Built by a producer who writes code

Do the work.
Keep it yours.

Tools for narrating, songwriting and mixing that help without taking over. No rewrites you did not ask for, no subscription to keep paying.

Built by a working producer Pay once, keep it
Hire Me Read the DSP journal

No subscription · Buy once · Made in Granada, Spain

What each tool is for

Built for one kind of work.
Narrating, songwriting, mixing. One tool for each.

Relato · audiobook narrators

Most of the hours go to everything around the reading.

Stop, rewind, find your place, punch in. Then hours of listening to cut the false starts out again.

Relato keeps your place and keeps the last read of every line. No retakes left to cut out afterwards.

See Relato →

Estrofa · songwriters who sing

One song, a handful of apps, and none of them knows the others.

Lyrics in a notes app, rhymes in the browser, the melody in voice memos. Every switch costs the line you were holding.

Estrofa checks rhymes, syllables and clichés with the reason shown, and never rewrites a line you did not ask for.

See Estrofa →

Plugins · in development

A row of sliders tells you a number, not what you hear.

Mixing by value means looking away from the sound to read a figure, then listening again to check.

SA Parametric EQ makes the response curve the control: drag a band and see it against the live spectrum.

Follow the build →

Licence

Pay once. The tool stays yours.

No subscription to keep a tool working, and no price per hour of audio. Relato early access is €29, paid once. Estrofa's price is not set yet.

On a subscription

  • A monthly fee for as long as you use it
  • Stop paying and the tool stops working
  • A price for every hour of audio you record

Sombra Audio

  • One price, paid once
  • Keeps working without another payment
  • The same price however much you record

Engineer

Tools made by someone who uses them.
Each one starts in a real session.

Sombra Audio is built by someone who makes music every day and has 25+ years of software engineering behind it. A tool gets made when something keeps getting in the way: a retake you have to cut out later, a verse that no longer scans, an EQ band you can only set by number.

Need audio software built for you? Custom work goes through Mulhacén Labs, the studio that publishes Sombra Audio.

Audio software development
sombra-dsp
$ framework C++ / JUCE
$ formats VST3 / AU
$ status in development
$ built_by A producer who uses these daily

Built for the music you actually make.

Estrofa helps you write and record the song. The plugins are for mixing it, and the sound packs give a track something to start from.

Singer-songwriter Pop Folk Rock Soul Hip-hop House Techno Ambient Lo-fi Cinematic Sound design

In the open

Follow the build.

Every tool is built in the open. Read how it is made, and see what comes next.

All stories →

Now

Next

  • Relato on the App Store

Later

  • SA Parametric EQ, first release
  • Convolution reverb, first public build

About

One person builds all of it.

Sombra Audio is Barry Faassen, a software engineer with 25+ years of experience who also produces electronic music. Relato, Estrofa and the plugins all come from the same desk, and what you write back lands on that desk too.

There is no committee and no investor roadmap behind it. A tool gets built when it fixes something that came up in real work, and the roadmap above is the whole plan.

25+ Years engineering
C++ JUCE specialist
ES Based in Spain
DAW Active producer

Try it before it ships.

Relato and Estrofa are in early access. Read or write with them now and tell me what gets in the way.

Join Relato early access Join Estrofa early access

Relato early access €29, pay once. Estrofa's price is not set yet.