Denormal Audio has launched Guardrail, a MIDI effect plugin designed to transform piano roll chord progressions into performed MIDI parts. The plugin is intended for songwriters, producers, composers, and musicians working with MIDI keyboards at a range of playing levels.
Guardrail receives MIDI chord progressions from a DAW track and maps them across a performance-oriented keyboard layout. The developer states that the workflow is designed to let users perform variations based on existing chord material rather than generate music from text prompts or create material automatically.
The plugin divides a MIDI controller into a Chord Zone and a Performance Zone. The Chord Zone displays the incoming progression, while notes played in the Performance Zone trigger material derived from those chords. White keys play chord tones, and black keys play passing tones from the scale selected with the Key control. Black-key notes can also be used for chord extensions.
Guardrail includes two chord-mapping modes. Exact mode preserves the incoming chord tones’ ordering and spacing, while Compact mode reduces the distance between chord tones and removes octave doubling. Further controls provide output octave transposition, randomized timing offsets for Performance Zone key presses, and an adjustable split point between the performance and chord areas.
Users can place Guardrail first in the plugin chain or in a DAW’s MIDI effect slot on a chord track. With playback running and the track record-armed, performances are recorded by the plugin. Each recorded take is added to Guardrail’s Performance List when playback stops, where it can be recalled, marked as a favourite, and dragged into the DAW for further arrangement or editing.
Additional performance functions include pitch-wheel chord strumming and mod-wheel control for manually arpeggiating individual chord notes. The interface also includes a real-time output keyboard display and configurable colour settings.
Denormal Audio describes Guardrail as a tool for experimenting with rhythmic changes, alternative chord voicings, reharmonisation, arpeggiation, live use, and compact MIDI-controller setups. The product was developed by Denormal Audio co-founders Kurt Feldman and Raphael Radna, initially as a tool for their own songwriting workflows.
Guardrail supports VST3, AU, and AAX plugin formats on macOS 11 or later and Windows 10 or later. A MIDI controller is required.
Guardrail is available exclusively from Denormal Audio. It is priced at an introductory $39 USD for a limited time, with a regular price of $59 USD. A free seven-day trial is also available.
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