Is there an AUV3 compatible app that will let me add chords by name and play midi out

NimboStratus

Want to simply type in a chord seq like Amaj F#m and get it to loop in AUM and trigger a synth ta

NimboStratus

Would scaler 2 do that?

lasselu

Chordbud, maybe?
http://keybudapp.com/chordbud2

Jorge

I'm tempted to implement this as it is something I have been thinking about recently and have been playing with creating custom MIDI scripting languages.

The objective would be to describe a track with minimal typing.

1 sequence would be represented with [] which by default would be a bar but could be further modified.
You'd also be able to have sequences inside sequences inside sequences etc in a hierarchical manner each one further dividing time with commas.

For example, the following would represent 1 bar with 4 chords

[CM,GM,Am,FM]

if you wanted to expand it to play one chord per bar, you would modify it as follows:

[CM,GM,Am,FM].x4

For one of those bars to be further split, you could do the following

[CM,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4

Now the second bar playing GM 4 times.

If there were only 2 commas inside the second bar you'd have a triad:

[CM,[GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4

To repeate the whole thing 4 times you could do the following:

[CM,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4

.x would be a modifier that expands time and .r a modifier that repeats
./ would contract duration, the opposite of .x

you could for example have a .d modifier to mean delay the start etc

Instead of chords you could also use notes

[C E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4

In the example above C,E,G and B would all play at the same time and fill one bar but you could modify them, for example:

[C.x2 E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4

Now C would have twice the default duration so it would fill two bars

Maybe a .v modifier for velocity, a .c modifier for MIDI Channel:

[C.x2.v20 E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4.c2

.a could be arpeggio

I'm just thinking out loud see where it goes.

NimboStratus

@Jorge what app would that be in?

Ailerom

@NimboStratus said:
Would scaler 2 do that?

Wondering the same. Anyone know about the connectivity?

attakk

@Jorge said:
[C.x2.v20 E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4.c2

Personally I would never use anything where I had to enter information in such a way that just looking back at it my brain automatically merges what I see in to a single black blob of seemingly meaningless mush that I have to then spend time trying to decipher.

Nested brackets on a single line, mixtures of lower and upper case, commas, spaces, fullstops. “Why does it not play back how I want it to? No idea…” Hands the line of code to the dev - “can you work this out mate?” 4 hours later dev comes back “you used an “m” instead of an “M”, the 3rd .r4 should be .r5 and the 5th nested [] needed to be nested within the 3rd nested [] and not the 4th”

Good luck with it - it looks like it will be very powerful but it’s not something I’d personally ever want to use. To each their own though 👍

lasselu

Good god, no! I have enough problems with regular expressions...

Jorge

@NimboStratus said:
@Jorge what app would that be in?

If I'd implement it it would be a bundled AUv3 MIDI-Processor inside VisualSwift. It depends if there is enough interest, from initial reactions it seems it would be a waste of my time.

@attakk
I really appreciate your feedback. I have the mind of a coder but my aim is to create tools that fit into the mind of a musician.

attakk

@Jorge said:

@NimboStratus said:
@Jorge what app would that be in?

If I'd implement it it would be a bundled AUv3 MIDI-Processor inside VisualSwift.

@attakk
I really appreciate your feedback. I have the mind of a coder but my aim is to create tools that fit into the mind of a musician.

Reading back I seem overly critical.

The issue I have with it is I’m sure while writing a piece it would be reasonably straightforward (once one has become au-fait with the custom syntax) but then, once written, coming back to it and debugging it (for want of a better term) would be the tricky part (for me anyway).

Clearly - by the immediate comment in this thread that followed mine - there is a desire for it so please don’t let my comments put you off 😊👍

Jorge

@attakk
Overly critical is good. It was constructive and it probably represents the opinion of many. Might save me some time.

Jorge

@CapnWillie said:

@Jorge said:
I'm tempted to implement this as it is something I have been thinking about recently and have been playing with creating custom MIDI scripting languages.

The objective would be to describe a track with minimal typing.

1 sequence would be represented with [] which by default would be a bar but could be further modified.
You'd also be able to have sequences inside sequences inside sequences etc in a hierarchical manner each one further dividing time with commas.

For example, the following would represent 1 bar with 4 chords

[CM,GM,Am,FM]

if you wanted to expand it to play one chord per bar, you would modify it as follows:

[CM,GM,Am,FM].x4

For one of those bars to be further split, you could do the following

[CM,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4

Now the second bar playing GM 4 times.

If there were only 2 commas inside the second bar you'd have a triad:

[CM,[GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4

To repeate the whole thing 4 times you could do the following:

[CM,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4

.x would be a modifier that expands time and .r a modifier that repeats
./ would contract duration, the opposite of .x

you could for example have a .d modifier to mean delay the start etc

Instead of chords you could also use notes

[C E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4

In the example above C,E,G and B would all play at the same time and fill one bar but you could modify them, for example:

[C.x2 E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4

Now C would have twice the default duration so it would fill two bars

Maybe a .v modifier for velocity, a .c modifier for MIDI Channel:

[C.x2.v20 E G B,[GM,GM,GM,GM],Am,FM].x4.r4.c2

.a could be arpeggio

I'm just thinking out loud see where it goes.

Super unique and you’d have no competition.
Id be all over this.
If you decide to do it, please include demo of a popular song or 2 so people can see what’s possible and how to layout a song in this matter.

If i were you, I’d make song, chord and melody “packs” as IAP. Also, in app instrument sounds for playback. Midi import that accepts midi files and translates to text. Later, audio detection translated to text. Whole ecosystem waiting to happen.

On further thought this could be a gamechanger offering the opportunity for songwriters to work without making a sound.

Thanks for expanding on the idea. I think I'd be able to code the features you suggest but I wouldn't have time left for setting up the ecosystem or IAPs and have several builds. Would probably have to be up to the users to create and share content or someone else to create a repository. I'm quick with coding but not very good at anything else. Depending on how this thread goes I'm currently thinking that most musicians would hate this idea.

mistercharlie

@Jorge I’d love this. Often I know exactly what chord I want, and this looks like a super fast way to add it.

Stuntman_mike

@lasselu said:
Chordbud, maybe?
http://keybudapp.com/chordbud2

This was the first app that came to my mind as well!

Simon

@NimboStratus said:
@Jorge what app would that be in?

Microsoft BASIC...?

ik2000

If only SonicPi was available on iOS.

NimboStratus

I have chord bud but struggling with the interface. Plus doesn’t seem to let me add a AbDom7 in key of Cm.

Poppadocrock

Tonality. It’s not a sequencer but you can add any chord to the chord pad Au then play the midi out and record in atom, helium, etc… This app does so much.

Poppadocrock

Mozaic has a few scripts to do it as well. Not typing, but simply selecting a chord.

rs2000

@ik2000 said:
If only SonicPi was available on iOS.

If only VisualSwift was available on iOS 12. Sorry to disturb the thread.

Back to topic:
ChordPolyPad can have custom names for each pad, send chords via MIDI and the pads can be triggered by MIDI notes as well.
Edit: Sorry that doesn't exactly fit what @NimboStratus asked for 🤔

Poppadocrock

Tonality can be triggered as well I think.

horsetrainer

I always liked the idea of an app that would let you hand-play/step-record a list of notes and chords into a buffer... And then let you play those recorded notes back in real time by playing "any notes" on a midi keyboard.

Example..
First step record CM,GM,Am,FM...
Then.. Tap a complex rhythm on keyboard keys, and those notes get played back to the timing of the played notes.

rs2000

@horsetrainer Like the good ol' Chord Memory buttons on hardware synths, right? 😊

wim

@horsetrainer said:
I always liked the idea of an app that would let you hand-play/step-record a list of notes and chords into a buffer... And then let you play those recorded notes back in real time by playing "any notes" on a midi keyboard.

Example..
First step record CM,GM,Am,FM...
Then.. Tap a complex rhythm on keyboard keys, and those notes get played back to the timing of the played notes.

Humm ... that's like the Hypno Sequence Mozaic script, except accepting chords in addition to single notes. That's worth looking into doing. 🤔

hes

@Jorge said:
I'm tempted to implement this as it is something I have been thinking about recently and have been playing with creating custom MIDI scripting languages.

The objective would be to describe a track with minimal typing.
. . .
I'm just thinking out loud see where it goes.

You might want to take a look at the iReal Pro file format, which does essentially what you want to do: describe a track with minimal typing. It's been around a long time and they've already thought this stuff through many times over. iReal Pro itself seems like a good app for what you want, but it's not auv3 and doesn't output midi in real time (though you can export midi).

https://www.irealpro.com/ireal-pro-file-format

horsetrainer

@rs2000 said:
@horsetrainer Like the good ol' Chord Memory buttons on hardware synths, right? 😊

Except you're not assigning chords/notes to each be played back from a specific button.
This would work by using any keyboard key-strike to play the next prerecorded note/chord.

That way you can first work out a note/chord progression, focusing on how those notes/chords sound relative to one another.

Then you can work on the rhythm/timing of how it's played by just banging rhythms on a keyboard until it sounds good.

It would be good if the playback used all MIDI data (Gate On/Off, Velocity) from the keyboard, and simply replaced the Midi note values with the values from the pre-recorded progression. Then you could use one hand playing three keys to hand play a uniquely timed arpeggio, and any overlapping note-timing will remain as-played, but using your pre-worked-out note sequence.

wim

@horsetrainer said:

@rs2000 said:
@horsetrainer Like the good ol' Chord Memory buttons on hardware synths, right? 😊

Except you're not assigning chords/notes to each be played back from a specific button.
This would work by using any keyboard key-strike to play the next prerecorded note/chord.

That way you can first work out a note/chord progression, focusing on how those notes/chords sound relative to one another.

Then you can work on the rhythm/timing of how it's played by just banging rhythms on a keyboard until it sounds good.

It would be good if the playback used all MIDI data (Gate On/Off, Velocity) from the keyboard, and simply replaced the Midi note values with the values from the pre-recorded progression. Then you could use one hand playing three keys to hand play a uniquely timed arpeggio, and any overlapping note-timing will remain as-played, but using your pre-worked-out note sequence.

Art Kern's excellent midiSTEPs AUv3 sequencer can do this with the right settings. Set Options > Clock to gate. You record your sequence with the "rec" button enabled. To play back, change rec to play and the button next to it to ctrl. Then you each note 32 (C2 on AUM's keyboard, may be C1 on other controllers) will play the current step and advance to the next.

midiSTEPs is very fun and has a really good manual.

rs2000

@horsetrainer Ah, got it, you mean rather like Roland's old RPS or Korg's RPPR.

LK does it too. Record a different clip on each cell and trigger cells playback via MIDI.

espiegel123

@NimboStratus said:
Want to simply type in a chord seq like Amaj F#m and get it to loop in AUM and trigger a synth ta

Tonality can do this. It also can be set up to use a trigger to cycle through the chords you've entered.

Poppadocrock

Check page 40 of this thread, video included

https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/33412/tonality-music-reference-by-bryce-hostetler-updated-with-midi-and-auv3-support#latest

Jorge

Here's a video that demonstrates the very basics of the idea: