Jamstik, best known for its MIDI-equipped guitars, has released LOON, a new software instrument that rebuilds the company's earlier Creator plugin from the ground up around a fresh, MPE-capable synthesis engine. While the guitar heritage is baked into the name recognition, LOON is explicitly designed to work as well from an MPE keyboard as it does from a Jamstik MIDI guitar.

Three Signal Paths, One Instrument

LOON's architecture centers on three independent layers, each of which can generate sound via oscillators, sampled instruments, or FM synthesis. That layering approach means a single patch can combine, for example, a sampled acoustic texture, an FM bell tone, and a raw oscillator layer, each shaped independently. Every signal path runs through its own effects lane, so layers can be processed with entirely different chains rather than sharing a single global effects bus — useful for keeping a percussive sampled layer tight while letting a pad layer breathe through reverb and modulation.

Deep modulation routing sits on top of the layering system, giving players additional expressive control beyond what the layers and effects alone provide.

MPE Support for Guitar and Keyboard Controllers

The headline technical change from the earlier Creator plugin is native MPE support, which allows per-note pitch bend, pressure, and other expressive parameters to flow into the engine from any compatible controller. For Jamstik's own MIDI guitars, that means string bends, slides, and finger pressure can map to synthesis parameters much the way they would on a dedicated MPE controller like an Expressive E Osmose or ROLI Seaboard — but LOON isn't guitar-exclusive. It responds to MPE data from any compliant controller, putting it in the same software category as MPE synths built primarily for keyboard-style controllers.

That dual identity is notable in a market where MPE tooling has been overwhelmingly keyboard-centric. Guitarists have had MIDI pickup and modeling options for decades, but plugins purpose-built to take advantage of per-string, per-note MPE data have been comparatively rare. LOON positions itself squarely in that gap.

Presets and Availability

LOON ships with more than 200 factory presets built by the Jamstik team and artist partners, giving new users a starting library across its oscillator, sample, and FM layers before they start building custom patches. It's available as a standalone application and as a VST3, AU, and AAX plugin for macOS and Windows, priced at $49.99 (regular price $99.99) during the current launch window. Jamstik is also bundling LOON at no extra cost with eligible Jamstik MIDI guitar purchases, making it a low-friction on-ramp for guitarists who already own the hardware.

Why It's Worth Watching

Most MPE-focused software still assumes a keyboard-shaped controller on the other end of the MIDI cable. LOON's pitch — a synthesis engine equally at home with string-instrument gestures and keyboard-style per-note expression — reflects a broader trend of MPE spreading beyond its Seaboard-and-Continuum origins into guitar controllers, wind controllers, and other non-keyboard interfaces. Coverage from Synthtopia, Synth Anatomy, and Sonic State all frame LOON's multi-engine layering as its main selling point over the earlier Creator plugin, with MPE support as the technical foundation that makes the expressive side of that pitch possible.

For musicians weighing which MPE-capable software to add to their rig, LOON is a reminder that "MPE controller" increasingly means more than a keyboard — and that the plugins built to receive that data are starting to catch up.