The 9 Best MIDI Plugins And Generators: Our Favorite Tools For Melodies And Sequences Regardless Of Genre [2024]

Music production is more accessible than ever in 2024, but learning the complex theoretical side of the game remains convoluted and daunting (especially for new producers). While classical compositions and film scores may require an insane level of knowledge, 90% of beats and music produced can be made easier with the help of generative plugins.

MIDI plugins and generators help facilitate making music by generating notes and sequences within a particular set of boundaries and parameters. They help generate riffs and motifs with only a couple of whispers of theory. Plugins that help write music are impossible not to associate with newer producers who might not recognize snake oil when sold to them. 

After producing music for close to 13 years (tracklist below to hopefully prove I walk the walk and talk the talk), I’ve tried about every type of creative tool, music theory plugin, and MIDI generator out there, and I’ve widdled down a list of some of the most impressive, creative and valuable devices. 

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So whether you’re a new producer looking to create melodies quickly and easily, a mid-tier producer looking for clever ways to beat writer’s block, or a professional producer looking for tools to spit random MIDI into your wall of modular synths, this list is guaranteed to have some hidden gems you might not have heard about. 

BLEASS Arpeggiator

BLEASS, a company we’ve been loving and recently lauded in our roundup of the best softsynths in the game, has an arpeggiator that sneaks under the radar for far too many producers these days, and it’s a real shame because it’s an incredibly powerful MIDI arpeggiator with a duel functionality as a cheeky little FM synth. Granted, the FM synth wasn’t one of my favorite parts of the plugin by any means, but it can be great, and I can see it being useful as a simple sound generator when dialing in ARP patches and such. 

But the BLEASS arp really shines when it comes to the arp. Its ability to add randomization to parameters and touch points like velocity is a great way to add a human element where most arps often feel robotic, even when swing is introduced. 

And that’s the real magic that I’ve discovered here; where most arpeggiators and MIDI generators are good at creating complex sequences or intricate polyrhythms in their MIDI, the majority lack the simple functionality of making them sound human, but BLEASS’ arp breaks the mold with tons of options and parameters to dial in the randomness and imperfections that make it sound like you wrote and played its melodies by hand! 

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Melody Sauce 2

Melody Sauce first came on my radar years ago when it was just as simple as a Max4Live device, but it’s come a long way with its second official iteration. Where Melody Sauce 2 really shines is just how easy it is to operate without sacrificing too much functionality. The added benefit of saving different sketches in the bank feature means you don’t have to commit to an idea before trying out what MS2 will generate next for you. 

This allows you to really cycle through ideas quickly without feeling the need to commit, which makes Melody Sauce 2 one of my favorite tools when I hit writer’s block to crank out a couple of different melodies with different timings and syncopations to see what kickstarts my creative juices again. 

I almost think it does this by design because so many other AI-driven MIDI generators go so deep into the creative process that they write you into a corner without any room to expand upon the melody they give you. In contrast, MS2 provides amazing foundational melodies and rhythms that are inspiring in their own right but leave plenty of room to elaborate on by hand, by you. 

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Phrasebox

Anyone familiar with a DAW that has a piano roll, which I assume is pretty much everyone, will be able to pick up and start using Phrasebox almost instantly.

At the core of its interface is the generator window, which is fashioned after a classic piano roll, which makes editing notes in the MIDI it generates easy as you can change the note length, timing, and sequencing all directly in the window instead of having to do it by “ear” while adjusting parameters and probability chances. 

That said, you can use many randomization features to create new and inspiring results once you have a foundational riff you’re happy with. Options like note probability and randomizer integration add human-like changes to velocity, timing, and even note transposition.

The real X-factor with Phrasebox is, and I don’t mean to belabor the point, the piano rolls at the center of its sequencing. Having the visual feedback not only makes editing the notes incredibly easy but also doubles as an educational tool for those who want to make music but don’t know the complex theory (at least, yet). It allows you to learn while you do, which isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

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Captain Plugins

The Captain bundle of plugins, which we reviewed in a massive deep dive, is a powerhouse suite of tools that helps you write everything from chords to melodies and even bass lines. While this is certainly a MIDI generator plugin, I’ve always found it easier to describe it more as a production assistant and not in the clickbaity AI way. It has a massive bank of chords with smart suggestions recommending various chords you could include next. 

So, say you want to write a track in the most vanilla key, C major. Well, you start with a Cmaj chord, and it will naturally recommend that you go to the next most popular chord in the progression, the Fmaj chord. But it will also give you other recommendations, like the 5th chord (Gmaj), the 7th chord, or even the suspended 4th chord (Fsus4). Better yet, you can cycle through these different recommendations until you find one you dig the most. 

The real bell-of-the-ball feature here is that all the different plugins in the suite, from Captain Chords to the melody plugin, can speak to each other. So even if you have an instance of the chord plugin open and feeding MIDI that it’s generated to a pad preset on Omnisphere, the Captain Melody EPIC plugin can be referencing the chord plugin even though the melody plugin is feeding MIDI into an entirely different channel like your lead synth. 

It’s pretty bonkers if you ask me! 

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Harvest

It’s no secret that MIDI generators are fraught with problems that usually require a couple of different workarounds. Usually, these workarounds are far from dealbreakers; if it generates great-sounding MIDI, then I’m down to use it! 

One of the biggest hurdles I encounter is that the melodies MIDI generators give me sound good in isolation, but their cadence and timing almost work against the track’s established rhythm and groove I’ve spent hours writing.

But Harvest’s ability to tap out a rhythm and confine the notes it generates only to the rhythm you’ve given it instantly rectifies that problem. Honestly, this is an incredibly unique quality I don’t think I’ve ever seen in such a plugin. Now that I know it exists, I wonder why every MIDI generator doesn’t include a similar feature! 

This function, coupled with the ability to freeze specific chunks of the MIDI sequence it generates, means you can slowly but surely chip away at a melody you know has potential, freezing the chunks that sound great and regenerating the bits that aren’t up to snuff until you have something you love. All this, coupled with a semi-old school aesthetic, offers this plugin a ton of value and bang for its>$30 price tag. 

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Midi Madness 3

One clever feature of Midi Madness 3 is the fact that it comes with several Macro knobs located at the top of the plugin, allowing you to change and morph your sounds and sequences in real-time. 

All too often, MIDI generators and arps spit out a relatively static bundle of notes, but having the option to modulate and reshape the notes in the sequence as the track evolves is a real magic bullet to help it not sound robotic (arguably more so than having more minor features like velocity randomness and note modulations).

But it stands out because it can respond to incoming MIDI data, making it a powerful tool for systematic composition and live performance. Personally, I almost always write the chords of a track first, which is why I found a ton of value in the aforementioned Captain Plugin bundle. But still, I don’t want to be confined to their ecosystem every time. When I sit down to write chords on a piano, the MIDI Madness 3 is the perfect next step in the workflow, as I can feed those chords into it and have it start generating new melodies, sequences, or textures based on the chords. 

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Forager

Forage is the chord-driven cousin of the Harvest plugin we chatted about above. And where many other MIDI generators, even some on this list, are incredibly formulaic if not entirely systematized, the Forager plugin takes a more spontaneous route when suggesting and generating its chords. 

While this might seem a little frustrating for those who want to bang out ideas quickly and move on to the next stage of the process, those who do a bit of digging and scraping for some unique combinations of chords that Forager can give you will be rewarded with far more complex and nuanced progressions that sound anything but plugin-generated.

Perhaps those making conventional EDM or more commercial genres won’t need this level of nuance, no offense, of course, as I produce predominantly dance music as well, but for those looking to have more odd-ball chords in genres like Jazz, Hip-hop, and others, you will find a constant companion and production partner with Forager. 

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HY-RPE2

Ahh, the hypnotic magic of Euchlydian sequencing, the type of songwriting and note formation that sounds cool but that few can do just by ear or hand. But that’s where plugins like this one come into the mix, helping create numerical sequencing that mathematically aligns to create some truly unique interactions between rhythms and note lengths. 

Now listen, there are a ton of different sequencers like this, but few can give as much control and, arguably more importantly, make as much sense as HY-RPE2 does. 

It makes complex rhythms seem digestible because of the circular sequencer window on the left side of the screen, which is color-coded so you know what channel and layer is interacting with what and when. So much Western music follows a fairly rigid formula centered around standard time signatures. This is the ideal MIDI generator plugin to break out of that mold. 

You’d be shocked to hear how much having just a single layer or two in your track that don’t follow the conventional eight-bar grid pattern can add a sense of mysticism and wonder to a track and make it far less predictable. Check out my track ‘Algebra of Contentedness’ below, whose lead is in an unconventional 12-bar loop (probably the most basic of polyrhythmic compositions, at least in dance music).

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Scaler 2

MIDI generators and note-creation plugins are powerful tools to generate initial ideas, much like we’ve discussed with many of the tools in this list, but most stop there. A plugin might be great for writing chords, or another plugin might be great at arpeggiating chords once you’ve written. But a few plugins can create an initial idea and then repurpose it in numerous ways, giving you enough melodic content and layers to write nearly an entire song. 

But Scaler 2 does exactly that, and most of the heavy lifting here comes from its performance tab, which transforms simple chords into intricate performances through its arpeggio, strumming, and other expressive articulations, adding depth and realism to all of your productions. It has the potential to single-handedly be the secret sauce that turns your loop into a track (or at least give you enough music ideas to turn a 16-second idea into a fully drawn-out story).

This feature goes hand in hand with the plugin drag-n-drop functionality as well, meaning a fast workflow would look something like this:

1. Create an initial chord loop in Scale 2
2. Drag that melody into a piano preset or synth pad on another VST
3. Then, create a melody
4. Repeat step #2, but drag it into a lead synth channel
5. They create a strumming texture with the chords for texture
6. Repeat step #2, dropping it into an ear-candy-style synth
7. Create a few extra tonal pads and atmospheres to fill the space, and you’re armed with enough material to start the arrangement! 

This workflow makes Scaler 2 one of the most powerful tools in the industry for MIDI generator and music theory tools and can help you write fantastic music quickly and efficiently. Certainly not one to sleep on! 

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