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Melody Generator*

A MIDI melody generator you can play with your synths or connect to your computer. Its one job: to keep handing you catchy melodies that match your taste — and let you shape them live.

Diagram of the Melody Generator control panel: an OLED display, eight knobs (density, steps, energy, legato, genre, scale, tension, range), two faders (evolution, silence), four switches, five buttons, a rotary encoder for key selection, and MIDI DIN and USB connectors.
Control-surface layout · working prototype

01  How it works

Not random. Not a black box.

Under the hood is a music-theory rule engine — not dice, and not an AI guessing at notes. It first sketches a musical shape: where the line peaks, where it resolves. Then it chooses each note with weighted probabilities drawn from the scale, interval tendencies, voice-leading and the feel of the genre. You steer that engine in real time from the panel.

01

Frame

Pick key, scale, genre and length. That sets the musical rules the melody has to play by.

02

Generate

One press gives you a complete, playable phrase — shaped with a peak and a cadence, not a random walk.

03

Shape

Turn knobs to change density, dynamics, note length, tension and range as it plays. The phrase you like stays put.

04

Perform

Add variations, transpose, morph the pattern over time, freeze and drop changes on the beat. Built to be played.

02  The panel

Every control, and what it does

Eight knobs, two faders, four switches, five buttons and an encoder — each mapped to one musical idea. Here is the honest map.

Set the frame

Generate
ENCKeyRoot note of the melody. Turns move by fifths (C → G → D…); a low incoming MIDI note can set it too.
K6ScaleNine scales: Major, Minor, Dorian, Mixolydian, Harmonic Minor, Phrygian Dominant, Blues, Japanese, Arabic.
K5GenreNeutral, Techno, Metal, Jazz, Pop — biases note choice, density and rhythmic feel.
K2StepsPattern length: 2 / 4 / 8 / 16 / 32. Hold Shift for continuous lengths and polyrhythms.
B4GenerateWrites a new phrase. While the sequencer runs, it swaps in cleanly on the next boundary.

Shape it live

No re-roll
K1DensityHow many steps play versus rest.
K3EnergyDynamics — velocity and accents across the phrase.
K4LegatoNote length; ties notes into longer, connected lines.
K7TensionHarmonic tension and how far the line is allowed to reach.
K8RangePitch span — how wide the melody moves, low to high.
F2SilenceThins the phrase out, opening space with rests.

Move over time

Evolve
F1EvolutionHow much the pattern mutates as it loops — from a hint of drift to constant change.
SW1Evo modeWhat evolves: gates (rhythm), notes (pitch), or both.

Transform

Vary
SW2AddHome / Variation / Answer — instant, repeatable variations of the current phrase.
SW3TransposeShift the whole line down an octave, off, or up an octave.
SW4AcidTB-303 mode: accents, slides and portamento. Energy sets accents, Legato sets slides, Range sets how many notes leave the root.

Play

Perform
B1ReshapeRotate the rhythm profile to re-accent the same notes.
B2PanicJump back to your home pattern. Also opens the 8-slot pattern wheel.
B3ShiftModifier: recall the previous pattern or reshape, nudge length, offset the pattern in time.
B5ClutchFreeze what's playing, line up your next move, then release to drop it in.

03  Fits your rig

Plays with everything else

A standalone box, not a plugin — but built to sit in the middle of your setup.

  • Runs on its own clockInternal tempo from 40 to 240 BPM, or lock tight to incoming MIDI clock over USB or DIN.
  • Two ways outSends notes, velocity and CC over 5-pin MIDI DIN and USB — drive hardware synths or your DAW.
  • Recall on the fly128 pattern slots in flash. Switch them by hand, or with MIDI Program Change from your DAW.
  • Made to performA dedicated 2 kHz timing core fires notes in microseconds, independent of the screen and menus.

04  Under the hood

Hardware & spec

Engine
Rule-based generative melody engine — music-theory rules + weighted randomness
Platform
Electro-Smith Daisy Seed · STM32H7, 480 MHz
Display
2.42″ monochrome OLED · 128 × 64 · SSD1309
Controls
8 knobs · 2 faders · 5 buttons · 4 switches · 1 rotary encoder (with push)
MIDI
5-pin DIN in + out · USB MIDI
Clock
Internal 40–240 BPM, or external MIDI clock (USB / DIN)
Music
9 scales · 5 genres · up to 32 steps
Storage
128 pattern slots · MIDI Program Change recall
Timing
Dedicated 2 kHz sequencer core · microsecond note timing
Status
In active development — pre-release
*

It doesn't have a name yet

Melody Generator* is a working title. The project is still in development — but our first tests already sound better than we hoped, and right now we're refining how it feels to play and getting it ready to ship.

We haven't settled on a name. If you've got a good one, we genuinely want to hear it — the signup above is where you'll be able to reach us once it opens.