Stabmatic FAQ
The basics
Can I download it?
Not yet. Stabmatic is still in development and has not been released. When it is, it will be free.
Does it know what key I'm in?
No, and that is the point. A chord form is a fixed set of semitone offsets. Play a note a semitone higher and every note in the chord moves a semitone with it — no scale quantising, no chord substitution, no quietly correcting you into something nicer. If you want a plugin that keeps you in key, this is the wrong one.
How many chords does it come with?
64 factory forms transcribed from the Roland MC-909 owner's manual, plus a user library you can keep adding to — up to 960 forms of your own.
Why is form 48 called "G Maj" when it plays a C major chord?
Because that is how Roland printed it. The factory forms are kept exactly as they appear in the MC-909 manual, inconsistencies included. Form 6, "C dim", is likewise voiced as a diminished seventh.
Setting it up
I loaded it and there's no sound.
Stabmatic makes MIDI, not audio, so on its own it is silent. Its output has to be routed into a synth, and how you do that depends on your DAW. The manual has routing steps for each host.
Which DAWs can I use it in?
The manual has routing steps for FL Studio, Ableton Live, Cubase and Nuendo, Bitwig Studio, Reaper, Studio One and Cakewalk.
Logic Pro needs an AU build, which does not exist yet. Reason cannot host it at all — Reason does not let a plugin route MIDI out, so there is no route to describe.
It doesn't show up in Ableton Live.
Open Preferences → Plug-Ins, turn on Use VST3 Plug-In System Folders, and rescan.
Is there a Mac version?
Yes: VST3 and CLAP, for macOS 15 or later, built universal for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. There is no AU build yet — it is waiting on being tested on real Mac hardware.
Is there a standalone version?
No, and there will not be one. A MIDI effect has nothing to send MIDI to outside a host.
Playing it
Why does it only play one chord at a time?
Incoming MIDI is reduced to a single voice before the chord is built, with the most recent note winning. That gives you one clean chord instead of a pile-up of every note still under your fingers. Retrigger controls whether a new note re-attacks the chord (the stab); Legato lets you fall back to an earlier held note without re-articulating.
A note is stuck on.
It should not happen — Bypass, and your DAW's panic button, are both meant to release everything Stabmatic is holding. If one sticks anyway, toggle Bypass off and on, or trigger your DAW's all-notes-off.
What happens to notes that would fall off the top or bottom of the keyboard?
For now they are dropped. That behaviour is provisional until it has been checked against a real MC-909.
Privacy
Does it phone home?
No. There is no usage reporting and no built-in bug reporter — nothing to opt out of.
Not answered here? Read the Stabmatic manual.