Purpose

Motif writes a melodic line. It generates a short theme by contour, then varies it phrase after phrase with transposition, inversion, retrograde, sequencing, and thinning, while aiming at chord tones on strong beats. The result is a singable lead that grows over time instead of repeating, making it the top line of a generative band.

Use

Wire a timeline clock into Input 0 and a scale into Input 1, then optionally add a chord so the melody lands on chord tones. Choose a Contour and a Develop mode, set the Rate, and route the voices output to a lead instrument such as Synth. The melodic contour also works as a control source for gesture-driven visuals.

Inputs and outputs

• Input 0: timeline timeline clock. Required.
• Input 1: scale scale context. Optional but recommended for staying in key.
• Input 2: chord_state current chord. Optional, used to target chord tones.
• Output 0: voices emits the melodic line as note voices.

Controls

• Contour: shape of the seed phrase. arch, rise, fall, or wander.
• Celllen: length of the motif cell in notes.
• Develop: how the motif evolves. none, transpose, invert, retrograde, sequence, thin, or auto.
• Rate: note speed from whole to sixteenth.
• Rootnote and Octave: starting pitch and register.
• Density: how many notes of the cell actually play.
• Chordlock: how strongly notes pull toward chord tones on strong beats.
• Variation: how much the motif changes between phrases.
• Gatelen, Velocity, Accent: note length, level, and emphasis.
• Seed: makes the whole generated line reproducible.

Notes

• auto lets Motif choose its own development moves for hands-off variation.
• Raise Chordlock when you want the melody to clearly outline the harmony.
• A fixed Seed regenerates the exact same line, which is useful for repeatable sets.

Ports

Inputs

• timeline row
  timeline_state_f32_v1
• scale row
  scale_v1
• chord_state row
  chord_state_v1

Outputs

• voices row
  note_voices_f32_v1

Parameters

Contour (Contour) Menu op('motif').par.Contour

Default:

arch

Options:

arch, rise, fall, wander

Celllen (Celllen) Int op('motif').par.Celllen

Default:

4

Range:

2 to 8

Density (Density) Float op('motif').par.Density

Default:

0.7

Range:

0 to 1

Develop (Develop) Menu op('motif').par.Develop

Default:

auto

Options:

none, transpose, invert, retrograde, sequence, thin, auto

Rate (Rate) Menu op('motif').par.Rate

Default:

eighth

Options:

whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth

Rootnote (Rootnote) Float op('motif').par.Rootnote

Default:

67

Range:

0 to 127

Octave (Octave) Int op('motif').par.Octave

Default:

0

Range:

-2 to 3

Chordlock (Chordlock) Float op('motif').par.Chordlock

Default:

0.7

Range:

0 to 1

Variation (Variation) Float op('motif').par.Variation

Default:

0.5

Range:

0 to 1

Gatelen (Gatelen) Float op('motif').par.Gatelen

Default:

0.8

Range:

0.05 to 1

Velocity (Velocity) Float op('motif').par.Velocity

Default:

0.8

Range:

0 to 1

Accent (Accent) Float op('motif').par.Accent

Default:

0.2

Range:

0 to 1

Seed (Seed) Int op('motif').par.Seed

Default:

1

Range:

0 to 100000

Avoidamt (Avoidamt) Float op('motif').par.Avoidamt

Default:

0

Range:

0 to 1