Introduction
Scaler 3 is available in VST, VST3, AU, AAX and Standalone formats for macOS 10.14/Windows 8 or higher.
It is typically priced at £99 / €99 / $99, an introductory sale is running until 30th April 2025 (23:59 PST) with 20% off (£79 / €79 / $79)
The upgrade price from Scaler 1 & Scaler 2 is typically priced at £39 / €39 / $39, an introductory sale is running until 30th April 2025 (23:59 PST) with 25% off (£29 / €29 / $29)
Scaler 3 is available from PluginBoutique (affiliate link)
Overview
I’ve previously reviewed Scaler, Scaler v1.5 and Scaler 2. Scaler is an incredibly useful tool providing inspiration and huge creative potential, regardless of whether or not you understand music theory.
I’m delighted to review Scaler 3 which brings a whole host of updates and new features. Note that my review is based on the pre-release beta 3 version so there may be some changes with the release version. The main updates in version 3 are:
Redesigned UX/UI
- Scaler 3 has been fully redesigned to remain instantly familiar to Scaler 2 users, while providing a streamlined experience for newcomers. The interface is organized into three main pages: Browse, Create, and Arrange.
Standalone App
- Scaler 3 can now run as a standalone app in addition to a plugin within any DAW, offering a complete and flexible songwriting tool.
VST/AU Hosting
- Load third-party instrument plugins directly on Chord Tracks and MIDI Lanes, supporting both MIDI and audio effects.
Multi-Lane Timeline
- The Arrange page now includes a timeline-based layout with dedicated lanes for chords, melody, bass, and phrases. Each lane is synchronized with the main chord track, and clips are fully adjustable with independent control per lane or clip.
Explore Page
- Discover a Harmonic Universe of chords untied to any specific scale categorized by genre and feel (e.g., Dark, Bright, Neutral), the Explore Page suggests compatible and experimental chord progressions, unlocking new paths for unique and bold harmonic structures.
Colors Page
- Explore a comprehensive view of all chord voicings and harmonic alternatives in a single, unified page. Instantly access parallel and relative chords, as well as diverse voicing and substitution options, to add expressivity and creative flexibility to your compositions.
Motions
- Scaler’s beloved Phrases, Performances, Melodies, and Basslines are reimagined as Motions, now with mood-based tags for easier browsing. Scaler 3 introduces hundreds of new Motions crafted by professional musicians, including the all new Passages Motion.
Note Editing & Harmonic Modifiers
- A comprehensive note editing matrix allows users to customize or create new Motions. MIDI lanes can be set to follow or run independently of Chord Tracks, with new Harmonic Modifiers and Motion Controls to adjust note range, density, pitch, and clip rotation – all within the chosen scale.
Advanced Keys Lock (Melody Lock and Tools)
- The full keyboard is now available for Keys Lock profiles, allowing basslines and melodies to align perfectly with scale and chord structures. The new Chord Scale profile dynamically detects chords and adjusts locked notes to fit the appropriate scale or mode.
New Auto Voice Leading & Improved Voice Grouping
- Select multiple chords to apply seamless voice leading automatically. Voice Grouping can now be applied to individual chord clips or even to individual notes.
Expanded Content
- Scaler 3 offers a significant content expansion, including new Chord Sets, Harmonic Universes, Motions, and Scales, contributed by samplify studio and a network of top-tier artists. Enhanced Categorization Improved filtering and search functionality enable quick navigation across Scaler 3’s content. Search by mood, energy, note count, scale, and more.
Enhanced Internal Sound Engine
- Scaler 3’s sound engine now includes ADSR and Filter control, loop points, effects, and multi-layered sounds for deeper sound customization.
Improved Strumming, Arpeggios, and Quantization
- Easily adjust note lengths, quantization, density, swing, and other parameters for strumming and arpeggios to achieve a more personalized rhythm.
Refined File Management
- Effortlessly save, share, and manage audio files, songs, and chords, with the ability to tag favorites across Motions, Chord Sets, and Harmonic Universes.
And planned for Scaler 3.1
User Profiles, Customization, and Community Lobby Scaler 3.1 will introduce user profiles, background personalization, and a Lobby with personalized messages, news, and user-generated content at launch. Users can share and rate content with the community, making Scaler an interactive, creative hub.
Drum Track Load curated drum tracks organized by genre, designed to complement harmonic content and provide a foundation for full track creation.
Using Scaler 3
When you open Scaler, you are presented with the browse page. At the top you have the header which lets you select from the three pages – browse, create and arrange. You also have preset controls, transport controls, export, undo/redo and settings options.
The top part of the display is section A where you can choose a pre-made chord set. This contains scales, common and uncommon progressions as well as huge range of genres and artists.
Section B in the middle lets you find chords beloning to a particular scale.
Then you drag your chords to section C to form your progression. Here you can select from one of the many internal instruments or load a VST which is one of the really cool new features in Scaler 3.
At the bottom you have global controls like humanise, swing, voice grouping and key lock which lets you automatically tune incoming midi notes to your chosen chord or scale.
Here you also have motions, which are are the redesigned performances. There are now many more articulations and expressions including arpeggios, strumming, performances, basslines, phrases, rhythms and sequences as well options to search by moods and genres.
The create pages gives you five more ways to create chord progressions.
Circle of fifths allows you to click notes on the keyboard and Scaler will work out what chord you are playing. Alternatively you can click on the circle of fifths and experiment with octaves, inversions, semitones to find chords you like to drag down to the progression.
Modulation has been completely redesigned to work more fluently. When you have a progression, you can select a scale to modulate to and Scaler will show you the modulation pathway and destination scale. You have secondary scales, modal interchange, mediants and Neo-Romanian which is much more informative telling you the modes so you can add a relative major for example.
Sketch mode is an intuitive way to try different progressions. You can rename them for easier reference and can also apply different motions to each progression.
Colours is a brilliant addition, it’s an easy way to change the voicings and inversions of the chords in your progression to audition a range of extended and more unsusual voicings.
The explore page is one of my favourite additions to Scaler 3. It’s a superb way to explore chords and compose visually. They are displayed as ‘constellations’ by genre and mood. The inner circle contains ‘safe’ chords which are related to the scale or key and are colour coded accordingly. The chord at the lowest part of the inner circle is the root position chord. The outer circle contains more ‘adventurous’ chords often outside the scale which again is displayed by colour coding. The relative minor chord is displayed at the top of the outer circle. There is also a dynamic scale option to automatically detect the closest scale to the last played chord and all the colour coding updates accordingly. The chord constellation is further split into two hemispheres, chords on the left are the ‘darker’ (minor focussed) chords whilst those on the right are ‘brighter’ (major focussed) chords.
The arrange view is another significant addition to Scaler 3. It acts like a timeline and allows you to easily build additional tracks including basslines, arpeggios and melodies for example.
When you create a chord progression and select the arrange page, the chord progression is displayed as the main track at the top of the page. You can add new tracks and select the motion and Scaler will automatically create a bassline for example that is in time and in tune with your chord progression. Scaler creates this a one long midi file but you can use the scissor tool to create a cut to retrigger or even change motion. You also have a midi editor should you want to edit the midi file manually.
You also have a mixer where you can adjust volume, pan, mute solo etc. You can also select an internal instrument or load a VST instrument and add effects. I feel like I’m running out of superlatives but this is probably the coolest of all the additions to Scaler 3. It allows you to audition the sounds with you’re favourite synths and effects really easily.
Conclusions
Scaler was already a very useful compositional tool, I’ve used it on numerous tracks. Scaler 3 brings a new, streamlined interface and a whole host of new features that makes it even more powerful.
Scaler 3 makes it incredibly easy to create chord progressions, add variations, create accompanying basslines, melodies for example and so much more. It’s an incredibly useful and powerful compostional tool for a whole range of genres whether you understand music theory or not.
