Black Beacon Studios

Independent software studio

The tools makers wish they had.

Software for people who make things, built by a maker who got tired of not having them.

For musicians, game makers, founders, and builders.

The tools

Tools we build, and use ourselves.

Each one started as a problem we actually had, then got good enough to hand to everyone else.

A Pedagrade design review: an overall score with results for each framework

Web · For instructional designers

Pedagrade

Does your course line up with its objectives? Pedagrade checks.

A design review for e-learning courses. It checks that the objectives are measurable, maps each one to where it's taught, practiced, and assessed, then gives recommendations for the learning science and accessibility, each citing the principle and writing the fix. It runs on private AI we own, so your course is never sent to OpenAI or Anthropic.

Free first audit · then $29/mo
Codewright, the fundamentals AI skips

Web · Learn plus build

Codewright

Learn to build with AI, then actually build.

The platform teaches the fundamentals AI skips, and Codewright Studio is the local workshop where you make things, from code to images, music, and 3D. Included when you join, or on its own.

Live on the web
Codewright Studio, a local AI maker's studio for Mac

Mac · Make anything, locally

Codewright Studio

Make anything on your Mac.

A local AI maker's studio. Describe what you want and make images, video, 3D, games, music, voice, and apps, all on your own machine, with an assistant beside you. No cloud, no subscription.

In beta testing
Versewright reading a melody's scansion so lyrics land on the beat

Web · iOS · For songwriters

Versewright

Where words meet the melody.

Bring a melody and Versewright finds the strong beats, then writes lyric lines whose stressed syllables land exactly where the music leans. Every line scans, guaranteed.

Live on the web · iOS soon
Pitchbird homePitchbird tunerPitchbird practice

iOS · For singers

Pitchbird

Find your pitch.

A singing app where Coach Pip listens while you sing and tells you the one thing to fix next. Live tuner, daily warm-up, and lessons. Your voice never leaves your phone.

On the App Store
Della's resonant breathing instrument on iPhone

iOS · Apple Watch · Wellness

Della

Breathe at your body's own rate.

A breathing instrument that finds your personal resonant breathing rate, then paces you to it, eyes closed, by feel. Meditative, precise, and calming. Works on Apple Watch with the screen dark, and nothing leaves your device.

On the App Store
Everkin homeEverkin recognizing a loved one's faceEverkin memory aid

iOS · Everyday life

Everkin

Remember the faces you love.

A gentle, private memory aid that helps people living with memory loss recognize the faces of the ones they love. Every face stays on the device.

In App Store review

In build

On the workbench.

The other side of the studio: stories and games, built slower, for the love of it.

Slipstream, a voxel gravity-slingshot game in deep space Web · Game · Built with Codewright Studio

Slipstream

A voxel gravity-slingshot: curve your ship around planets, thread the wormhole, and level up. Built by dogfooding Codewright Studio, and playable free in your browser.

Play free →
Please Rewind, a homemade time machine hidden inside a VCR Game · Working title

Please Rewind

Summer 1994. A grieving twelve-year-old finds his grandfather's secret machine hidden inside a VCR, one that drops you into whatever's on the tape. A coming-of-age point-and-click in the LucasArts tradition.

The studio

Built by one, held to a standard.

Todd K. Edwards, founder of Black Beacon Studios

Todd K. Edwards

Founder · Designer · Engineer

Fifteen-plus years designing learning and experiences at Collins Aerospace, Motorola Solutions, and Lunarline, now designing, building, and shipping software solo. Every tool is handled end to end, so it all carries the same care.

Nothing ships unless it earns the light. The beacon is the point: a steady, dependable signal in a noisy sea of software.

The beacon doesn't chase the ships. It just keeps burning, so they can find their way in.

  • MakesCreative tools for makers
  • ForMusicians · Builders · Founders
  • PlatformsiOS · Web · macOS
  • TeamIndependent
  • Experience15+ years design & build
  • StructureLLC — 2026
  • Instructional designtoddkedwards.com

Work with us

Like what you see? We can build yours.

Same care that goes into the tools above, pointed at your idea, from a first sketch to a live product. If you want something custom built, reach out and we'll talk it through, scope and cost per project.

Start a conversation

Contact

Let's build something.

Tell me what you're making, or what you want built. A rough idea is plenty, and I reply within a day.