# SONORA by Oryon Audio

> An analog-style polyphonic software synthesizer for the Mac, as a standalone app and a VST3,
> Audio Unit and CLAP plugin. Everything sits on one screen, with 250 factory presets by Re:Axis, made
> to be played live. SONORA is in private beta: join the waiting list at https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/.

Analog soul. Digital body.

Every oscillator, filter, envelope and effect sits on one panel, with no pages and no menus. Load
one of 250 presets by Re:Axis, latch the arpeggiator and ride the filter, on its own or inside
your DAW.

- **Formats:** standalone app, VST3, Audio Unit and CLAP plugins
- **Play it with AI:** the standalone app can run an MCP server, so an AI agent can play it (see "Let an AI agent play along")
- **Platform:** macOS 12 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel (universal binary)
- **Status:** private beta, invitations sent from the waiting list in small groups
- **Price:** not set yet
- **Maker:** Oryon Audio

![Sonora's window with the preset Arp - Latched Dream: three oscillators, noise, two filters, the modulation matrix, the arpeggiator latched over three octaves, all five effects switched on in the bar above the keys, and the keybed below.](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/screens/arpeggiator.jpg)

| Voices | Oscillators + noise | Multimode filters | Effects | Screen, no menus | Factory presets |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 16 | 3 + 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 250 |

## Listen

Factory presets, played on SONORA and recorded straight from its output, with nothing added after
it. Each is an MP3:

1. [Arp · Latched Dream](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/audio/arp-latched-dream.mp3)
2. [Pad · Echo Garden](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/audio/pad-echo-garden.mp3)
3. [Bass · Acid Line](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/audio/bass-acid-line.mp3)
4. [Keys · Electric Piano](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/audio/keys-electric-piano.mp3)
5. [Lead · Breathy Saw](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/audio/lead-breathy-saw.mp3)

## Made to be played live

### A scale under your fingers

Don't play keys? Pick a key and a scale in the top bar and the keybed lights up every note in it:
major and minor, the seven modes, the pentatonics, blues and whole tone. Improvise without a wrong
note in sight.

![Sonora with the preset Organ - Full Table, its three oscillators in digital mode drawing their wavetables, and A minor pentatonic chosen in the top bar; the keys of that scale are tinted across the three-octave keybed.](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/screens/scale-guide.jpg)

### Arpeggiator with latch

Up, down, as played, random or chords over up to four octaves, with gate and swing. Latch it, take
your hands off the keys and ride the filter.

### Glide and wheels

Glide works polyphonically, on every note or only when you play legato. The pitch-bend and mod
wheels respond to the mouse and to your controller.

### One tempo for all

The LFOs, the arpeggiator and the delay all follow one clock, from 20 to 300 BPM, at divisions
from 1/32 up to four bars.

### It never stutters

Load a preset, turn every knob at once, open the settings mid-phrase: the sound carries on. Play
past sixteen notes and the oldest one bows out without a click.

### Let an AI agent play along

Turn on **Remote control** in the settings and SONORA becomes an MCP server. Claude, or any agent
that speaks the Model Context Protocol, can play chords and melodies, turn any knob by name, set
the tempo, and load and save presets, while the panel follows every move.

```
$ claude mcp add --transport http sonora http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp
```

- Off until you switch it on, and only this Mac can connect until you allow the network.
- Other computers always need a token, and SONORA makes one for you.
- In the standalone app. The plugins leave it out.

## 250 presets, voiced by Re:Axis

Re:Axis made every factory sound on SONORA itself. There are pads, basses, leads, keys, choirs,
arps, rhythms, drums and effects, all ready when the app opens, and any of them is a good place to
start pulling a patch apart.

Preset categories: Pad, Bass, Lead, Keys, Choir, Arp, Rhythm, Drum, FX.

> I wanted each sound to feel like I'd patched it on an old poly late at night, slightly unstable
> and warm, alive under your hands. Nothing got between the idea and the sound, because
> everything I needed was right there on the panel.
>
> — [Re:Axis](https://reaxis.bandcamp.com/community), sound designer of SONORA's factory presets

## Interface: hand-crafted, everything at hand

The whole instrument fits on one panel, so you never flip pages or dig through menus, and each
control stays where your hand expects to find it. Every knob, meter and display is drawn for
SONORA alone.

- Oscillators, filters and envelopes show what they're doing while you turn them.
- The modulation matrix, envelopes, LFOs and the effects rack sit together in a tabbed strip in
  the middle of the panel.
- A meter in the top bar shows how many voices are playing and how hard you're pushing your Mac.

![Sonora with the preset Pad - Echo Garden and the FX tab open: the effects rack in signal order, with the saturator open on its drive, bias, tone, mix and curve, chorus, delay and reverb folded to strips with their readings, and the lo-fi switched off.](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/screens/effects.jpg)

### Set up in a minute

Choose an output and a MIDI source and start playing. You can teach any knob to follow any
controller, and the mapping saves itself as you go. If a note gets stuck, one click on *Panic*
silences every voice.

![Sonora's settings sheet, on Audio and MIDI: the output device and sample rate, engine load, and the MIDI source, channel, bend range and velocity curve.](https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/screens/settings.jpg)

## Under the hood: the warmth of analog, stage by stage

SONORA is tuned to act like analog circuitry: wide and a bit unruly, but never harsh. In the order
a note flows through it:

1. **Three oscillators, stacked wide.** Each one is analog or digital. Analog plays sine, triangle,
   saw and square; digital plays one of 32 wavetables, from drawbar organs, vowels, reed and brass
   to bells, hard sync and folds. All of them are band-limited, so the high notes stay free of
   digital fizz. Stack up to five detuned copies of each and spread them across the stereo field
   for the thick, drifting sound of an old polysynth.
2. **Noise, white or pink.** Every voice has a noise source you can send to either filter. Use it
   for breath and air, or for percussion.
3. **Two filters you can sweep.** Two filters run side by side, each with its own envelope and six
   shapes, from warm and round to thin and nasal. Turn the cutoff as hard and fast as you like and
   they stay stable.
4. **Movement everywhere.** Each voice has four envelopes, and two LFOs follow the tempo. A
   sixteen-slot matrix sends them to pitch, level, pan, cutoff or resonance.
5. **A soft clip, not a hard wall.** After the amp, the mix goes through a smooth soft clip. Push a
   dense chord hard and it gets warmer instead of breaking up.
6. **Five effects, in signal order.** A saturator warms the mix first, then come chorus, delay and
   reverb, and a lo-fi at the end bounces the lot to worn tape. The delay can run free, lock to the
   tempo or ping-pong between the speakers. Switch each one on from the bar above the keys.

## Who makes it: no borrowed engine, no samples

SONORA is made by Oryon Audio, and we wrote it from scratch: every oscillator, filter, envelope and
effect is our own code, and so is the panel around them. That's what lets us tune each stage by
ear, and keep the sound steady under your hands.

- Every sound is generated live, from the first cycle to the last echo.
- The factory presets were voiced on SONORA itself, by Re:Axis.
- Nothing to download beyond the app: no sample libraries, no content packs.

## Requirements

It runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel and needs nothing else installed. To uninstall, drag
the app to the Trash.

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Operating system | macOS 12 Monterey or later |
| Processor | Universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel |
| Audio | Any CoreAudio output device, at the device's own sample rate |
| MIDI | Optional. Any CoreMIDI keyboard or controller works, with velocity, sustain, pitch bend and the mod wheel |
| Play without a controller | A three-octave keybed for the mouse or the computer keyboard |
| Formats | Standalone app · VST3, Audio Unit and CLAP plugins |
| Remote control | Optional, in the standalone app. An MCP server over HTTP for AI agents, on this Mac or, with a token, your network |

## FAQ

### How much will SONORA cost?

We haven't set the price yet. The waiting list will hear it before anyone else.

### When is it out?

When the beta has had enough hands on it. We're letting the waiting list in first, a few at a
time, and we'll email you when it's your turn.

### Does it run in my DAW?

Yes. SONORA is a standalone app and a VST3, Audio Unit and CLAP plugin, so you can play it on its
own or load it in any Mac host that takes those formats.

### Do I need a MIDI keyboard?

No. Play the three-octave keybed with the mouse or your computer keyboard. Any MIDI keyboard or
controller works too, and you can teach any knob to follow any control on it.

### Can an AI agent play SONORA?

Yes. Switch on Remote control in the standalone app's settings and SONORA runs an MCP server. Add
it to Claude Code or any MCP client and ask it to play a melody, shape a sound or save a preset. It
listens only to this Mac unless you allow your network, and then it asks for a token.

### How does the beta work?

We send invitations from the waiting list in small groups. You get the app and the plugins, and
we'd love to hear what you find.

### Is there a Windows version?

No. SONORA is made for the Mac and runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel.

## Get into the beta

We're letting the waiting list into the beta first, a few at a time. To join, enter an email
address on the page at https://oryonaudio.com/sonora/ and we'll email when it's your turn.

---

SONORA, a polyphonic synthesizer for macOS · © 2026 Oryon Audio

Get in touch: hi@oryonaudio.com