Manual Editing Settings

• Snap&Grid: note snap and grid density: 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/8 Triplet,
1/16 Triplet.

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Variations
Variations are transformations with tweakable parameters that can be applied to
entire tracks, or specific phrases. Multiple instances of the same variation (with
different parameters) can be applied to a track or a phrase.

Important: variations are non-destructive, which means your original phrases

won't be changed. Think of them as transformations that can be disabled or
removed anytime.

Variations are applied top to bottom (order is important).

Variations are also a great way to get really interesting and unique ideas from the
Idea Tool.

You can mute any variations by removing the checkmark in the box next to the
Variation name.

Applying variations to the entire track

Right-click the track header to pull up the Track Inspector, and then click on the
Variations tab to access the variations from the Track Inspector window.

Click the “Add” button on the bottom left to add (and tweak) variations to the
entire track.

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Applying variations to a phrase
Right-click on a phrase to pull up the Phrase Inspector, and then click on the
Variations tab to access the variations from the Phrase Inspector window.

Click the “Add” button on the bottom left to add (and tweak) Variations to the
Phrase.

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Variations included
Here is a list of available variations in RapidComposer:

• Accents 4th/8th/16th: change accents of 4th, 8th, 16th notes

• Add Chord Notes: add chord notes above or below the original note with
the option of muting the original note
• Add Interval: Add specific intervals (1 or more) to monophonic or
polyphonic Phrases or Tracks. Easy way to harmonize a melody (add a Third,
and/or a 6th).
• Adjust Note Lengths: Similar to Staccato-Legato Variation, but more
specific note options.
• Adjust Note Lengths v2: a better version of “Adjust Note Length” with

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 more options (change by percentage, or change by offset)
• Apply Melody: adjusts phrase notes to follow a melody phrase
• Apply Rhythm: drag and drop a rhythm pattern to use for slicing the phrase
notes according to the pattern.
• Apply Shape: use only the rhythm with the shape of another (dropped)
phrase
• Audio Gain: a simple control for audio gain, usable in audio tracks only
• Delay Notes: Offset the beats/counts of notes by tiny increments (for a
more “human” feel). Similar to “Humanize.”
• Double Note: Opposite of “Remove Note” with same settings (see below)
• Double Phrase: Acts as a multiplier for the MIDI notes inside a phrase. If
you have 8 straight 8th notes, it creates 16 16th notes).
• Expression: Many slider variables available here. Works as MIDI velocity
(soft to loud notes). Each track has an Expression by default.
• Extract Notes: extracts important notes from a phrase, ignores all other
notes
• Extract Rhythm: Makes a monophonic phrase by replacing every note with
the given note
• Humanize: “Loosens” the timing of a phrase or track, for a more “human”
performance.
• Join Notes: No parameters - Glues two notes together when the first note
ends and the second one begins.
• Limit Note Range: Two sliders available, controlling the lowest note and
highest note. Currently only effects entire Tracks as a Track Variation (not
specific Phrases).
• Make Monophonic: removes polyphony from the phrase
• MIDI Echo: Adds an echo-effect by adding quieter MIDI notes to the main
notes of a Phrase.
• Make Monophonic: Similar to Extract Rhythm, but with different options.
• Mirror Horizontally: No parameters (reverses the MIDI notes, rhythmically
and/or melodically, inside a phrase)
• Mirror Vertically: No parameters (reverses the MIDI notes, melodically (not
rhythmically), inside a phrase)
• Permute Chord Notes: No parameters. Like Swap Chord Notes, it
rearranges the chord notes randomly.
• Quantize: Tightens timing or changes timing entirely. Has many note
alignments, including triplets, quintuplets, and more. Includes slider amount

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 for Quantize percentage.
• Remove Note: Available settings that are affected by the slider are Note at
Index, Event at Index, Before Time and After Time. Settings that the slider
has no effect on include All, Even Beats, Odd Beats, Random Note, Random
Time, Shortest Note, Longest Note, All Shortest Notes, All Longest Notes,
Notes on Whole Beats, Notes Between Beats.
• Remove Short Notes: Removes too short notes from the phrase with
minimum length specified
• Re-rhythmize Phrase: Makes rhythmic variations of the same phrase. Enter
the number of steps.
• Rests: Two sliders available, to generate rests in various places at at
various lengths.
• Rhythm Mapper: The “Preserve Phrase Shape” mode is the same as the
'Apply Rhythm' variation. With the “Direct 1:1 Mapping” each phrase event
is mapped to the corresponding rhythm event, so it is best to use a rhythm
with the same or similar note count as the phrase. A phrase generator with
the same name and functionality exists, use which is more convenient.
• Rotate Notes: An interesting effect to rotate phrase notes.
• Show/Hide Non-Existent Chord Notes: (rarely used) Hide or show 'non-
existent' chord notes in phrases. This affects notes that the chord does not
include, e.g. when a note uses the 4th chord note (7 th) but the master track
chord consists of only 3 notes. These notes are either ignored or lower chord
notes are transposed up.
• Simplify Phrase: Simplifies a phrase by removing less important notes.
• Slice Phrase: Slices the phrase on note or 1/4, 1/8, etc division boundary
and rearranges slices to get a new phrase.
• Spread Out Chord Notes: Makes phrases more “full” by spreading out the
intervals of a chord. Alternatively you can use a chord voicing, assigned to
the phrase.
• Staccato-Legato: Makes notes more “choppy” or more “smooth”.
• Strumming: Moves MIDI notes by a tiny amount, to simulate a guitar chord
strumming (works best on chord Phrases with longer-duration notes… or any
Phrase with 3 or more notes played simultaneously).
• Swap Chord Notes: Available settings are First-Second, First-Third, First-
Last, Second-Third, Second-Last, Third-Last. This Variation can do very
interesting transformations on Phrases: it rearranges the chord notes
depending on your setting.
• Swing: Applies a “shuffle” to straight Phrases. Great for making a phrase

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 more funky or “bouncy”. Very useful also, for generating “chiptune/8-bit
video-game” music phrases. Many settings. Common swing setting: Half
Beat (1/8 Note), w/ Swing slider set to 40.
• Transpose: Increase or decrease the pitch of the Phrase or Track.
• Triple Phrase: No parameters (acts as a multiplier just like Double Phrase. If
you have 4 quarter notes in a phrase, it creates 12 notes, which become 8th
note triplets).
• Velocity: Basic MIDI velocity adjustment (soft to loud).
• Velocity Generator: Many variables here that affect MIDI velocity and
performance.
• Velocity Range: Assign random MIDI velocities for downbeats/on-beats/off-
beats, 8th and 16th notes

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Melody Editor
Overview
Workflow

You design or generate a melody line for the selected scale, drag the melody to
the DAW, harmonize it to add chords, and finish the composition in the DAW. The
Melody Editor tab offers melody generation for a chord progression if you enable
the chords track. So two different workflows are supported:
• Create a catchy melody, then find chords for the melody later (chords track
disabled)
• Create melody for a given chord progression (chords track enabled)

Dropping a MIDI file on the workspace lets you work with existing melodies. The
MIDI file is imported as one big section. You can make smaller sections by splitting
the big section, regenerate parts of melody, make repetitions, etc.

User interface
There are three main pages in the user interface:
• Melody Editor: the main melody editing workspace where you create or
edit a melody
• Settings: miscellaneous and user interface settings, keyboard
shortcuts.
• Support: update checking, version history and feedback

The Melody Editor

The user interface consists of the tool bar at the top and the workspace where
you can edit the current melody notes.

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 : Play back the currently edited melody. At the end of the playback the cursor
returns to the last clicked position. Right-click to edit playback options

: Loop playback

: Generate melody. Right-click to edit generation options

: Mutate melody. Right-click to edit mutation options

: Drag melody as MIDI. You can drag the edited melody directly to the DAW

: Access melody presets. You can save a preset here. All the settings are
saved with the preset

: Undo last change

: Redo

C Major: the scale the melody will use

120.00 BPM: playback tempo. By default this is the host tempo. Overriding
the tempo is possible, see “Use Host Tempo” in the settings.

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4/4: the signature to use. By default this is the host signature. Overriding the
signature is possible, see “Use Host Signature” in the settings.

+0 Octaves: octave offset applied to the melody

Default: note lengths options. Right-click for menu. Possible values: Default,
Legato, 2/4, 1/4, 3/16, 1/8, 3/32, 1/16

100%: ‘note on’ velocity for melody notes

Playback options
By right-clicking on the ‘PLAY’ button you can enable chords track playback, which
can be very useful during melody editing. You can set the volume (actually ‘note
on’ velocity), voice leading and instruments here:

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Piano roll options
The piano roll does automatic vertical zooming by default. You can scroll the
keyboard (vertical drag or mouse-wheel) and zoom the keyboard (Ctrl+vertical
drag or Ctrl+mouse-wheel). Double-click to return to automatic zooming.

Clicking on the ‘cogwheel’ icon will show more options:

Melody sections and operations

The melody includes several melody sections. A shape and rhythm is assigned to
each section. The shape and rhythm comes from a motive that are displayed as
capital letters from A to H and indicated with different colors. You can see the
motives above the sections:

There are lots of things you can do with a section: you can resize, remove, mute,
duplicate, split, glue, regenerate them, add variations (which belong to the

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section, and not the motive!). Add rest or held notes. Inside the sections you can
freely edit the notes.

The top bar (ACTIONS) offers the following buttons in this order: remove ( ),
mute/rest ( ), create new motive ( ), clone motive for editing ( ).

The MOTIVE and RHYTHM bars select the motive and rhythm for the particular
section. The two letters need not be the same, you can use the rhythm from
motive A for motive B, for example. Clicking a letter will select the motive, but
clicking on the SAME letter will regenerate the motive, or just the rhythm for the
clicked motive.

The VARIATION bar offers often used melodic transformations. Right-clicking

resets/removes the transformation, Ctrl-clicking will apply the change to all
sections, not just the edited one.

: horizontal offset in 16th note steps

: transposition by scale steps
: retrograde (mirroring horizontally)
: inversion (mirroring vertically)
: contour transformations (keep the same basic shape, but make the
intervals
between notes larger or smaller)
: menu with further variations:

• Rhythm Displacement: either a single randomly selected note or all notes

left to or right to a randomly selected note will be shifted by the specified
amount making an interesting rhythmic effect. This is often used in
melodies.

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 • Simplify: removes less important notes from a motive. You can set how
many times this is performed.
• Split Long Notes: find the longest note in the motive and split it at a
sensible position, thus making two notes from a longer note.
• Connecting Notes: insert an additional short note between 2 motive notes,
by making a connection between them. ‘Approach’ means the inserted note
will be between the two notes, e.g. C → E → F. The ‘Opposite’ option inserts
a note from the other direction, e.g. C → G → F
• Lead-in Notes: insert lead-in (pick-up) notes before the section, at the end
of the previous section. This variation is not available for the very first
section.

A context pop-up is available if you right click in a melody section with all possible
operations on a section:

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Generation Settings (For a Section)
Each section has its own settings, which were assigned during melody generation.
You can change these settings and regenerate the motive or just the rhythm. The
simplest way for regeneration is clicking on the same highlighted letter in the
MOTIVE or RHYTHM bar. The settings are very similar to global melody settings:

You can generate ( ) or mutate ( ) the rhythm or motive. Ctrl-click to

generate both motive and rhythm.

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Rhythm settings

Density: it is proportional to the number of melody notes used. 100% means the
maximum note count for all types of rhythms. For straight rhythm 100% means a
note on each 1/8 grid.
Method: the rhythm generation method. Possible values:
• Weighted Random: probabilities used for notes: downbeats > on-beats > off-
beats > 1/8 notes. The 'randomness' setting affects these probabilities.
• Subdivision: works by dividing time into halves
• Modern: rhythm used in deep house and other modern genres

Motive settings

Steps/Leaps: the proportion of steps and leaps. For each motive a random value
is used between the minimum and maximum values on slider.
Repetition: the probability of note repetition. Melodies often have repeated
notes. For each motive a random value is used between the minimum and
maximum values on slider.
Returning: the probability of repeating the note before the previous melody note,
like in C → D → C
After Leap: specify what should happen after a leap. Possible values:
• Step in the opposite direction
• Step anywhere
• Step or small leap in the opposite direction
• Leap in the opposite direction
• Anything

Leap Weights: the probabilities of jumps (leaps) in the melody in both directions.
Scale Note Weights: the probabilities of each scale note to be used.

If you set all leap weights to the same amount, only scale note weights will be
used. Similarly if you set all scale note weights to the same amount, only the leap
weights will count.

The timeline

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Dragging the timeline vertically will zoom in/out, horizontal dragging scrolls the
timeline. Double-clicking will automatically zoom out the melody to the most
optimal view.

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Creating melodies
Melody generation

Clicking on the ‘Generate’ button ( ) will generate a new melody based on the
melody generation settings.

Right-clicking on the ‘Generate’ button ( ) will open the generation setting

dialog.

Under the ‘Global’ tab you’ll find the following basic settings:

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Melody Length: in bars and optionally in quarter notes
Melody Variety: an important setting: the number of motives to use. Motives are
denoted as capital letters from A to H (maximum 8 motives). Typically 1 to 3
motives are used.
Rhythm Variety: another important setting for the rhythmic variety: the number
of motives to use for rhythm.
Note Range: the allowed notes to use. Please note that some variations
(transposition, lead-in notes…) may create notes outside of this range.

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Under the ‘Rhythm’ tab you’ll find the following settings:

Rhythm: straight, triplet, swing or syncopation

Density: it is proportional to the number of melody notes used. 100% means the
maximum note count for all types of rhythms. For straight rhythm 100% means a
note on each 1/8 grid.
Method: the rhythm generation method. Possible values:

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 • Weighted Random: probabilities used for notes: downbeats > on-beats > off-
beats > 1/8 notes. The 'randomness' setting affects these probabilities.
• Subdivision: works by dividing time into halves
• Modern: rhythm used in deep house and other modern genres

Under the ‘Motive’ tab you’ll find the following settings:

The melody consists of steps and leaps. Step means a single scale step, a leap is
bigger than a scale step. The proportion of steps and leaps, note repetitions,
probabilities of leaps and scale notes, describe the melody shape.

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Start Note: the possible start notes for the motives (scale degrees)
Steps/Leaps: the proportion of steps and leaps. For each motive a random value
is used between the minimum and maximum values on slider.
Repetition: the probability of note repetition. Melodies often have repeated
notes. For each motive a random value is used between the minimum and
maximum values on slider.
Returning: the probability of repeating the note before the previous melody note,
like in C → D → C
After Leap: specify what should happen after a leap. Possible values:
• Step in the opposite direction
• Step anywhere
• Step or small leap in the opposite direction
• Leap in the opposite direction
• Anything

Leap Weights: the probabilities of jumps (leaps) in the melody in both directions.
Scale Note Weights: the probabilities of each scale note to be used.

If you set all leap weights to the same amount, only scale note weights will be
used. Similarly if you set all scale note weights to the same amount, only the leap
weights will count.

When the chords track is enabled, Chord Options is displayed instead of Start
Note:

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Chord Options: select the possible first note of the motive, as well as notes that
must be chord notes when generating a new motive

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Under the ‘Variations’ tab you’ll find the following settings:

For each variation a minimum and maximum probability is set in the sliders.
During melody generation for each melody section all variations use a random
probability between the minimum and maximum value. The variation is added
according to the selected value.

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Enabling the chords track

The chords track can be enabled by clicking on the small ‘chord’ button:

The chords can be set by clicking on the chord note or chord name. Chord boxes
are splitted/joined by using Alt-click (Option-click on macOS). It is possible to drag
the chord edges to make a chord shorter or longer.

Pressing ‘Generate’ ( ) will create motives based on the Chord Settings under
the Generation Options / Motive tab. This includes the possible first note, and
whether to place chord notes on downbeats only or downbeats and on-beats (first
and third beats in a bar), or all notes should be chord notes.

When a motive is repeated under a different chord, the program tries to set the
transposition to match the second chord, but sometimes this is not possible. The
reason is that motives contain scale notes, and a repeated motive copies the
original motive note by note. This means that the repeated motive cannot always
be adjusted for different chords.

For best results use different motives (letters) for each melody section, with one
or two rhythm patterns repeated. Making all notes to be chord notes may result a
boring motive.

There are no chord-relative notes in a motive, so changing a chord won’t update

the motive to match the new chord. The chord notes are displayed on the piano
roll, so it is easy to adjust the notes if needed.

There are melodic transformations that introduce non-chord notes. Vertical

inversion and random transposition is not used when new melody is generated
with enabled chords track.

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Melody mutation

Clicking on the ‘Mutate’ button ( ) will slightly change the melody based on the
mutation settings.

Right-clicking on the ‘Mutate’ button ( ) will open the mutation setting dialog:

Mutate Rhythm: You can slightly change the rhythm of all, some or just one
melody section.
Mutate Motive: You can slightly change the shape of all, some or just one melody
section.
Mutate Variations: You can slightly change the rhythm of all, some or just one
melody section. When replacing variations, the probabilities in the ‘generation
settings’ will be used.

Melody editing
Editing melody notes is not just possible but experimentation is encouraged.
When you move the mouse over a section, the original motive notes are displayed
without any variations (transposition and horizontal offset are still applied). Make
modifications, and preview the melody until you are satisfied with the result. Drag
the melody to the DAW when you finished it.

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MIDI Mutator
Overview
The MIDI Mutator tab is a collection of tools to modify any aspect of a MIDI
sequence: rhythm, timing, accents, chords, chord voicings and shape. For
example you can replace the rhythm but preserve the notes, or try other chord
voicings for the loaded track.

The MIDI Mutator features a Markov model which is able to create similar MIDI
sequences from a dropped MIDI file. It is available in the Shape menu.

Workflow

You drop a MIDI file (e.g. a bass line or chord pattern) on the workspace, then
select which aspect you want to modify (click on Rhythm, Timing, Accents,
Chords, or Shape). A sub-page opens with the available actions. Make the
changes by clicking on the appropriate button. Preview the modified notes, and if
you are satisfied with the results, you can save the notes, or drag the notes as
MIDI directly to your DAW.

You can edit any phrase in the MIDI Mutator by Shift-double-clicking on it. After
editing it is possible to apply the changes, optionally with chords, scale or tempo.
Not just one phrase, but multiple phrases can be edited at once (after editing a
single phrase will be written back to the composition).

User interface
There are three main pages in the user interface:
• MIDI Mutator: the main editing workspace
• Settings: miscellaneous and user interface settings, keyboard

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shortcuts.
• Support: update checking, version history and feedback

The user interface consists of the tool bar and transformation options at the top
and the workspace where you can directly edit the notes.

: Play back the currently edited notes. At the end of the playback the cursor
returns to the playback start position.

: Loop playback

C Major: the scale used for diatonic operations. While the chords are
automatically updated after each note editing, the scale can be changed
manually. After dropping the MIDI file, the scale is set according to the notes, plus
some other scale suggestions may be available.

120.00 BPM: playback tempo. By default this is the host tempo. Overriding
the tempo is possible, see “Use Host Tempo” in the settings.

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4/4: the signature to use. By default this is the host signature. Overriding the
signature is possible, see “Use Host Signature” in the settings.

16/4: the length of the phrase in signature denominator units. You can increase
of decrease the length.

: Drag the edited notes as MIDI. You can drag the edited notes directly to the
DAW

: Access saved sequences. A single click saves the current notes and options
with the current date and time. Right-click to display earlier states that can be
restored.

: Undo last change

: Redo

Piano roll options

The piano roll does automatic vertical zooming by default. You can scroll the
keyboard (vertical drag or mouse-wheel) and zoom the keyboard (Ctrl+vertical
drag or Ctrl+mouse-wheel). Double-click to return to automatic zooming.

Clicking on the ‘cogwheel’ icon will show more options:

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Most options are self-explanatory here. At the bottom there are two useful
settings for MIDI file import: you can crop the empty space, and limit the length of
the dropped MIDI file.

The editing toolbar

: snap setting in the editor

: grid setting in the editor

: quantize. Select the division and set the amount of quantization by

dragging the ‘Q’ vertically.

: lock and unlock notes. You can preserve ‘good’ notes by locking them.
Please note that some operations may slightly change the position of the locked
notes. Double click to lock/unlock all notes. Shift-click will lock/unlock the
unselected notes.

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 : select all notes beginning/ending at the same time, or having the same
pitch with a single click. Shift-click on a note to select all notes under the same
chord.

: invert horizontally or vertically. Ctrl-click does chromatic vertical

inversion. These are applied on unlocked selected notes, or all unlocked notes if
there is no selection.

: diatonic transposition for vertical dragging or using the mouse wheel. Use
Ctrl-drag or Ctrl-mouse wheel for chromatic transposition

: change ‘note on’ velocities. Ctrl-drag will set all velocities to the same value.
Double-click will set all velocities to 100 (of 127 being the maximum). This is
applied on unlocked selected notes, or all unlocked notes if there is no selection.

: change note lengths easily by 1/32’s. Ctrl-drag to set all note lengths to the
same value. Double-click will set all notes to maximum length, but overlapping is
avoided. This is applied on unlocked selected notes, or all unlocked notes if there
is no selection.

The timeline
Dragging the timeline vertically will zoom in/out, horizontal dragging scrolls the
timeline. Double-clicking will automatically zoom out the melody to the most
optimal view.

The chords track

The chords track is displayed above the timeline:

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The chords can be set by clicking on the chord note or chord name. Chord boxes
are split/joined by using Alt-click (Option-click on macOS). It is possible to drag the
chord edges to make a chord shorter or longer.

Please note: chords are automatically updated after each editing operation!
Chords depend only on the current notes.
No chords are shown for monophonic content (e.g. bass line or melody)

The workspace
Notes can be edited on the workspace. By default chord notes are green, scale
notes are blue, and other non-scale notes are red, but this can be set up in the
User Interface settings.

Some shortcuts:

Create note: Ctrl-click or double click on background

Split/join notes: Alt-click inside note
Toggle note selection: Ctrl-click inside note
Resize notes: drag right edge horizontally
Move/transpose notes: drag notes
Duplicate notes: Ctrl-drag selected notes
Delete notes: press Delete key or
select ‘Delete’ in the context menu (right click)
Cut/copy/paste: use the context menu (right click)

Working with MIDI files

The first step is dropping a MIDI file on the workspace. A single track can be
edited, so for multi-track files the first track is used that includes notes. Any
monophonic or polyphonic pattern can be used. Some options in the UI appear
only for monophonic or only for polyphonic notes.

You can choose what you want to change by highlighting one of the top left
buttons:

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Changing the rhythm
Make sure Rhythm is highlighted in the top left columns.
Various rhythm options are displayed. Some of them will completely replace the
original rhythm from the MIDI file, other operations just slightly modify it.

When changing the rhythm, locked notes will be preserved but their position may
change.
An ‘event’ is multiple notes beginning at the same position, e.g. when a chord is
voiced. When changing ‘events’, all notes are affected that begin at a specific
time.

• Algo #1: regenerate the rhythm using 'Probabilistic Rhythm'. Right click to
set ‘randomness’ from ‘expected’ to ‘random’.
• Algo #2: regenerate the rhythm using 'Subdivision' which works by dividing
time into halves. Right click to set the subdivision type: ‘Random weighted’,
‘Random’ or ‘Successive’:
◦ ‘Random weighted’ selects a position randomly and divides the interval.
Long undivided intervals have higher probability to be found.
◦ ‘Random’ selects a time interval randomly to divide. Short and long
intervals have equal chance to be divided.

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 ◦ ‘Successive’: after a subdivision, the new subdivision occurs at the left or
right side of the division place. When the smallest allowed interval (1/8) is
achieved, subdivision will continue with the longest interval.
• Algo #3: regenerate the rhythm using 'Generic Rhythm'. This rhythm has no
settings.
• Algo #4: regenerate the rhythm using 'Euclidean Rhythm'. This rhythm has
no randomness or any settings.
• Algo #5: regenerate the rhythm using 'Polyrhythm'. This rhythm has no
randomness.
• Repetition: specify if you want the first few bars repeated.
• Event length: this tells the algorithm how to map original notes to the new
rhythm. Because rhythm changes, the original notes may have a shorter or
longer space in the new rhythm.

• Modern: rhythm used in deep house and other modern genres. Select the
note lengths to be used in the pattern.

• Notes&rests: also useful in modern genres, this rhythm preserves note and
rest lengths, and will use them without changing them.

• Use rhythm from MIDI: it is possible to use the rhythm from another MIDI
file. Drop the MIDI file on ‘Drop MIDI’. It is possible to skip the first rhythm
events.

• Displacement: this will offset the rhythm for a single note or multiple notes,
to left or right, by the given amount. Use this to introduce minor changes in
the rhythm.

• Randomize positions: offset note or event position and/or lengths randomly.

• Slice: slice the rhythm based on the division, and rearrange slices randomly

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Changing the timing
Make sure Timing is highlighted in the top left columns.
Depending on the signature, each beat can be slightly shifted earlier or later in
1/1024th units. This changes the feel of a rhythm pattern. Timing presets can be
saved and loaded by clicking on the ‘heart’ button in the right bottom corner:

Changing the accents

Make sure Accents is highlighted in the top left columns.
Various accent options are displayed. Accent means ‘note on’ velocity.

Set accents: replace accents. Place strong accents at the given intervals and
weak accents to all other notes. 100% means ‘note on’ velocity 127.

Randomize accents: change accents randomly to a given amount.

Changing the chords

Make sure Chords is highlighted in the top left columns.
Various chord options are displayed, but only when the edited notes are
polyphonic.

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 • Extend voicing: add a voicing note below the lowest note (unless the lowest
note is locked)
• Widen voicing: select the voicing with the biggest distance between pitches
based on 'density' and 'note range' (only the unlocked notes)
• Randomize voicing: create random chord voicing based on 'density' and
'note range' (only the unlocked notes)
• Density: this value determines the number of voicing notes to use
• Note range: the distance between the lowest and highest allowed chord note

Clicking on the three dots will offer more chord options:

• Randomize progression: use a random chord progression based on the

'chords count'
• Form new chords: change some chord notes to form another chord. This is
not always possible, only when chords are repeated.
• Make monophonic: remove parallel notes to make a monophonic phrase

Changing the shape/notes

Make sure Shape is highlighted in the top left columns.
Various shape options are displayed. Some of them will be available for
monophonic notes only, and hidden for polyphonic patterns.

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You can find the most interesting feature, the Markov generator here:

The dropped MIDI file is analyzed, and based on the analysis, new variations can
be created that are similar in style to the original MIDI file. This works like AI but
here you have full control over the note selection (set the weights depending on
what is important for you), and it is not necessary to use thousands of MIDI files
for a lengthy training.

If Expectedness is 100%, always the note with the highest weight is selected as
the ‘next’ note (no randomness). For 90%, the ‘next’ note is randomly selected
from the 2 best notes, for 80% the ‘next’ note is randomly selected from the 3
best notes, etc.

Set weights for matching rhythm, melody or using the same scale note as in the
original MIDI file.

You’ll find other options, of which Structure is very useful: it lets you set up
repeating sections. The letters A, B, C… mean different sections that can be
repeated. The numbers after the letter denote the length, e.g. A:6/4 means 6
quarter notes. It is possible to enter a custom formula too.

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The “Scale option” is used only when the file is dropped and analyzed, and
cannot be changed later if a file is already loaded in the MIDI Mutator. So you
need to set that before using a new MIDI file. It is possible to use a chromatic
scale but that is not recommended as the Markov generator works best with
diatonic scales. All other options can be changed any time.

Other ‘Shape’ options:

• Add/remove notes: add a 3rd, 5th or 7th note below the bottom note or above
the top chord note.
• X Lowest: delete the bottom/lowest chord notes
• X Highest: delete the top/highest chord notes

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 • Randomize pitches: add a random scale steps (or semitones) to a few notes.
Set up the possible notes for a click on the three dots button.
• Contour: Contour transformation, scale the note pitches. This works on
monophonic phrases only
• Flatten contour: Makes the notes shape smoother. Sometimes it is not
possible to further flatten.

• Add connecting notes: Insert 'connecting' notes between melody/bass notes,

to make a smoother transition from one note to the other. You can set
connection direction too.

• Remove short notes: Remove notes shorter than the threshold

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Chord Rules Editor
The chord rules are a collection of possible ‘next’ chords, with probabilities.
RapidComposer can generate chord progressions based on these rules. It can
even insert borrowed chords in the progression (in the Chord Selector) that are
not part of these rules, to make the progression more interesting.

The possible ‘first’ and ‘last’ chords are listed for the chord progression, as well as
‘next’ chords for all the possible chords. There are small sliders under the ‘next’
chords to assign a probability. The sliders are color coded from red (not probable)
to green (probable).

Because the rules work with any scales, the roman numeral notation are used
here. If you right-click on a chord, you can delete, edit or duplicate the chord.

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It is important to list all possible ‘next’ chord in the left column. When there is an
error in the rules, chords are highlighted with red.

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MIDI Import
Importing MIDI files require more attention than in other software, because it is
slightly more complex. Importing a MIDI file involves:

• Selecting the MIDI file

• Analyzing the MIDI file for scale to set composition scale
• Analyzing the MIDI file for chords to set up the master track
• Converting tracks to chord or scale-relative form
• Breaking up long tracks to phrases
• Setting up composition structure
• Setting track instruments

You can drag and drop MIDI files directly on the composition which inserts the
MIDI file as a phrase. It is useful if the MIDI file is simple (single-track). Holding
down Ctrl during dragging will convert the MIDI notes to chord-relative notes. It is
also possible to drop MIDI on the phrase browser or on the rhythms browser to
save it as a phrase/rhythm. The following applies to importing multi-track MIDI
files.

The MIDI Import page guides you step by step:

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1. Selecting the file to import
Type the filename, or click on the ‘folder’ button to select a file. The easiest is
dropping a MIDI file on the RapidComposer window.

Once you selected a file, the track list is filled:

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2. Select tracks to import
Check/uncheck the first column (IMPORT)

2.1. Select tracks that contribute to the harmony (for chord

detection)
Check/uncheck the second column (ANALYZE). Drum tracks are disabled by
default, but melody tracks are usually not needed for chord detection. Uncheck all
tracks that make the chords unnecessarily complex. Check the ‘Chords Preview’,
where the first few chords are displayed.

2.2. Select which tracks have to be converted to chord-relative or

scale-relative form

Set the third column to Chord+, Scale+ or None. In most cases all tracks should
be chord-relative (Chord+).

3. Set scale detection options

Detected scales are offered in the ‘Scale:’ menu. Select the one to use.

4. Set chord detection options and check chords

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Check the chords preview, and if the chords are too complex, uncheck tracks to
exclude from analysis.

5. Set other options

5.1. Set structure options, and if you need phrase detection
RapidComposer can break up long tracks to shorter phrases, if you enable “Auto
Detect Phrases”:

5.2. Set the instrument to be used for the imported tracks

There are several options here:

You can use a GM soundfont. If you prefer using VST or VST3 plug-ins, you need to
set up the tracks manually. Please remember: “General MIDI” instruments do not
generate audio; they must be used when you send MIDI events to a DAW or an
external software or hardware synth.

6. Press the “Import” button!

Or the “Import Into Current Composition” button:

Check the imported composition. You can still go back to the MIDI Import page,
change settings and re-import the file if you find something is not optimal.

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Chord voicings
You can define and use chord voicings in RapidComposer. Voicing is “simultaneous
vertical placement of notes in relation to each other”. More than 20 predefined chord
voicing files are included as .rcVOIC files in the RapidComposerV5/DB folder.
There are two types of voicing in RapidComposer: voicing for a concrete chord, or
universal voicing that works with any chords.

Voicing editor on the master track

The visual voicing editor opens when you click on the small V button in the Master
Track, which allows you to conveniently set chord notes:

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Voicing for a master track chord
It is possible to assign a voicing to master track chords in the Quick Suggestions
pop-up. Clicking on a chord will open Quick Suggestions, which offers a voicing
editor:

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You can also edit voicing for a given chord by clicking on the voicing:

A voicing editor is added also in the Chord Selector, together with Chord Builder:

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Universal voicing
Universal voicings work with any chords, so during editing you work with 1st, 3rd,
5th, 7th, etc chord notes, rather than with concrete chord notes:

Save the voicing using the Save… button. Universal voicing can be assigned to
tracks or phrases (in the Track Inspector and Phrase Inspector), or even to a chord
on the master track by selecting a preset from the voicing menu. By default
phrases use the track voicing, tracks use the master track voicing. 'Acoustic
Guitar' is a special voicing where the chord notes are looked up from the guitar
chord database.

You can not only use chord notes, but also add non-existent chord notes, e.g. a
7th note to a major chord. This means a phrase can use the 7th note, even if the
master track chord is a simple major or minor chord. This means amazing
flexibility. Use the “Add Extra Note” buttons.

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