Contour — Ambient Morph Synth

Contour — Ambient Morph Synth

Drones, textures, pads, MIDI

2 ratings
1 review
Free
In-App Purchases

Details

  • Released
  • Updated
  • August 18, 2026
  • September 1, 2026

Features

Contour — Ambient Morph Synth screenshot #1 for iPhone
Contour — Ambient Morph Synth screenshot #2 for iPhone
Contour — Ambient Morph Synth screenshot #3 for iPhone
Contour — Ambient Morph Synth screenshot #4 for iPhone
Contour — Ambient Morph Synth screenshot #5 for iPhone
Contour — Ambient Morph Synth screenshot #6 for iPhone
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About

This app is a unique musical instrument played by touch. It uses a visual interface where your finger's position determines the sound, offering a novel way to create drones, textures, and pads. It also functions as an AUv3 plugin for use in other music production apps.

Touch-based sound generation
Perceptual distance mapping
Eleven distinct sound sheets
MIDI input and ribbon controller
AUv3 plugin support
Recording functionality (Pro)
Customizable sound sheets (Pro)
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What's New in Contour

1.0.3

September 1, 2026

The composer plays each set of corners to you, and a sheet you bake reaches the plug-in without reloading it. • Tapping a mark always sounds. Once four notes were still ringing it went silent instead — and the ribbon moved to that mark anyway, so the mark looked half alive. • Composing a sheet plays it to you. Stop moving for a moment and you hear the corners you have landed on. Before, you had to hold a note down with one hand and steer with the other, and nothing on screen said so. • Dragging an axis is smooth. It was running the whole search again for every fraction of a millimetre your finger moved. • Brushing the axes no longer sends you back to the first combination. If the one you were listening to is still where it was, you stay on it. • Auditioning no longer leaves a note sounding for ever if the corners change underneath it. • A sheet you bake in the app shows up in the plug-in while the host is still running. It used to need the plug-in reloaded, and nothing said that either. • The host's preset list is the sheet list — Logic's Library, AUM's presets. It was empty before. • The marker on the plug-in's map follows automation. MAP X and MAP Y moved the sound and the marker stayed where the note started: the map saying one thing and your ears another, which is the one thing this instrument must never do. • Modulation keeps its depth however fast it runs. It used to grow shallower the quicker the LFO went, without you touching anything that says depth. • A finger on the plug-in's map tells the host it is being held, so the host's automation gets out of the way instead of fighting it. • The plug-in offers stereo only. A host could set it up with more channels than it has, and the extra ones carried whatever happened to be in the buffer. Thank you again to the same player, who wrote it down a third time.

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In-App Purchases

$6.99

Contour Pro

All 11 sheets, recording, envelope, compose.

User reviews

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Sounds great but need the ability to save multiple user sounds. Also the sheets don’t load inside of AUM.

Response from developer

Thanks for report. Both are fixed in 1.0.1, out soon this week. Baked sheets take their brightest corner's name; rename and delete are under EDIT on the USER header in the sheet menu. In AUM your own sheets are listed, and changing the sheet now changes the sound. zhi

Developer apps

FAQ

What is Contour?

Contour is a unique musical instrument app that allows you to create ambient sounds, drones, and textures by interacting with a visual interface. Your finger's position on the screen directly influences the sound produced, offering an intuitive and expressive playing experience.

What sound sheets are available in Contour?

Contour offers eleven distinct sound sheets, each with a unique set of four corners designed to produce different sonic characteristics. These sheets are grouped by qualities like brightness, contrast, breathiness, depth, and range, named after Taiwanese mountain traverses.

Can I use Contour with a MIDI keyboard?

Yes, Contour supports MIDI input, allowing you to play it from an external keyboard. The ribbon underneath the main interface also serves as a pitch controller, and the contact patch of your finger acts as a dynamic control.

Is Contour available as a plugin?

Yes, Contour is also available as an AUv3 plugin. It can be used within hosts like AUM, GarageBand, Cubasis, and Logic for iPad, with automatable parameters and session recall capabilities.

What features are included in the free version of Contour?

The free version of Contour includes three sound sheets (BEIYIDUAN, NENGGAO, and YUSHAN), the full instrument functionality including the map and ribbon, MIDI support, reverb, marks, and the AUv3 plugin. There are no time limits or account requirements.

What does Contour Pro offer?

Contour Pro is unlocked with a single purchase and provides access to all eleven sound sheets, recording capabilities directly to a file, an envelope panel for attack, decay, sustain, and release, and the ability to compose your own sheets from the library.

What are the system requirements for Contour?

Contour requires iOS 16 or later and is compatible with both iPhone and iPad devices. The app was last updated on August 18, 2026.

How does Contour compare to other synthesizers?

Contour distinguishes itself through its unique touch-based playing interface and its focus on ambient soundscapes and textures. Unlike traditional synthesizers, it uses a visual map where perceptual distance directly translates to sonic change, offering a novel approach to sound design.