Houseband for iPhone
You play the melody.
The band plays everything else.
Sing, whistle, or play one line into the mic. It works out the key and the tempo, writes the chords, and falls in behind you. Runs on your device. No account, works offline.
Melody, chords, tempo and chart stay free — forever. Pro is one unlock.
Chords, instruments and mix — one app, no cloud in sight.
A take that keeps its own time.
Set the tempo, take a bar of count-in, and play. The beat is shown on screen rather than clicked into your mic when you're not on headphones — so the take stays clean.
Visual metronome
Four pips walk the bar and the downbeat washes the top edge amber. Silent timing, no click bleed.
Count-in you can trust
Bars of click before recording starts — so you can lock onto the tempo first.
Key and tempo on stop
Detected before you've put the phone down. Every take filed with its own facts.
Recording, transcription and playback are free. Your audio stays on your device — nothing is ever uploaded.
Give the melody a feel.
Four pages set the sound: instruments and rhythm, genres, groove, mixer. Pick a take and flip through the pages behind it.
Demo tracks
Instruments, rhythm and groove are free — genre presets and the backing band are Pro, and auditionable before you unlock them.
Now playing
A / B
One take, start to finish.
Seven steps, from a hummed line to a finished mix.
Free writes the song. Pro brings the band.
Your melody, chords, tempo and chart stay free — forever. Pro is one unlock, and it works offline.
Included with the app
Free
Recording with count-in and visual metronome
Importing a melody from the device
Detecting chords, key, tempo and meter
Swapping individual chords for alternatives
Changing BPM by tapping, or switching to free time
Mixing audio levels and noise cancellation
Exporting the chord chart as text
Exporting the chords as MusicXML
One-time · works offline
PROHouseband Pro
Playing your melody with the whole band
Reharmonizing the melody with genre presets
Selecting 70+ grooves across four drum kits to build your own mix
Exporting the mixed audio, and the individual stems
Exporting the chords as MIDI
Everything in Free, obviously
Pro auditions are free: you can hear a genre before you unlock it. Everything runs privately on your iPhone.
The things people ask first.
Short answers. If something here is still unclear, it's a bug in the writing — say so.
Is this AI, and does my audio leave the phone?
It hears pitch with signal processing, not a trained model, and builds the harmony from music theory. Either way it all runs on your iPhone: your audio stays on your device, nothing is ever uploaded, and nothing you record is used to train anything.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no email, no profile. It needs microphone access to record, and that is the only permission it asks for.
Does it work offline?
Everything works in airplane mode — recording, transcription, chords, the band, export. A connection is only needed to buy Pro or restore it.
Is Pro a subscription?
No. One-time purchase, yours for good, on every device signed into your Apple Account. Every future update is included — new genres, new instruments, new grooves, at no extra cost.
What stays free?
Your melody, chords, tempo and chart stay free — forever. No take limit, no watermark, no ads. You can take the chart with you as text or MusicXML. Pro adds the backing band, genre reharmonization and audio export.
Can I hear Pro before paying?
Yes. Every genre preset and band can be auditioned in full. Locked rows stay readable and tappable — you always hear the thing before you decide.
What can I play into it?
Hum or play one line at a time — monophonic works best. Voice, guitar, keys, sax, whistling. Chords played into the mic won't transcribe cleanly.
If it hears the wrong key or tempo?
Set the tempo yourself, or tap it in. The recording stays unchanged — only the generated harmony follows. Individual chords can be swapped for alternatives too.
What comes out of it?
The chord chart, as plain text or MusicXML, free. With Pro, the mixed audio, the individual stems, and the chords as MIDI — into any app that takes a file. Your takes live in Houseband and go nowhere else.
What do I need to run it?
iOS 26 on iPhone. On-device transcription needs the hardware to keep up, so older iPhones analyze more slowly rather than not at all.