How to write a composition

What to type first

Start with one chord. A capital letter is the root. m after it means minor. Cm is C minor.

Cm

Play sketches one bar of C minor, about 2.5 seconds, at 96 BPM. Gather uses the whole recording. The line under the field asks you to write a length. The tempo above the field stays 96, because you did not write one.

A sketch is the stand-in Play uses when you did not write a length. One bar, on the built-in synth. BPM means beats per minute, which is the speed. 96 BPM is the speed used when you have not written one. It is already showing above the field.

90 BPM Cm(2)

Two beats of C minor at 90 BPM, about 1.3 seconds. That is half a bar, shorter than the one-bar sketch above. The length and the speed are both written, so the line under the field adds nothing.

Chords

A chord is a named set of notes. The root is the letter it is built on. You can write the root in lowercase when a quality follows it. A quality is the part after the letter, such as m or maj7.

fm9

F minor 9, the same chord as Fm9. Play sketches one bar at 96 BPM. Gather uses the whole recording.

C

C major, one sketched bar at 96 BPM. A letter with nothing after it is major.

A single lowercase letter on its own is a word, not a chord. c is not C major. Write C.

Write the root as C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, or B. C# is read as Db. A# is read as Bb. F# stays F#.

C#m

C sharp minor, read as Dbm. Play sketches one bar of that chord at 96 BPM.

Cm/G

C minor with G in the bass. The note after the slash is the bottom note. Play sketches one bar.

C5m9(4|)

C minor 9 with its root on C5, held for 4 bars at 96 BPM. Cm9 with no octave stays in its usual place. Gather still finds Cm9.

Write the octave right after the root, the same way a note does: Eb4maj7, F#3m7, C5m9/Bb. The bass note sits below that root. A pitch runs from C-1 to G9.

A letter plus one octave digit is always a note, on a plain line, a tN: track, an @instrument line, and an arp. C2, C5, C6, C7, C9, F#3, and Bb1 are pitches. There is no exception. C13 stays dominant 13 and C69 stays the six-nine chord, the same as C6/9. C11 stays written C11. Two digits are not an octave. C5m9 is still C minor 9 with its root on C5.

Write a dominant 7 as Cdom7, a dominant 9 as Cdom9, a major 6 as Cmaj6, and a power chord as Cpow. Each one takes an octave (C4dom7, C3pow), a slash bass (Cdom7/E), an arp, and a tN: track.

• Cdom7 dominant 7
• Cdom9 dominant 9
• Cmaj6 major 6
• Cpow power chord, the root and the fifth

Cdom7(1|)

C dominant 7 for 1 bar at 96 BPM, on the built-in synth. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds. Gather finds the dominant 7 recording.

Cdom9(1|)

C dominant 9 for 1 bar at 96 BPM, on the built-in synth. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds. Gather finds the dominant 9 recording.

Cmaj6(1|)

C major 6 for 1 bar at 96 BPM, on the built-in synth. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds. Gather finds the major 6 recording.

Cpow(1|)

C power chord, the root and the fifth, for 1 bar at 96 BPM, on the built-in synth. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds. Gather does not fetch a recording.

C4dom7(1|)

C dominant 7 with its root on C4, for 1 bar at 96 BPM. Gather still finds the dominant 7 recording.

C3pow(1|)

C power chord with its root on C3, for 1 bar at 96 BPM, on the built-in synth. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds.

Cdom7/E(1|)

C dominant 7 with E in the bass, for 1 bar at 96 BPM. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds.

arp Cdom7

C dominant 7 as an upward arpeggio. Play lists it and stays quiet. There is no track label. Gather renders it on the synth.

t1: Cmaj6(1|)

Play sounds C major 6 for 1 bar on the built-in synth. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds at 96 BPM. Gather finds the major 6 recording.

@bass C2 E2 G2

Play sounds the notes C2, E2, and G2 on the bass, one beat each. 3 beats, about 1.9 seconds at 96 BPM. The bass notes need a connection once.

Csus2

C suspended 2, one sketched bar at 96 BPM, on the built-in synth. Gather finds Csus2.

A few short forms mean the same chord. Cmin and C- are Cm. CM7 is Cmaj7. Csus is Csus4. C6/9 is the 6/9 chord. C+ is Caug.

CM7

C major 7, read from the short form CM7. Play sketches one bar at 96 BPM.

These are the qualities you can write after a root. The examples use C. Any root from the list above works the same way.

• C major
• Cm minor
• C6-9 or C6/9 six-nine
• Cdom7 dominant 7. C7 is the note C7.
• C7#9 dominant 7, sharp 9
• C7#11 dominant 7, sharp 11. An arpeggio cannot play this one. On an arp line, write Cdom7 in its place.
• C7alt altered dominant
• C7b5 dominant 7, flat 5
• C7b9 dominant 7, flat 9
• C7b13 dominant 7, flat 13. An arpeggio cannot play this one either. Write Cdom7 on the arp line.
• C7sus4 or C7sus suspended 7
• Cdom9 dominant 9. C9 is the note C9.
• C9sus4 or C9sus suspended 9
• Cadd9 or Cadd2 add 9
• Caug or C+ augmented
• Cdim diminished
• Cdim7 diminished 7
• Cm6 minor 6
• Cm6-9 minor 6/9
• Cm7 minor 7
• Cm7b5 half-diminished
• Cm9 minor 9
• Cm11 minor 11
• Cm13 minor 13
• Cm-add9 minor add 9
• Cm-maj7 minor-major 7
• Cmaj7 major 7
• Cmaj7#5 major 7, sharp 5
• Cmaj7#11 major 7, sharp 11
• Cmaj9 major 9
• Cmaj13 major 13
• Cmaj6 major 6. C6 is the note C6.
• Cpow power chord, the root and the fifth. C5 is the note C5.
• Csus2 suspended 2. C2 is the note C2.
• Csus4 or Csus suspended 4

A near miss is named in the line under the field. Cmaj13b is not a chord. The line asks if you meant Cmaj13.

Lengths

A length belongs to the chord it is glued to. The parentheses sit on that chord. (2) means 2 beats. (4) means 4 beats, which is one bar, the same length as the sketch. (8) means 8 beats, which is two bars. (4|) means 4 bars. The bar mark is the vertical line inside the parentheses.

90 BPM Cm(2)

Two beats of C minor at 90 BPM, about 1.3 seconds. Gather uses two beats of the recording. It is shorter than the one-bar sketch.

90 BPM Cm(4|)

Four bars of C minor at 90 BPM. That is 16 beats, about 10.7 seconds.

Cm

No length is written. Play sketches one bar, about 2.5 seconds, at 96 BPM. Gather uses the whole recording.

Cm(?)

The same split, written on purpose. Play sketches one bar. Gather plays the whole recording. The question mark inside the parentheses is that mark.

A rest is silence. An underscore stands for the rest. It takes a length, the same way a chord does.

90 BPM [Cm(8) _(2) Fm9(2)]

C minor for 8 beats, then 2 beats of silence, then F minor 9 for 2 beats. 8 seconds at 90 BPM.

Tempo

Tempo is the speed, in beats per minute. Write it at the start. 90 BPM, tempo 90, and q90 are the same speed. The q stands for the quarter note, which is one beat.

90 BPM Cm(2)

Two beats of C minor at 90 per minute, about 1.3 seconds.

tempo 90 Cm(2)

Two beats of C minor at the same speed, about 1.3 seconds.

q90 Cm(2)

The same two beats as 90 BPM, written with q90.

If you write no tempo, the box above the field stays at 96, in a quieter grey. Play uses that 96. Type another number there, or write 90 BPM at the start. Both write the same statement. Put 96 back and that statement goes away. A second tempo later in the box is not read. Keep the one at the start and delete the other.

Time signature

The time signature is how many beats are in a bar. It sits next to the tempo, and it starts at 4/4, even on an empty field. A beat on this page is a quarter note. 3/4 is three beats. 6/8 counts as 3 beats in a bar. 2/2 is four beats.

Type it in that box, or write it at the start, after the tempo if you wrote one. A number you have not written looks quieter. Put 4/4 back and a written time goes away. One sketched bar, and (1|), both last that many beats. In 6/8 that is 3 beats, so (3) is one bar and (6) is two. The beats before a bar line must add up to one bar.

90 BPM 3/4 [Cm(3) | Fm(3)]

Two bars of 3/4 at 90 BPM. C minor for one bar, then F minor for one bar. 6 beats, 4 seconds.

6/8 Cm(1|)

One bar of 6/8. That is 3 beats, about 1.9 seconds at 96 BPM.

6/8 [Cm(2) G(1) | Am(3)]

Cm takes 2 beats and G takes 1, which is one bar of 6/8. Am(3) is the next bar. 6 beats, about 3.8 seconds at 96 BPM.

3/4 Cm

No length is written. Play sketches one bar of 3/4, which is 3 beats, about 1.9 seconds at 96 BPM. Gather uses the whole recording.

Groups and repeats

Square brackets wrap a group. x4 after the group plays it four times. loop(4) on the next line does the same thing. Each repeat uses the same recordings.

[Cm Fm9]x4

The two chords play four times at 96 BPM. Neither has a length, so Play sketches each as one bar and Gather uses each whole recording. 32 beats, 20 seconds.

90 BPM [Cm(2) Fm9(2|)]x4

C minor for 2 beats, then F minor 9 for 2 bars, and that pair four times. 40 beats, about 26.7 seconds. Play shows the pair once, with ×4, not eight separate chords.

90 BPM
[Cm(2) Fm9(2|)]
loop(4)

The same 40 beats, about 26.7 seconds, as the line above. loop(4) is the long way to write x4.

A repeat needs a whole number, and it needs a group to wrap. Write x4 or loop(4) just after the closing bracket. One pair of brackets is read. A group inside a group is not.

A bare loop with no number is different. It is a Bitwig-style clip loop: that group, the whole chord line when there are no brackets, or a notes / pitch line, keeps repeating until the piece ends. Tracks with different loop lengths run against each other, so a 3-bar loop and a 4-bar loop drift in phase. The longest track that does not loop sets how long the piece is. If every track loops, Play keeps going until you press Stop. Gather and Perform then use a length you wrote, or two minutes when you wrote none. Gathered recordings are trimmed or padded to the written length, never stretched. loop(4) and x4 still mean “four times”.

T1: @synth Cm9(4|) loop

T1 plays C minor 9 for 4 bars, then that 4-bar clip again, until the piece ends. I-read says T1 loops until the end. On Play that is until Stop when nothing else sets a length.

T1: @synth Cm9(4|) loop
T2: @synth Am7(3|) loop

Two looping clips, 4 bars against 3 bars, like two Bitwig clips of different lengths. They stay locked to the tempo and phase across each other.

A bar line, the | character, splits a group into bars. The beats before each bar line must add up to one bar. In 4/4 that is 4 beats. Every chord before the line needs its own length.

90 BPM [Cm(2) Fm(2) | Gm(4)]

C minor and F minor share the first bar, 2 beats each. G minor takes the next bar. About 5.3 seconds at 90 BPM.

Notes

A letter plus one octave digit is always a note, including C7, C6, and C5. C2 E2 G2 is those three pitches, and @bass C2 E2 G2 plays them on the bass. Each pitch with no length lasts 1 beat. On a track, a line of only pitches is the same as a notes line: T2: a5 c5 d5 means the same as T2: notes a5 c5 d5. You can also start a melody with n or notes. A line that starts that way, with no track label, is listed and Play stays quiet. The line runs to the end of that line.

A bare loop at the end of a notes line (or a pitch track) is the same Bitwig-style clip loop as on chords: those notes keep repeating until the piece ends, or until Stop when every track loops.

T1: @synth c5m loop
T2: a5 c5 d5 loop

T1 holds C minor on C5 and loops. T2 plays A5, C5, D5, one beat each, and loops alongside it. Different lengths phase against each other, like two Bitwig clips.

C7 C6 C5

Play sounds the notes C7, C6, and C5, one beat each, on the built-in synth. 3 beats, about 1.9 seconds at 96 BPM.

Glue a length to a pitch the same way as a chord. (2) is 2 beats. (2|) is 2 bars. A pitch with no length lasts 1 beat, including next to length-marked pitches.

You can also write a length the short way, glued in front of the pitch: ! is a half note (2 beats), $ is a quarter (1 beat), * is an eighth (half a beat), and ^ is a sixteenth (a quarter of a beat). A number in front repeats that note: 4$c5 is four quarter-note C5s. Pick one length style per pitch — write $c5 or c5(1), not both. On the arrangement under Play, each note is a block as wide as its length, and a bare loop tiles those blocks until the piece ends.

T1: @synth c5m loop
T2: 4$c5 2*f5 2*g5 loop

T1 holds C minor on C5 and loops. T2 plays four quarter C5s, then two eighth F5s, then two eighth G5s (6 beats), and loops. The arrangement shows the short and long blocks in time.

!c5 4^e5 $g5

A half-note C5, four sixteenth E5s, then a quarter G5. 4 beats in total at 96 BPM.

n C5(2) Eb5 G5 Bb4

Play lists the line and stays quiet. Gather renders C5, E flat 5, G5, and B flat 4 on the built-in synth. C5 lasts 2 beats. Perform plays that melody.

notes C4 Eb4 G4(2)

The same kind of line, with the word notes. G4 lasts 2 beats. Play stays quiet. Gather and Perform use the synth.

n C5(2|) Eb5(1)

C5 lasts 2 bars. E flat 5 lasts 1 beat. Again, Play only lists it.

notes create melody

Nothing plays. There is no pitch, so the line stays words for the AI. A notes line needs a pitch such as C5.

FM

FM is frequency modulation. Here it is a colour on the synth, not a chord. fm 3 is a depth from 0 to 10. A higher number is read as 10. fm3 is the same depth. fm9 on its own is the chord F minor 9, because those letters are a chord.

Write the depth on a notes line, or on an arp line. An arp is an arpeggio: the notes of a chord played one at a time.

n C5(2) Eb5 G5 fm 3

The same pitches as a plain notes line, with FM depth 3. Play lists it. Gather renders it on the synth with that depth. Perform plays it.

fm9

This one is the chord. F minor 9, one sketched bar at 96 BPM, not an FM depth.

arp Cm9 fm 3

C minor 9 as an upward arpeggio, with FM depth 3. Play lists it. Gather renders it on the synth.

Arpeggio

Start the line with arp. The chord is optional. With no chord, the arpeggio follows the chords you wrote above it. A length on this line does not change those chords.

What you do not write is filled in: up, sixteenths, one octave, notes close together, no inversion. An inversion is the chord flipped so another note sits on the bottom. An octave is the same note eight letters higher or lower.

arp Cm9

C minor 9, notes one at a time, lowest to highest, four notes per beat. Play lists it and stays quiet. Gather renders it on the synth.

Order is the sequence of the notes. You can write the name with a slash. up/down is the same as up-down.

arp Cm9 down

The same chord, highest note to lowest.

arp Cm9 up-down

Up, then back down. The top note is not struck twice.

arp Cm9 up-down-repeat

Up, then down, and the turning notes are struck again.

arp Cm9 outside-in

Lowest, then highest, then the next ones in from the edges.

arp Cm9 inside-out

From the middle of the chord out toward the edges.

arp Cm9 pendulum

The up-and-down path, starting in the middle.

arp Cm9 random

A note of the chord chosen at random for each step.

arp Cm9 as-played

The notes in the order the chord is written, not sorted low to high.

arp Cm9 down-up

The reverse of up-down. down/up is the same name.

Every order also has a number that never changes, so Arp(5) is always random. Write Arp(number) or Arp(short name) on an arp line, or start the line with it. A number or name that is not on this list plays the chord together, the same as Arp(0). The short name also works on its own, as in arp Cm9 blossom-up.

Blossom starts in the middle of the chord and grows outward. Low&Up and the other pedal orders keep coming back to one note, the lowest or the highest, between the others. Walk steps up, stays, or steps back, the same way every time you play it. Euclidean (17) spreads some hits evenly over a count of steps and rests in the gaps. Write Arp(17, hits, steps, rotate). Steps go up to 16. Rotate turns the pattern so it starts later. With no numbers it is 5 hits in 8 steps.

Arp(10) Cm9

C minor 9 from the middle note outward, spiralling up. It is the same as arp Cm9 blossom-up.

arp Am7 Arp(12) 8ths

A minor 7 in eighth notes: the low A, then the next note up, then the low A again, climbing.

Arp(17, 5, 8) Am7

A minor 7 going up, but only 5 of every 8 steps play, spread out evenly: note, rest, note, rest, note, note, rest, note.

Arp(17, 3, 8, 2) Cm9

3 notes in every 8 steps, turned 2 steps so the first note comes later.

Rate is how fast the notes go. 4ths or quarter is one note per beat. 8ths or eighth is two. 16ths is four, and it is the usual rate. 32nds is eight. A triplet squeezes three notes into the time of two of that value. 8t is three notes in one beat. 4t, 16t, and 32t are the slower and faster triplets.

arp Cm9 4ths

One note per beat, going up.

arp Cm9 8ths

Two notes per beat, going up.

arp Cm9 32nds

Eight notes per beat, going up.

arp Cm9 8t

Three notes in each beat, going up.

arp Cm9 4t

A quarter-note triplet: three notes in the time of two beats.

arp Cm9 16t

A sixteenth-note triplet, faster than 8t.

arp Cm9 32t

The fastest triplet, three notes in the time of two thirty-second notes.

Octaves stack the chord higher. Write 2oct or 2 octaves. The number is from 1 to 4.

arp Cm9 2oct

The arpeggio climbs across two octaves.

arp Cm9 4oct

The same climb across four octaves, which is as far as this line goes.

Spread is how far apart the notes sit. compact is the close one, and it is the usual spread. Then wide, wider, and max. maximum is the same as max.

arp Cm9 wide

The notes sit further apart than the usual close voicing.

arp Cm9 wider

Further apart again.

arp Cm9 max

The widest spread. maximum is the same word.

An inversion flips the chord. inv1 and inversion 1 are the first flip.

arp Cm9 inv1

C minor 9 turned once, so a different note is on the bottom, then arpeggiated upward.

arp Cm9 (2)

The arpeggio runs for 2 beats. The chord line, if you wrote one, keeps its own lengths.

arp Cm9 (2|)

The arpeggio runs for 2 bars.

90 BPM
[Cm(2) Fm9(8)]x2
arp

Play sketches the two chords, twice, at 90 BPM: C minor for 2 beats, then F minor 9 for 8 beats, about 13.3 seconds, and lists the arp. The arp has no chord of its own, so it follows Cm and then Fm9. Gather fetches those two recordings and renders the arp on the synth.

arp Cm9 pendulum 16ths 2oct wide inv1 (2|)

One line with the options together: pendulum, sixteenths, two octaves, wide, first inversion, for 2 bars. Gather renders that on the synth.

Style

A style line is not on this page yet. When it is, it will read style and then a name, and this section will say what that fills in.

Words for the AI

Words this page does not recognise are left for the AI. They are not played. Quotes force a phrase to stay words, even when it looks like something else. The line under the field tells you so, and shows the quotes to type.

90 BPM Cm(2) let it breathe

You hear two beats of C minor at 90 BPM, about 1.3 seconds. The words are not notes. They are left for the AI.

90 BPM Cm(2) "hold the high note"

The same two beats. The quoted phrase stays words for the AI. It is not read as chords.

A chord inside quotes stays words too, and it does not play. The line under the field tells you to delete the quotes around it. An unclosed quote asks you to add a " at the end.

An instrument

Play sounds the built-in synth. @piano, @guitar, @cello, @bass, and @vibes play the sampler instead, on a notes line, an arp, or a chord line. On a chord line the sampler plays that chord's voicing. @bass is B1–A#4. @vibes is C2–G#6. These vibes pitches are left out: D#2, F#2, C4, C#4, C5, D#5, C#6, D#6, F6, and G6. A pitch the instrument does not have is left out. Any other name, such as @flute, only labels the line, and Play uses the synth. Gather still finds a recording. It skips a line that says @synth, and a chord track that says @bass or @vibes. A line that starts with notes or arp, and has no track label, is listed, and Play stays quiet. A line of pitches such as @bass C2 E2 G2 plays.

@synth(1) loads the preset whose number is 1. @synth(44) loads preset 44. The number belongs to the preset, not to its place in a list. @synth(Example Bright) and @synth(velvet-comet) load a preset by name. Capitals do not matter, and spaces stay inside the brackets. A hyphen and a space are the same, so velvet-comet and Velvet Comet are one name, and so are clear-night-spark and Clear Night Spark. A hyphen stays part of the name. The same mark works on a track and on an arp. A preset sets that line's synth patch: waveform, oscillators, filter, loudness, envelopes, mods, and FM. The notes, the chord, the tempo, and the hacks you wrote still win. Play uses the preset. Gather and Perform keep the usual patch. A missing preset still plays that usual patch, and I-read says it was not found. Presets 1, 2, and 3 are examples: 1 · Example Bright, 2 · Example Dark, and 3 · Example Sine. Import, next to the help mark, reads an NC Synth file and keeps it in this browser. A saved configuration is named 44-velvet-comet.json and contains format netcomposer.synth, version 1, number, name, and settings. A performance preset contains id, number, name, version 1, and settings. number is a positive integer. An older file with no number and no name takes both from the filename, such as 44 and velvet-comet. A file that still has no number takes the next free one. If that number is already a built-in preset or another import, that one keeps it and the import takes the next free number. I-read says so, as in 1 is Example Bright, so this one is 4. Import and I-read show the number and the name, as in 44 · velvet-comet. A name uses an import before a built-in preset of the same name.

Cm11

Play sounds C minor 11 on the built-in synth, one sketched bar at 96 BPM, from the catalog voicing (extensions stacked above the octave: 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 17). Gather still finds a recording.

@strings plays the sampler on a notes line, an arp, or a chord line. On a chord line the sampler plays that chord's voicing. @strings is G3–C#7. These strings pitches are left out: A#3, F#4, C#5, F#5, and B6. Gather skips a chord track that says @strings.

Cm11 @piano

Play sounds that same C minor 11 voicing on the piano sampler. The built-in synth stays out. The piano notes need a connection once. Gather still finds a recording.

n C5@piano Eb5

Play lists the pitches and the piano name, and stays quiet. There is no track label, so the sampler does not play this line.

arp Cm9 @flute

The arpeggio is kept, and the name flute only labels it. Play lists it and stays quiet. There is no track label.

@synth(1) Cm9

Play sounds C minor 9 on preset 1, Example Bright, one sketched bar at 96 BPM. I-read names 1 · Example Bright. Gather does not fetch a recording. This piece plays with no connection.

@synth(Example Dark) Cm9

Play sounds C minor 9 on the Example Dark preset. The name ignores capitals, and a hyphen is the same as a space, so example dark and example-dark are that preset. I-read names 2 · Example Dark. Gather does not fetch a recording. This piece plays with no connection.

t1: @synth(Example Sine) Cm9(4)

Play sounds C minor 9 for 4 beats on the Example Sine preset. I-read names 3 · Example Sine. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds at 96 BPM. Gather does not fetch a recording. This piece plays with no connection.

t1: arp Cm9 @synth(1) (2|)

Play sounds the Cm9 arp for 2 bars on preset 1, Example Bright. I-read names 1 · Example Bright. 8 beats, 5 seconds at 96 BPM. This piece plays with no connection.

Tracks

Arrangement, under Play, puts S and M on each lane. S solos that lane. M mutes it. Reset clears them. Play, Live, and Keep follow them. If any lane is soloed, only the soloed lanes play. A soloed lane still plays when it is also muted. A muted lane is silent when nothing is soloed.

A track label is t1:, t2:, and so on. Write it at the start of a line, or several on one line. Everything after a label, up to the next label or the end of that line, belongs to that track. The same label again adds to that track. T1 and t1 are the same track. A line with no label is read the way it always was.

Tracks start together. They share the tempo and the time signature. Each one can be a chord progression, a notes line, or an arp, with its own lengths and its own FM depth. Each synth track is its own voice. On Play, a chord track sounds the built-in synth. @piano, @guitar, @cello, @bass, and @vibes play the sampler, and on a chord track the sampler plays that chord's voicing. @bass is B1–A#4. @vibes is C2–G#6. A pitch the instrument does not have is left out. A plain name, such as @flute, only labels the track, and Play uses the synth. @synth is the same synth. Gather skips a chord track that says @synth, @bass, or @vibes.

Play sounds a synth track, and a sampler track, from its notes as soon as you press Play. There is no render wait. A piece that is only the built-in synth plays with no connection. The sampler needs a connection once. Gather still finds a recording for every other chord.

@strings is G3–C#7. It plays the sampler, including a chord's voicing. A pitch the strings do not have is left out. Gather skips a chord track that says @strings.

t1: Cm(4|) Fm(4|) @synth
t2: notes C5(4|) G5(4|) fm 2

Play sounds both from their notes as soon as you press it, with no render wait. T1 is C minor for 4 bars, then F minor for 4 bars, on the synth. T2 is C5 for 4 bars, then G5 for 4 bars, with FM depth 2 written on the line. They start together. 32 beats, 20 seconds at 96 BPM. Gather does not fetch a recording. This piece plays with no connection.

t1: Cm(4|) t2: Em(4|)

Play sounds both on the built-in synth, from the catalog voicing, one lane each. T1 is C minor and T2 is E minor, both for 4 bars, starting together. 16 beats, 10 seconds at 96 BPM. Gather still fetches those recordings, and they need a connection once.

t1: notes C4(4|) @piano

Play sounds C4 for 4 bars on the piano, from the note, with no render wait. The built-in synth stays out. 16 beats, 10 seconds at 96 BPM. The piano notes need a connection once.

t1: Cm(2|) @bass

Play sounds the bass notes of Cm for 2 bars. Bass is B1–A#4. A pitch the bass does not have is left out. The built-in synth stays out. 8 beats, 5 seconds at 96 BPM. The bass notes need a connection once.

t1: Cm(2|) @vibes

Play sounds the vibes notes of Cm for 2 bars. Vibes are C2–G#6. A pitch the vibes do not have is left out. The built-in synth stays out. 8 beats, 5 seconds at 96 BPM. The vibes notes need a connection once.

t1: notes C4(4|) @flute

T1 keeps C4 for 4 bars. The name flute only labels it. Play sounds C4 on the built-in synth. 16 beats, 10 seconds at 96 BPM. This piece plays with no connection.

t1: Cm11(4)
t2: notes G3(4) @cello

Play sounds T1, C minor 11 for 4 beats, on the built-in synth, and T2, G3 for 4 beats, on the cello sampler. They start together. 4 beats, 2.5 seconds at 96 BPM. The cello notes need a connection once. Gather still finds a recording for C minor 11.

t1: Cm(2|) @strings

Play sounds the strings notes of Cm for 2 bars. Strings are G3–C#7. A pitch the strings do not have is left out. The built-in synth stays out. 8 beats, 5 seconds at 96 BPM. The strings notes need a connection once.

Composition hacks

A hack is a starting effect for the whole piece. Write it outside the brackets. Live hears it. Play still sketches the chords dry, with no effect.

The filter names are lowpass (lp), highpass (hp), and bandpass (bp). A low-pass lets the low sounds through. A high-pass lets the high sounds through. A band-pass keeps a band in the middle. The number is a frequency in hertz, written Hz.

90 BPM Cm(2) lp500

Play sketches two beats of C minor, dry. Live starts with a low-pass filter at 500 Hz.

90 BPM Cm(2) lowpass 800

The same idea, written as words. It is read as lp800. Live starts the low-pass at 800 Hz.

90 BPM Cm(2) lp500->200

Live moves the low-pass from 500 Hz to 200 Hz across the whole piece, evenly in pitch. A hand on that dial stops the move, and the dial wins. The arrow is written as ->. Play still sketches the chord dry.

The other hacks take a number too. eq is a mid boost in decibels. dl or delay is an echo, from 0 to 100. rv or reverb is a plate, which is a kind of room, from 0 to 100. dr or drive is extra push, from 0 to 24. wd or width is the stereo width, from 0 to 200. 100 is the normal width. cp or comp is a compressor, which evens loud and quiet. Write cp18 or cp-18. Both mean a threshold of −18 dB. cp0 is 0 dB.

90 BPM Cm(2) hp200 bp1000 eq2 dl20 rv15 dr6 wd100

Play sketches the chord dry. Live starts with a high-pass at 200 Hz, a band-pass around 1000 Hz, a small mid boost, a little delay, a little plate, a little drive, and normal width.

Write each hack once. If you write the same one twice, the later number wins, and the line under the field tells you to delete the earlier one. A hack inside the brackets is not for that chord. Move it outside, at the start.

The I-read line

Under the Composition field, a line begins “I read”. It is the page saying what it understood. The first line is the music, and it names what Play will sound: synth, or @piano, @guitar, @cello, @bass, or @vibes. When the line names a synth preset, I-read shows its number and name, as in 1 · Example Bright. When an import had to take a different number, I-read says which preset kept the old one. When that preset is missing, it says so. Then any words left for the AI. Then a note, only when you may want to change something. A note always includes the exact text to type, in a grey box, and says where it goes. A How link on that note opens the part of this page that matches.

A star on a length, written 1 bar*, means you did not write that length. Play sketches one bar. Gather uses the whole recording.

I read also names @strings. @strings is G3–C#7.

Cm

I-read says: 96 BPM, Cm as 1 bar*, 4 beats, 2.5 seconds, and synth. Then it asks you to write Cm(4) for 4 beats or Cm(2|) for 2 bars. The 96 is already in the tempo box, so it does not ask you to add a tempo. You hear one sketched bar on the synth.

90 BPM [Cm(2) Fm9(2|)]x4

I-read says: 90 BPM, the pair times 4, 40 beats, about 26.7 seconds. There is no note, because the speed and both lengths are written. You hear 2 beats, then 2 bars, four times.

A chord the page does not know is a note too. It suggests the nearest real chord when it can, such as Cmaj13 for Cmaj13b.

Play, Gather, and Perform

Play sounds the chords you wrote on the built-in synth, once each, at the speed you wrote. A group repeat is shown once, with a times mark, and Play still goes around it that many times. Play does not fill the piece out to two minutes. A line that starts with notes or arp, and has no track label, is listed, and Play stays quiet. A line of pitches such as @bass C2 E2 G2 plays. Play does not sound a hack. @piano, @guitar, @cello, @bass, and @vibes play the sampler, including the voicing of a chord line. @bass is B1–A#4. @vibes is C2–G#6. Any other @name only labels the line, and Play uses the synth. @synth(1) and @synth(Example Bright) are Play only. Gather and Perform keep the usual synth patch. A synth track or a sampler track plays live from its notes, with no render wait. Gather still finds the recordings. It skips a chord line that says @synth, and a chord track that says @bass or @vibes. Play does not play those recordings.

Gather finds one recording per chord. A written length uses that much of the recording. No length uses the whole recording. A repeat reuses the same recording. A notes line or an arp with no @instrument is rendered here on the built-in synth, and listed with the recordings.

@strings is G3–C#7. It plays the sampler, including a chord's voicing. A pitch the strings do not have is left out. Gather skips a chord track that says @strings.

Perform puts what Gather found into the piece, with the synth and sampler tracks. Keep writes one fixed file of what you heard. Live parks each hack at the number you wrote, and moves a filter arrow across the whole piece. A low-pass written lp500->200 goes from 500 Hz to 200 Hz.

A piece that is only the built-in synth plays with no connection. The sampler, and the recordings, need a connection once.

90 BPM
[Cm(2) Fm9 Gm7(8)]x4
n C5(2) Eb5 G5 Bb4 fm 3
arp Cm9 pendulum 16ths 2oct wide inv1 (2|)
lp500->200
"keep it close"

Play sketches the three chords four times at 90 BPM, about 37.3 seconds, on the built-in synth: C minor for 2 beats, F minor 9 as one bar, G minor 7 for 8 beats. It also lists the notes, the arp, and the filter, and those stay quiet. Gather fetches the three recordings, renders the melody and the arp on the synth with FM depth 3, and keeps the quoted words as words. Perform plays the recordings and the synth. Live moves the low-pass from 500 Hz to 200 Hz across the whole piece, evenly in pitch. A hand on that dial stops the move.

Also on the line

A # starts a comment. The rest of that line is ignored. It is not heard, and it is not left for the AI.

90 BPM Cm(2) # two beats

Two beats of C minor at 90 BPM. The words after the # are dropped.

A seed is a number that later choices can reuse. sd 4182 and seed 4182 are the same. The first seed is kept. A later different seed is a note, and it tells you to delete the later one.

sd 4182
90 BPM Cm(2)

Two beats of C minor at 90 BPM. The seed is remembered as sd4182. It does not change this sketch.