This week's releases skew independent: no blockbusters from the major houses, but several smaller developers shipped things the big players have not attempted. A circuit-simulated EQ that varies physically per copy, a granular effect engine rewritten from scratch and spun out into a companion instrument, a harmony-aware MIDI rack, a limited-time beat masher for five dollars, and a generative counterpoint plugin built on academic research.
TEQ-6P, Rocksolid Audio
£89 Standard / £129 Unique Edition (INTRO60 gives 60% off, £36 / £52 at launch)
TEQ-6P is a six-band valve EQ that solves physical circuit equations in real time rather than applying a baked filter curve. The simulation covers the valves, transformers, and coils, producing the dynamic response of a physical circuit as those components interact with the signal.
What sets the Unique Edition apart: component tolerances are folded into the mathematical model. Resistors, capacitors, and transformers in real hardware are manufactured within tolerance ranges, not to exact values, and that variation is part of why two units from the same production run sound slightly different. The Unique Edition makes every copy sold mathematically distinct from every other copy. It ships with a serial number and its own sonic signature.
The Standard Edition uses idealized component values. Both editions include Classic and Modern interface options. A 14-day full trial is available without a credit card.
VST3, AU, and AAX on macOS and Windows.
For whom: engineers who find most EQ emulations too homogenized, or anyone interested in what physically accurate circuit simulation means in practice.
GRN v4 + GRNi, FRCTL Audio
GRNi: $34.99 intro (regular $44.99, intro ends September 19) / GRN v4 free for existing GRN owners
FRCTL Audio shipped two things this week. GRN v4.0.0 is a complete rewrite of their granular effect plugin: new engine, new GUI, per-grain FX throughout. It is a free update for existing GRN owners, and the new version installs as a separate plugin named GRN4 so it does not overwrite working sessions.
GRNi is the companion instrument. It takes the same grain engine and makes it MIDI-playable: drop in any sample and you get a granular synthesizer with up to 16 voices in monophonic, legato, or polyphonic mode. Grain parameters, pitch, and texture controls all respond to MIDI. The workflow is closer to a traditional sampler than a timestretch tool. You are playing the grains as notes, not time-warping a clip.
Both plugins support Linux natively alongside macOS and Windows, running as VST3, AU, and CLAP. Linux VST3/CLAP support is uncommon at this price point.
For whom: sound designers who want a MIDI-playable granular instrument that handles irregular samples without a separate host-level sampler setup. Linux users with limited options in this category.
Melody Rack, Song Cage
$59 one-time (existing Song Cage Desktop + Plugin license holders: $39), 14-day free trial
Melody Rack reverses the conventional MIDI composition workflow. Instead of setting a chord progression and composing a melody over it, you play or sing a melody and the plugin derives the underlying chords. Every slot in the rack that follows reads those detected chords and stays locked to them. Change a chord and everything downstream updates.
The rack holds fourteen slot types: Chords, In Key, Harmony, Expression, Bones, Reply, Morph, Arp, Motif, Euclid, Echo, Register, Chance, and Feel. Each is harmony-aware by design, which distinguishes this from conventional MIDI effect chains where each processor sees individual note values without key or harmonic context.
Song Cage originally released a desktop songwriting application covering lyrics, chords, and melody in a single view. Melody Rack brings the chord-derivation logic into a DAW plugin without requiring the desktop app.
VST3 and AU. macOS and Windows.
For whom: songwriters and composers who work melody-first and find traditional chord-then-melody workflows frustrating. Useful for generating harmonic accompaniment from improvised melodic input.
White Rhino, Gooey Audio
$4.99, available until September 24, then discontinued
A beat masher with four mash patterns, two playback modes for building 1- or 2-bar phrases from incoming audio, a Smoothing control for shaping transitions, and DAW automation for pattern switching. Simple premise, specific execution.
The availability window is the defining feature. White Rhino sells until September 24 and then it is gone, with no subscription tier, no re-release, no waiting list. Gooey frames it as going extinct.
At five dollars during a two-week window, the argument against picking it up is short. VST3, AU, and AAX.
For whom: producers who work with rhythmic processing and want a low-cost beat masher with automation support. This one actually disappears.
AMI-Polychaos, Dr. Zoppa (indie pick)
$29 intro (regular $39 after October 30), 30-day free trial
AMI-Polychaos takes a held chord and generates four-voice counterpoint in real time. The implementation is specific: rather than running four independent random generators, the plugin reads one chaotic trajectory through four read heads, each lagging behind the last by an amount set by SPREAD. The four voices hear the same underlying orbit at four different time offsets.
At zero SPREAD the voices are in phase: homophony. As SPREAD opens, they diverge into what sounds like counterpoint, rhythmically and melodically related but not in unison. Because they share the same trajectory, the voices stay correlated in a way four independent generators would not.
STAGGER rotates each voice's euclidean rhythm pattern independently, adding rhythmic offset on top of the pitch offset. Hold a chord, adjust the two controls, and the plugin generates indefinitely until you release.
The plugin grew out of doctoral research in algorithmic composition at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), specifically the AMI system developed in 2022. It is built with Max/RNBO and JUCE.
Currently macOS only: Audio Unit MIDI effect for Logic Pro and VST3 for Ableton Live and other VST3 hosts. A Windows VST3 build is in testing.
For whom: composers working with algorithmic counterpoint who want something more structured than random note generation and more immediate than programming a generative score. Requires macOS for now.
Five this week, all from independent developers. If you are on a deadline: White Rhino's window closes September 24. GRNi's intro price ends September 19. The TEQ-6P INTRO60 code has no stated end date but is listed as a launch offer.