Electropolis: How to Create a Customizable Arpeggiator

posted in: Features

Here at OurStage, we recognize the time and patience it takes to humanize an otherwise blocky MIDI protocol. If done right, DJs, producers and digital masterminds can synthesize incredible soundscapes of textures and colors otherwise impossible. Due to their techy nature, it’s been a rough ride for “society” to determine whether these electronic artists are actually musicians or musical engineers. Whatever you choose to call them, they’re making music that people of all tastes seem to dig. Therefore, Electropolis is dedicated to inspiring your musical evolution by providing original editorials about the latest buzz within the e-music world. See ya in the studio!

Arpeggiators…if you’ve never seen or heard of one, it’s simply a device that plays a sequence of ascending or descending notes, at a particular speed, within their chordal structure. However, many artists throughout the electronic music culture debate their use kinda like a game of tug-o-war. On one side of the rope, many argue that using randomizers and arpeggiators replaces the compositional challenge of making music. In contrast, the other end argues that these devices simply provide textures as the DJ works on other aspects of musical dynamic. Regardless of what side you’re on, arpeggiators and randomizers are commonly used in popular trance and techno music. For example, Darude’s Sandstorm is probably the pinnacle of the techno genre.

For the most part, “Sandstorm’s” melody uses an arpeggiator set to one octave with a sixteenth note sync, but never mind this jargon. If you aren’t at a large sporting event, it’s safe to admit that the melody line is somewhat monotonous”a common reason why many digital artists prefer not to use this and/or similar devices. Fortunately, modern trance and techno musicians like Delerium spend extra time avoiding the common flaws associated with these devices”using them to merely enhance the psychedelic vibe of the performance. As a musician, this is a time consuming and difficult thing to do, especially if you’re dealing with analog hardware. However, Delerium and similar musicians are likely to combine triple filter gates, panning techniques, filter envelopes and much more with these devices to keep the audience groovin’ with interest. Yet, if you don’t have access to these tools, here’s a suggestion…

Despite the catchiness of any MIDI pattern, it’ll eventually become dull after the first eight bars. Usually this forces you, the artist, to manually re-arrange its sequence for playback throughout an entire song. One solution to avoid this very time-consuming process is to use an arpeggiator or a randomizer within your digital audio workstation (DAW). Unfortunately, it’s a buzz-kill when a stock DAW device can only provide basic controls for fine-tuning. Even more of a buzz-kill is having to plug-in a new device for every freshly-altered loop to playback, especially when the new sequences don’t fit the previous ones.

If you’re experiencing these or similar issues, U&I Software has a program called XX 5 for Macintosh. According to their fancy definition, it’s an “algorithmic composition tool and MIDI Sequencer with MIDI-to-MetaSynth Export. For us common folk, it’s an extremely intuitive and customizable arpeggiator, three-step sequencer and randomizer all-in-one. What’s cool about it though, is that it can generate complex variations of harmonization with dynamic development that you can customize.

Composing a custom arpeggiation in XX 5 is as easy as importing, playing or drawing-in a MIDI pattern. As seen in this video tutorial, just use the Multi-transform tool to create an extensive several-bar pattern of your own. You’ll find the end-product to be less of a “random sequence” and more of a thoughtful arrangement.

From an analytical standpoint, you can ultimately get the XX 5 to do something like… “Repeat thirty-two times, transposing up three steps each time, while transposing down two steps every fourth time. In addition, reverse the pitch on the even measures and inverse the pitch on odd ones.”

In other words, whatever your heart’s desire, the XX 5 can probably do. The benefit of this software is having more control over your sequences, making them more artistic than simply combining a preset device to a synth. Honestly, this thing is great for drum tracks, ambient textures or just about anything. Best of all, you can export all your creations into MIDI files that can be imported into your DAW.

Click here for more audio samples.