immediately. No preset menus, no hidden signal paths — every connection is visible and editable.
The aim is not to replace specialist instruments that focus on one perfected piano, string, or percussion model. Orch Synth is for creative instrument design: building new playable behaviours inside the same environment where you compose, route, and arrange music. The editor module is distributed through Orch's signed catalog and works with the free Player version.
- Free Player support — install modules from the built-in catalog on Windows or Mac, with OrchSynth distributed separately as a native VST3 package
- Real-time compilation — patch changes sync to the VST instantly
- Physical modelling — build with exciters, strings, tubes, membranes, bodies, modal resonators, and sympathetic strings
- Preset management — save, load, rename, and delete patches from the editor
- Built-in MIDI keyboard — test patches without leaving the editor
Comparison
Why choose Orch?
Visual VST Canvas Routing
Unlike linear mixer strips in traditional DAWs, Orch exposes a visual node-based VST routing canvas out of the box, offering modular flexibility for sound design and instrument patching.
Structure-First Containers
Rather than starting with an empty linear timeline, Orch lets you organize musical ideas into modular, hierarchical containers. Build blocks, repeat segments, and filter layers programmatically.
Tag-Based Semantic Routing
Forget hardcoded MIDI channels 1-16. Orch routes musical events using semantic tags (e.g., "Violins", "Solo_Flute"). The router maps tagged containers dynamically, letting you change instrumentation without editing notes.
Next-Gen MIDI 2.0 Support
Built for the future of digital music. Orch's standalone C++ bridge incorporates native MIDI 2.0 capabilities, supporting high-resolution parameter control, per-note expressions, and next-generation MIDI hardware.
Python-Powered Customization
Install signed user module plugins for extra workflows. MCP-compatible AI assistants can help draft new module ideas, which must be reviewed and signed before packaged releases can load them.
No Ecosystem Lock-in
Orch integrates natively with the open DAWProject exchange standard. Easily draft generative arrangements or raga phrases locally and export them directly to Bitwig or Tracktion Waveform.
Native OSC Control API
Orch is built on a decoupled architecture where parameter updates, timeline triggers, and routing state are communicated in real-time over OSC. This open network protocol makes it simple to integrate custom hardware controllers, tablet layouts, or modular audio software.
Built-In Visual Synth Engine
Traditional DAWs usually separate composition from instrument design. Orch Synth lets you build the instrument itself as a visible signal graph, combining classic synthesis and physical modelling components inside the same composition workspace.
Raga & Indian Classical Tools
Orch features a native Indian Classical music engine with raga-rule scale constraints and automated pitch glide (meendh) generation. Traditional DAWs require tedious manual pitch-curve programming.
What's new in Orch 4.0
Build projects from projects — at any depth.
Turn a movement, cue, template, or musical section into a reusable building block — even when it is already built from other linked projects. Orch 4 lets larger works stay connected without becoming one enormous project file.
- Build once, reuse anywhere: bring complete sections into several pieces without copying and maintaining separate versions.
- Compose at any scale: assemble cues into movements and movements into larger works while each project remains focused and manageable.
- Keep the sound with the music: linked sections retain their instruments, effects, routing, and plugin settings.
- Change it once: refresh a shared section and every project that uses it receives the update.
- Experiment without losing control: keep links live, import an independent copy, or detach material when a piece needs to take a different direction.
- See the whole work: the Project Xrefs canvas shows how projects connect and makes missing links easy to find.
- Windows first: Orch 4.5.1 is in development. The current Windows download remains 4.4.4; updated Mac builds will follow.
Quick Start
Start with a local project and build outward.
Configure Orch
Open the configuration page, enter your license, confirm save locations, then save the generated config.
Open Orchjs
Launch the browser interface and start in Canvas, where composition and orchestration graphs are built.
Switch Views
Use Canvas for orchestration, VST Routing for the mixer graph, and Samples for browsing and managing instrument libraries.
Build Your Library
Set your instrument root, scan folders by file extension, add artwork, then use the Samples tab to preview and organize sounds.
Everyday workflow
Compose, edit, route, and revise.
Orch is meant for repeated local work: building sections, editing streams, trying routing ideas, and keeping project structure visible.
- Drag, connect, tag, filter, and arrange orchestration containers.
- Edit notes with velocity, quantize, trim, legato, staccato, and undo/redo.
- Draw CC, pitch bend, poly aftertouch, and channel aftertouch expression.
- Record live MIDI performances directly into routing containers.
- Save, load, import, export, and manage projects from the local backend.
Screenshots
The main work areas.
Orch is designed to work with your existing installed instruments, plugins, and sample libraries. Screenshots show examples from the developer's own local setup; third-party libraries, plugins, sounds, and artwork are not included with Orch and are not shown as endorsements.
Documentation
Reference material for setup and daily use.
Find setup guidance, sample library workflows, VST routing notes, MCP instructions, module authoring references, and license information.
Open documentation
Quick Start
Configuration, main views, sample browser, VST routing, and MCP.
Module Guide
Module layout, manifest fields, routes, handlers, mixins, and globals.
OSC Control API
OSC message addresses, payloads, bridge data, project and transport commands.
Privacy
How Orch handles license verification and user data.
License
EULA and copyright terms for Orch, Orchjs, and bridge components.
Local Setup
Useful when your writing setup has moving parts.
Sample Browser Canvas
Use Library Flow to search, preview, pin samples, focus libraries, and manage collections.
VST Routing Graph
Drag VST3 instruments and FX onto the routing canvas, wire busses and outputs, and save the graph with the project.
MCP Agent Endpoint
When enabled, Orch exposes an MCP endpoint at http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp so compatible AI assistants can help inspect and edit projects.
User Module Plugins
Open Modules and choose Discover Online Modules to install or update signed tools individually.
Tutorial Videos
Learn the workflow at your own pace.
Short walkthroughs covering core Orch workflows — from orchestration and samples to VST routing.
VST Instrument Setup
Create a VST instrument node and assign a recorded phrase to it.
Record, Collect, Assign
Record a phrase, build an instrument collection, and quickly assign sounds.
Swapping Orchestration
Change instruments and assignments without touching the recorded MIDI.
More lessons in the full walkthrough playlist →
Practical Notes
Focused on practical results.
Runs Locally
Orch is built for local use on Windows and Mac. The Mac version now includes the real VST3 bridge (OrchMidi2Bridge) with full plugin hosting, but the VST workflow needs community testing on both platforms — all users should try Player first.
Your Projects Stay Local
Project work is managed by your local backend. License verification is handled through Gumroad.
Docs and Course Included
Use the documentation hub and walkthrough course to learn the workflow gradually.
Get Orch
A local alternative DAW for structure-first composition.
Purchase Orch or try the free save-locked Player. The Gumroad product page hosts the application and standalone OrchSynth downloads; signed modules are installed individually from Orch's built-in catalog.