BLOOMCHORD

BLOOMCHORD – Orchid-inspired harmonic engine for Ableton Live

BLOOMCHORD is a Max for Live MIDI effect that turns single notes into full, musical chords – inspired by the harmonic ideas behind the Orchid synth, but redesigned for Ableton Live.

Play one note, and BLOOMCHORD generates rich voicings, scale-aware harmonies and performance patterns that stay in a natural register, adapt as you move around the keyboard, and respond in real time when you change chord type, extensions or inversion.

Perfect for writing progressions fast, improvising live, or using as a “harmonic brain” in your template.

Core features

• Single-note → chord engine
  Choose between Maj, Min, Dim, Sus triads and add:
  • 6
  • m7
  • M7
  • 9
• Scale Lock (Key Mode)
  Lock BLOOMCHORD to a key + scale (Major, Minor, Dorian, Lydian, etc.).
  Any played note becomes a harmonically correct chord in that scale.
  Non-scale notes are remapped to musical sus/altered chords.
• Adaptive voicing & inversion
  Chords are automatically voiced to sit in a compact, musical register.
  An Inversion Dial lets you push notes up/down in octaves on top of that voicing.
• Extensions that respect the scale
  In Scale Lock, 6 / 7 / 9 always stay “inside” the selected key.
  With chord buttons active, extensions switch to more “raw” intervals for deliberate tension.
• Performance modes
  Add motion and feel with built-in performance engines:
  • Strum
  • Strum (2 Octaves)
  • Slop (human timing & velocity variation)
  • Arpeggiate
  • Arpeggiate (2 Octaves)
  • Harp
  with controls for strum speed, slop amount and arp.
• Bass note toggle
  Optional lower-octave root to anchor the harmony.
• Morphing without retriggering
  Change chord type, toggles, Scale Lock or inversion while holding a note – BLOOMCHORD morphs the voices smoothly instead of retriggering everything.
• Chord name display
  Shows the chord symbol (with 7/9/6 etc.) while it’s being held and clears when you release.
• Sustain pedal support
  Works like a synth: hold chords with a sustain pedal and let BLOOMCHORD handle note-offs cleanly.
• Range filter for clean playability
  Only C3–B3 are used as “playable” input for chord generation; the rest of the keyboard stays disabled.

MIDI hotkeys (momentary chord & extension control)

You can also control the chord engine directly from pads or keys. These hotkeys behave like piano keys (hold = on, release = off):

Chord toggles

• C2 → Maj
• D2 → Min
• C#2 → Dim
• D#2 → Sus

Extension toggles

• E2 → M7
• F2 → m7
• G2 → 6
• A2 → 9

This makes it easy to “play the engine” from a controller: one hand triggers root notes, the other shape-buttons the harmony.

Compatibility:

• Ableton Live 11 Suite or Live 12 Suite
• Live 11 Standard with Max for Live
• Requires Max 8.3 or newer