A DAW inspired by nature

A living instrument.
A studio that remembers.

Connect instruments, effects and visuals to make something of your own. We call these building blocks organisms. Play them, morph your sound with a gesture, and record the whole performance - including the moments you didn't plan.

Join the beta Explore organisms

Free software, AGPL-3.0 · macOS, Windows & Linux

Humus: organic matter that brings new life to the soil.

In nature, humus is the living soil from which new things grow. In Humus, instruments, effects and visuals feed into one another, shaping what happens next. As you play, Humus remembers your sounds and gestures, so an unexpected moment can become the beginning of something new.

Every synth, filter, camera and sequencer is an organism. Patch cords join them, and pods keep your favourite combinations together. Grow a small sketch into a whole performance, with room to change your mind along the way.

Humus is free software. The code is open and your patches will outlive us. That is the point of soil: it is what remains, and what everything next grows from.

From your first sound to a whole performance

Build your own instrument

Connect synths, effects and sequencers. Start with a simple idea and let each new connection take it somewhere unexpected. Want to grow something new? Use the open SDK to create your own organisms.

Move through your sound

Save snapshots on the Metapad, then glide between them. One gesture transforms the whole patch.

Keep the happy accidents

Capture your audio, MIDI and knob movements together. Revisit a performance, refine a gesture, or recover the good bars after they happen.

Plays well with others

Use Humus as a VST3 patch player inside your DAW. Play the instruments you've built alongside the rest of your session. Humus can also host your existing plugins.

Bring movement into the patch

Play with your hands and your whole body. Camera-based hand and skeleton tracking turn movement into controls for sound and visuals. Connect video, cameras and music in the same patch.

Explore other tunings

Load a scale and hear your instruments and sequencers respond together. Explore familiar harmonies or find a musical language of your own.

Every original organism has a page in the field guide: a portrait, its habits, and the company it likes to keep.

Join the private beta

Humus is taking root with a small circle of musicians, video artists and tinkerers before it opens to everyone. Leave your email and we will write to you when a seat frees up; then sign in with that email for the builds. Already let in? Sign in.

A living instrument.A studio that remembers.