Rondo is a looper with a rolling 60-second memory that's always recording in the background — so the take you played before you reached for record is already there. Run it as a plugin in any DAW, or open the standalone app and catch an idea faster than launching a project. Built for the happy accidents you'd otherwise lose.
Features
- Always-on tape memory. A rolling 60-second buffer of Rondo's output, recording even before you press RECORD — even with the transport stopped and nothing armed. Nothing is lost between takes.
- Single-verb RECORD that cycles. One button runs the whole loop: arm → close → overdub → commit. Modelled on hardware loop pedals, so the muscle memory transfers.
- One-cycle overdub auto-commit. One press, one clean layer; press again to stack. No "is it still recording?" guesswork.
- Sustain. Hold a chord as an independent drone that sustains under the loop.
- Mono input sum. Sum L+R into both channels for mono sources.
- Drag-to-DAW export. Drag the captured audio straight onto a track in your DAW, or write a WAV to disk.
Use cases
- Practice — sustain a chord and play ideas over the drone.
- Capture happy accidents — export the last 60 seconds, right where the magic happened.
- Layered build — stack overdubs and a drone into a full idea.
- Standalone capture — guitar → interface → Rondo. No DAW required.
Details
- Pure-black, single window — everything on one surface, nothing to dig through.
- MIDI Learn footswitch mapping — bind RECORD / PLAY / STOP / SUSTAIN / STOP SUSTAIN / UNDO to any footswitch via per-row LEARN; defaults match common single-row pedal presets.
- Full keyboard control —
SpaceRECORD ·BPLAY/STOP ·Ctwice CLEAR ·Cmd/Ctrl+ZUNDO ·↓/↑SUSTAIN ·MMONO. - State persistence — MIDI bindings, MONO, and settings save with the session and restore on reload.
Requirements
- macOS 12 'Monterey' or later. Runs standalone, or as a VST3 / Audio Unit (AU) plug-in in any compatible DAW. Universal binary — runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel.
- Windows 10 or later. Runs standalone, or as a VST3 plug-in in any compatible DAW.
FAQ
What's "tape memory"?
Rondo is always recording the last 60 seconds of its output into a rolling buffer — even before you press RECORD, even with the transport stopped. So when you play something great and forgot to hit record, it's still there. Export it as a WAV, or drag it straight onto a track in your DAW.
Will it work in my DAW?
Yes. It loads in any DAW that accepts AU or VST3 — Logic, Ableton Live, Reaper, Bitwig, Studio One, Pro Tools, and the rest.
Is there a trial?
No — a trial adds code complexity I'd rather not carry. Instead there's a 30-day, no-questions refund.
How do I install it?
You'll get an installer. On macOS, run the .pkg — the AU lands in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/, the VST3 in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/, the Standalone in /Applications/. Restart your DAW so it re-scans plugins.
On Windows, you get two zips:
- VST3 plugin (
Rondo-Windows-VST3.zip) — unzip toRondo.vst3and move it intoC:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\(the standard shared VST3 location), then rescan plugins in your DAW. Rondo shows up under "Supervised." - Standalone (
Rondo-Windows-Standalone.zip) — unzip toRondo.exe(self-contained; the runtime is statically linked, nothing else to install), put it anywhere, and double-click.
First launch on Windows, SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC" — click More info → Run anyway. That's the unsigned "unknown publisher" notice.
Will my loop survive when I close my DAW project?
No — the recorded loop resets on reload.
Can I run an amp sim before Rondo in standalone? (macOS)
Yes — Rondo records whatever reaches it, so to capture your processed tone instead of the dry signal, bridge your amp sim and Rondo with the free BlackHole driver inside one Aggregate Device: guitar → interface → amp sim → BlackHole → Rondo → interface. It's a one-time macOS setup — standard CoreAudio routing between two apps, not a Rondo quirk.
Release notes
v1.0 — June 25th, 2026
- Initial release.