Scribbletune (Requires Node 4+)

Use simple JavaScript Strings and Arrays to generate rhythms and musical patterns. Directly use the names of scales and chords and mash them up using JavaScript libraries like underscore or lodash in ways you hadn't imagined before! Then, export them as MIDI files and import these in Ableton Live, Reason, Fruity Loops, Cubase, Garage Band or whichever music creation software you like!

Install

npm install scribbletune

Let's C how this works

You can get started by requiring the scribbletune module and create a clip that contains just the middle C note. A clip is like a 16 beat bar.

const scribble = require('scribbletune');
let clip = scribble.clip({
    notes: ['c4']
});
scribble.midi(clip);

Save this file as c.js and run it from the terminal with node c.js. This will create a file called music.mid at the same location as the c.js file. If you import the MIDI file into your favorite MIDI music editing software (Garage Band / Cubase / Ableton Live / Reason etc), you ll hear the beautiful middle C played across a single bar.

Create a simple melody

You can do more than render a single note! You can require the scribbletune module and use it to generate scales(modes), chords and patterns to create melodies. For example, to create a MIDI file comprising just the C Major scale (Ionian mode), you could create a new file and add some code like this:

const scribble = require('scribbletune');

let clip = scribble.clip({
    notes: scribble.scale('c', 'major', 3), // this works too ['c3', 'd3', 'e3', 'f3', 'g3', 'a3', 'b3']
	pattern: 'x-'.repeat(8)
});

scribble.midi(clip, 'cscale.mid');

Save this as cscale.js and run it from the terminal node cscale.js. This will create a MIDI file called cscale.mid in the same location as the above file.

C Major Scale generated with Scribbletune

To get a list of all the modes and scales that Scribbletune can generate, you can do this,

const scribble = require('scribbletune');
console.log(scribble.scales);

Here is a list of modes and scales that Scribbletune recognizes.

Chords

You can add chords to the notes array while creating a clip to render chords. Either provide the notes (with octave) of the chords you want separated by commas or use Scribbletune's chord generator.

const scribble = require('scribbletune');
let chords = scribble.clip({
	notes: ['F#min', 'C#min', 'Dmaj', 'Bmin', 'Emaj', 'Amaj', 'Dmaj', 'C#min', 'Amaj'],
	pattern: 'x_x_x_--'.repeat(8),
	sizzle: true
});  

scribble.midi(chords, 'chords.mid');

I imported that into Garage Band and applied Synthesize -> EDM Chord ->Sunrise Chords to it and here is how it sounds:

Chords generated with Scribbletune

To get a list of all the chords that Scribbletune can generate, you can do this,

const scribble = require('scribbletune');
console.log(scribble.listChords());	// [ 'maj', 'min', 'sus2', 'sus4', 'maj7', 'min7', 'dom7', 'dim', 'dim7', 'aug', 'sixth']

Patterns

You may wonder what are those weird looking, but enticing x, - and _. Well, those are patterns! x means note on, - (hyphen) means note off and _ (underscore) means sustain. Patterns can be used to tell Scribble tune which beat in a 16 beat pattern would you like to be on or off or sustained. Patterns can also be used to create accent maps (which allow some notes to be played louder than others).

Create a simple beat

With the new String.repeat function, you can quickly generate interesting patterns for note on/off as well as accent maps. For instance,

let pattern = 'x---'.repeat(4);

That will return,

x---x---x---x---

What can you use that pattern for? Well, it looks like a standard 4 by 4 kick drum pattern to me! What about this:

let pattern = '--x-'.repeat(4);

That will return,

--x---x---x---x-

Hmmm, that can be a very simple bass line for a simple dance music loop. Let's feed that into Scribbletune's clip function and try something different while generating the notes, shall we?

An excessively simple Kick Drum and Bass loop

const scribble = require('scribbletune');
let kick, bass;

// 4 by 4 kick
kick = scribble.clip({
	notes: ['c2'],
	pattern: 'x---'.repeat(4)
});
scribble.midi(kick, 'kick.mid');

// A simple bass line
bass = scribble.clip({
	notes: scribble.scale('a', 'minor', 2).slice(0, 3),
	pattern: '--x-'.repeat(4),
	shuffle: true
});
scribble.midi(bass, 'bass.mid');

Up there, we first created a 4 by 4 kick drum loop and then decided to use the first 3 notes of a A minor scale on the second octave to create a simple bass line. We created a simple pattern using JavaScript's String.repeat and then added the shuffle parameter to shuffle those 3 notes. Finally, we exported it as a MIDI file called bass.mid

Hi-Hats

Let s just take this one teeny weeny step further and create a simple hi-hat loop as well,

const scribble = require('scribbletune');

let hats = scribble.clip({
	notes: ['c4'],
	pattern: 'x'.repeat(16),
	accentMap: 'x---x---x-x---x-'
});

scribble.midi(hats, 'hats.mid');

Here we created a 16 beat bar with all its 16 notes set to x (which means Note On) and added a sizzle to it. This applies a Math.Sin wave to the accents on that clip, giving it a bouncier feel.

Import the 3 MIDI files thus generated into your favorite music creation software and add them to 3 different tracks. I used Garage Band and added some delay on the bass and here's what I got:

Simple kick drum with bass and some hats generated by Scribbletune

Middle C

MIDI specifications define middle C as the number 60. It does not state if this is on the third or the fourth octave. It just says, if you want a middle C, it will numerically be 60 from MIDI’s point of view.

Scribbletune equates C4 as the middle C. This is because the primary (and only) dependency of Scribbletune, jsdmidgen, sets 4 as middle C. But sometimes music creation software will associate middle C with another octave. To set the octave for middle C use

scribble.setMiddleC(octave)

This automatically transposes every note to the new key determined by the new middle C. Ableton Live, Propellerhead Reason, Steinberg Cubase, Logic Audio & Garage Band use C3 as their middle C. MIDI clips created via Scribbletune will end up creating the notes as per C4 as the middle C. And on importing, the software will display them as if they were an octave lower. Since the software lowers an octave for what you create with Scribbletune, you can bump up the middle C to an octave higher than the default to fix this.

const scribble = require("scribbletune");

scribble.setMiddleC(5); // Ask Scribbletune to export clips on an octave higher than the default

let clip = scribble.clip({
	notes: ['c4', 'd4', 'e4', 'f4'],
	pattern: 'x'.repeat(8)
});

scribble.midi(clip, "octave.midi");

Now the imported clip will show the notes as they were added.

Tranposing notes

Sometimes a clip might sound better if it was just a couple octaves higher or lower, but how could we transpose it that way? Enter scribble.transposeNote This function will take in any note (or array of notes) and an integer representing the octave you wish to transpose to, and will return a note (or array of notes) correctly transposed. Let's see it in action!

const scribble = require("scribbletune");
let notes = ['c4','c4','e4','e4','g3','c5','c5','c5','e5','g3'];
let clip = scribble.clip({
	notes: notes,
	pattern: 'x_xx_xx_x_x_x_xx'.repeat(4)
});

scribble.midi(clip, 'transpose.midi');

Let's run it and hear the results! Hmmmm, this sounds too high to me... How about we transpose it one octave down. It starts off in the 4th octave, so let's start it in the 3rd octave.

const scribble = require('scribbletune');
let notes =  ['c4','c4','e4','e4','g3','c5','c5','c5','e5','g3'];
let clip = scribble.clip({
	notes: scribble.transposeNote(notes, 3),
	pattern: 'x_xx_xx_x_x_x_xx'.repeat(4)
});

scribble.midi(clip, 'transpose.midi');

Let's run it again and hear the results! Much better! This works with any number of notes, and any wacky combination of octave. Have fun with it!

There's a lot more to this humble beginning. But I ll let you explore it for yourself. As you can see, now you can use any JavaScript library (or not) to compute melodies using Scribbletune! Ok then, get on with it :)

npm install scribbletune