Tonefold

What it does

Tonefold is a free, open-source desktop music-composition app for musicians, producers, and people developing song ideas. Describe a song, melody, mood, or change in plain language; Tonefold generates musical parts such as chords, melody, bass, and drums. It organizes editable notes into layers and song sections in a piano roll, with a built-in General MIDI synth for playback.

Users can draw, move, and resize notes, adjust velocity, mute or lock layers, and ask the composer to build on what is already in the session. Producer mode proposes a plan specifying the key, form, and layers to change; the user must approve it before any writes occur. Export options include MIDI, a stereo WAV mix, and per-layer WAV stems. An optional CLAP or VST3 plugin brings the composer into a DAW; FL Studio is the tested host.

Tonefold runs locally on macOS 11 or later and Windows 10/11. Editing, playback, and export work without an AI model, but chat composition requires Node.js 20+ and either Claude Code signed in with the user's Claude plan or an Ollama server. The app is free; Claude usage is through the user's own plan. Download the appropriate release from the official site.

What it can do

• Generate chords, melody, bass, drums, and other song layers from natural-language requests
• Arrange parts into song sections and build on existing session material
• Edit notes in a piano roll with velocity and drum lanes
• Preview compositions with a built-in General MIDI synth
• Use a plan-and-approve Producer mode before session changes are written
• Export MIDI, a stereo WAV mix, and per-layer WAV stems

Works with

• Claude Code
• Ollama
• CLAP and VST3 DAW plugins
• FL Studio (tested host)
• Codex via CLI and skill file

Before you choose

• AI chat requires Node.js 20+ and either a separately funded Claude account or an Ollama model. Local editing does not mean cloud-model prompts stay on device.
• The macOS build is not notarized, so macOS may require the user to approve opening it in Privacy & Security.
• The optional DAW plugin is CLAP/VST3; FL Studio is the tested host, and other hosts are not documented as tested.

Listed under

• Creative
• Composer
• Composition
• Daw
• Desktop
• Desktop app
• Midi

Get started

Download the release for macOS or Windows; no account is required.

1. Download the macOS or Windows release from the official Tonefold page.
2. On macOS, open the DMG and move Tonefold to Applications; on Windows, unzip the release and run its install script.
3. For chat composition, install Node.js 20+ and sign in to Claude Code, or provide an Ollama server; editing and export can be used without a model.

No Tonefold software subscription. Claude plan charges and local model compute are separate. GPL licensing applies to the software; samples and generated material have separate rights.

Source: tonefold.vkfolio.com, checked 2 Nov 2026. Prices can change; check before you buy.

Sources for this overview

Product pages, documentation, and pricing checked 2 Nov 2026. Each source supports part of the overview; availability and prices can change.

• Tonefold ↗tonefold.vkfolio.com
• Tonefold ↗tonefold.vkfolio.com
• GitHub - vkfolio/tonefold: Open-source AI music composer app. Describe a song to Claude, get chords, melody, bass and drums in a piano roll you can edit, hear and export. Optional CLAP/VST3 plugin for DAWs. · GitHub ↗github.com

Company website

tonefold.vkfolio.com: product, pricing and policy pages

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Last checked 2 Nov 2026. Every field keeps its source and date; unknown means we couldn’t confirm it.