Stompp Composer

New from the mind of Tom Pritchard, aka Stompp, comes Stompp Composer! An awesome refill for Reason/record that helps users come up with unique and original melodies based on different scales, modes, and ragas. What a great idea! Is it just me or can this guy do no wrong? Seriously I think he might sh*t symphonies. Check it:

Hello everyone! I have been quiet for some time, but having finished my degree I'm now getting back into making free patches. This is the first in what I hope to be a whole load of new freebies. This time around it's more of a tool than a usual sound patch, so please read the following carefully, absorb inwardly and enjoy.

Recently I've been finding it hard to come up with musical ideas. Inspired by my Kaosillator, I thought I'd program something to get the ideas flowing. It worked quite well, figured I'd share it!

The Kaosillator itself comes with a built in series of modes, which can be transposed up or down to your heart's content. The idea is that by selecting a different mode and playing about, you won't be able to hit a wrong note on the Kaoss Pad and musical ideas will leap out at you as you play - which they do!

What I have done is to take most of these modes and sequence each into a Matrix Pattern Sequencer Pattern inside a Combinator.

Here's how it's supposed to work.

There are 25 combinators in this ReFill. Each one is programmed to play a distinct mode. Here are all the modes with their notes when in the default pitch (starting from C), as according to the Program Category List that comes with the Kaossilator.

Ionian - C D E F G A B C
Dorian - C D Eb F G A Bb C
Phrygian - C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C
Lydian - C D E F# G A B C
Mixolydian - C D E F G A Bb C
Aeolian - C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
Locrian - C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Major Blues - C Eb E G A Bb C
Minor Blues - C Eb F Gb G Bb C
Diminish - C D Eb F F# G# A B C
Combination Diminish - C Db Eb E F# G A Bb C
Major Pentatonic - C D E G A C
Minor Pentatonic - C Eb F G Bb C
Raga Bhairav - C Db E F G Ab B C
Raga Gamanasrama - C Db E F# G A B C
Raga Todi - C Db Eb F# G Ab B C
Spanish Scale - C Db E F G Ab Bb C
Gypsy Scale - C D Eb F# G Ab B C
Arabian Scale - C D E F Gb Ab Bb C
Egyptian Scale - C D F G Bb C
Hawaiian Scale - C D Eb G A C
Bali Island Pelog - C Db Eb G Ab C
Japanese Miyakobushi - C Db F G Ab C
Ryukyu Scale - C E F G B C
Wholetone - C D E Gb Ab Bb C

The first pattern of each combinator has one of these modes programmed as an ascending scale. The Matrix is hooked up to the Combinator's CV and Gate input, so that when you run the pattern, whatever is inside your Combinator will be played by the Matrix.

Here's the fun part!

Right click on the Matrix pattern and select Alter Pattern. This will randomise the notes within the current mode. Simply drag in the gate triggers and lengths as you desire at the bottom, and voila! An instant, musically pleasing pattern. Want more variations? Just copy the pattern to another pattern slot, alter the notes again, and tada! Instant variation. Rotary 1 is set to cycle through all available pattern slots, so copy and paste all the patterns you like and switch between them using Rotary 1!

This technique allows you to very quickly create musically pleasing sequences that will work in harmony together. To transpose your mode, simply right click the pattern and select shift pattern up or shift pattern down until you reach the scale you are looking for.

I have included a fairly simple little synth in the patches to demonstrate the potential for these modes - if you like this, please do feel free to use it. To use these patches with other sounds, simply delete my synth and load the relevant devices into the Combinator (don't forget to hook them up to the Line Mixer).

Much love everybody, hope these are useful! I'll be back soon with a proper soundbank.

Download Stompp Composer on the PUF!