sketchex
draw a line, get a melody. sketch a shape on the canvas and sketchex plays it back as scale-locked midi, synced to your daw, into whatever synth you put after it. it makes no sound of its own.
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sketchex is free and open source. see all releases on github →
features
draw to play
left-drag draws on the canvas, right-drag or e erases, ctrl+z and ctrl+y undo and redo. overlapping strokes play as chords.
scale-locked
every lane on the canvas is a note in the chosen scale, so anything you draw is in key. 14 scales from major to chromatic.
length & rate
loop length from 1 to 8 bars, retrigger rate from 1/4 to 1/32. turn off retrigger to hold one note per stroke.
glide, two ways
bend mode traces the exact curve you drew with continuous pitch-bend. legato mode overlaps notes plus cc 5/65 so the synth's own portamento does the sliding.
multi-channel
one midi channel per stroke, so each line can bend independently on mpe-style synths.
follows your daw
an internal clock for the standalone app or for auditioning. the moment the host transport plays, sketchex follows it.