Instead of playing notes by hand, let the Compose operators generate them. This recipe builds a looping chord progression in a key and tempo you choose, then plays it through an instrument and a reverb — a self-running musical patch.

What You Are Building

A looping progression in D minor at 110 BPM, voiced through a glassy resonator with a touch of reverb.

Timeline Source ┐
                ├─> Progression -> Halo -> Reverb -> Device Out
Scale Source ───┘

Operators To Place

• Timeline Source — the clock. Sets tempo, meter, and the loop region everything follows.
• Scale Source — the key and scale. Defines which notes the progression is allowed to use.
• Progression — generates a chord progression and emits it as a note-voice stream.
• Halo — an instrument that renders the chord voices into audio.
• Reverb — adds space around the sound.
• Device Out — sends audio to your output device.

Wire It Up

1. Place Timeline Source. Set Bpm to 110, leave it Playing, and set a loop region (the example loops 32 beats).
2. Place Scale Source. Set Root to D, Scale to minor, Octave to 3.
3. Place Progression. Connect Timeline Source into its timeline input and Scale Source into its scale input.
4. Connect Progression’s voices output into Halo’s voices input.
5. Place Reverb and connect Halo into its in input.
6. Place Device Out and connect Reverb into it.

Shape The Result

• On Progression, Tension, Motion, and Borrow change how adventurous the chords are; Voicing and Voices set how the chord is spread; Seed picks a specific generated sequence.
• On Halo, the glass mode gives the airy bowed tone used here; try pluck or keys for a more defined attack.
• On Reverb, keep Drywet low (around 0.2) so the chords stay present.

Variations

• Swap Halo for Synth, Drift, Sampler, or Wavetable Synth — all accept the same note-voice stream.
• Add Bassline alongside the progression: feed it the same Scale Source, plus Progression’s chord_state output, and play it through Deep Beast for a low end that follows the chords.
• For rhythm, see Groove and Drums and run both lanes into a mixer before the reverb.

Where This Leads

A full arrangement is the same idea, widened: one Timeline Source and Scale Source feed several Compose lanes — progression, bassline, a melodic Pattern, accompaniment with Comp, and a Groove — each driving its own instrument. The instruments meet at a Mix4 Audio, then a shared Reverb, then Device Out. Build one lane at a time and confirm each is playing before adding the next.