Documentation
Everything you need to know about using Aether, from first launch to advanced workflows.
DocumentationOverview
Introduction
Overview
Aether is an AI co-producer plugin that generates production-ready MIDI from natural language descriptions. It runs inside your DAW as a VST3 or AU plugin, or as a standalone application. Describe what you want to hear (a chord progression, a melody, a bassline, a full arrangement) and Aether generates it with music theory intelligence.
Aether by Umbral Audio is an AI MIDI generator plugin: describe a part in plain language and it returns editable MIDI in named layers you drag into your DAW. Text to MIDI, AI MIDI plugin, ChatGPT to MIDI, and MIDI LLM plugin are the short version of that sentence.
Under the hood, Aether connects to your choice of nine AI providers, two of which run entirely on your own machine. Every generation is automatically saved to your MIDI Library, can be previewed with the built-in piano roll, and can be dragged directly into your DAW.
Available Formats
Supported Platforms
Getting Started
Install Aether, load it in your DAW or standalone, connect an AI provider with an API key, or run fully offline with Ollama or LM Studio.
System Requirements
macOS 11 and later as a universal binary, 64-bit Windows, VST3, AU and Standalone, which DAWs are supported, and what needs an internet connection.
Activation & Licensing
Activate Aether with your license key, manage up to three machines per license, and understand offline behavior and re-validation.
What Aether Generates
Two generators in one window: Melodic writes chords, basslines, melodies and arrangements as MIDI layers; Drums writes beats. What each can and cannot do.
Chat-Based Generation
Generate MIDI from plain-language prompts: multi-turn refinement, up to three MIDI references, creative intent parsing, and provider handoff mid-conversation.
Importing Your Own MIDI
Bring your own MIDI into Aether and ask it to extend, reharmonize, restyle or write parts around it. Reference slots, editing chips, and what import leaves out.
Smart Controls
Guide generation with genre, mood, and texture controls, musical parameters from key to BPM, and explicit song sections for full arrangements.
Composing in Layers
Generate a song as named, instrument-tagged layers: conversational adds, the Layers view, per-layer solo/mute and colour, and multi-track .mid export.
Drums
Drums from a separate musical brain: how a beat is put together, what the kit lanes show, and the three bundled kits you hear when you press Play.
Writing a Beat
43 drum styles in six families, the controls that build the prompt, live controls that reshape a beat without regenerating, batch variations, and Pro Mode.
Drum Maps
Which note each drum piece is written to: the General MIDI map Aether ships, importing a loop on your own pad layout, and mapping a Drum Rack once to reuse.
Exporting Beats
Combined, multi-track and single-piece export, dragging one kit lane to your DAW on note 60, and how every beat you generate is saved to the Library.
MIDI Routing
Set the MIDI channel of every layer: Multi-track vs Combined output, per-layer channels, role defaults, live MIDI in and out, and General MIDI patch numbers.
Pro Mode & Batch
Pro Mode plans before it writes, on both the Melodic and Drums tabs, for tighter structure; batch generation produces 2 to 5 variations from one prompt.
Piano Roll & Post-Processing
Audition generations in a dual-mode piano roll with chord detection, then polish with the Raw/Clean/Enhance post-processing pipeline.
MIDI Library & Capture
Every generation auto-saves with version history, ratings, tags, and search; live MIDI capture turns your own playing into AI context.
AI Providers & Prompts
Nine providers: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, Hugging Face, Ollama, LM Studio, plus reasoning effort and custom system prompts.
DAW Integration & Workflow
Load Aether in any major DAW, drag MIDI straight to a track, sync tempo with Lock to Host, and work fast with undo history and keyboard shortcuts.
Settings Reference
Every setting Aether remembers and its default, from Pro Mode and reasoning effort to MIDI channels, post-processing, and crash reporting.
Files & Folders
Where Aether keeps your MIDI library, settings, logs and plugins on macOS and Windows, how the library is laid out, and what uninstalling leaves behind.
Security & Privacy
Local-first by design: keys in your OS credential store, a fixed allowlist of every host Aether can reach, and fully private local generation.
Troubleshooting
Fixes for the common issues: no AI response, helper daemon not starting, MIDI that sounds wrong, plugins not appearing, and activation failures.