ChordGun (tool for inserting chords and scale notes)

[dreaminglife]

Hi Pandabot - The Chordgun screenset along with the custom action Ive made certainly make using Chordgun more accessable and faster with one small problem.

Chordgun does remember the docking state and position for a given project though

Made an action to open a screenset with Chordgun and it does remember the window position but not the docking state. Using Windows Pro 7 on a HP 6200.



My Custom action
- Opens a chordgun screenset
- Opens a track template with instrument + empty midi item
- Opens the empty midi item in the built in midi editor
- Launches Chordgun.

After running the action chordgun is floating, and must be docked manually, but it does remember where to dock.

If other users also experience this hiccup

"an action to dock the chordgun window"

would complete the custom action.

I did briefly try to make the GUI smaller, even though am ignorant about scripting. The result was a sad crumpled looking chordgun.
Might try again one day.

[pandabot]

Ah okay if you dock it and then save it overwriting your default templates then I think it should work, the docking state is saved as part of the project data. Looks like you need to dock and save it in track template 34

[dreaminglife]

It's still not docking in both the saved project and the custom action even after saving both the project and track template several times.

Tried it in a new portable installation [With just old track templates and reapack scripts installed] with same problem.

Its possible my system is missing a C++ update or similar.

Not to worry Its just an extra right click to dock it and its all there so I'm not complaining. This is such a big addition to Reaper.

[pandabot]

Huh that's weird are you using the latest version? Docking state persistence got added in version 1.6 on October 25 2020, if your version is older than that then it would behave like this

[dreaminglife]

I'm using V1.7 and update Reapack regularly.

Have you checked chordgun with a portable Reaper install?

I have a lot of menus that are permanently docked with my screensets so docking can cause me a lot of problems.

Scripts in particular are a problem docking and staying docked no matter what you do. So I really don't bother anymore. Its just a major time waster.

We also need more window_sets to cope with all the new dockable scripts.

We need an action/script to dock or undock a window thats not an FX or part of reaper so we can add it to any window from a script.

Even in a fresh portable Reaper installation without all my menu's had the same problem.

[pandabot]

Ah that's bizarre I don't know what to tell you, it works on my machine and for the guy who requested it and tested it for me. You can go in and change line 107 from "defaultWindowShouldBeDocked = tostring(false)" to "defaultWindowShouldBeDocked = tostring(true)" on your version and that should work but you really shouldn't have to do that

[dreaminglife]

Hi Pandabot

Didn't work either but wondered if this was correct?

line106 defaultDockState = 0x0201

Unless others have the same problem then it will probably be my Windows install. If you want me to post a copy of the script I'm using just say. I'm OK to use with that small problem which as I said is most likely my Windows installation.

Thanks for the help.

[pandabot]

So that means in your existing projects it's saved to false but somehow is not able to be saved again to true, I think your machine is haunted. Okay try this on line 373 change:

function windowShouldBeDocked()
  return getValue(windowShouldBeDockedKey, defaultWindowShouldBeDocked) == tostring(true)
end

to

function windowShouldBeDocked()
	return true
end

[pandabot]

Originally Posted by dreaminglife

Didn't work either but wondered if this was correct?

line106 defaultDockState = 0x0201

You can change defaultDockState if you don't like where it's docked to make it go left, right, down, up. I think docked to the right is the default

[dreaminglife]

I uninstaled Chordgun completely so all the files in the script directory were gone, reinstalled the script, then once again changed the code..

..from "defaultWindowShouldBeDocked = tostring(false)"
to "defaultWindowShouldBeDocked = tostring(true)"

This time it worked. Hope that ghost has gone.

[pandabot]

Oh you know what I think I figured it out, it turns out on Windows there are 2 ways to dock it. If you right-click the top bar then it says "Dock ChordGun window in Docker":



This is some kind of built-in docking for scripts on Windows that my code doesn't account for, this option doesn't exist for reaper scripts on Mac. If you instead dock by right-clicking within the Chordgun window then my code knows what's going on and everything works as expected:

[dreaminglife]

Well the ghost came back. I think the problem might have been another script which is part of a custom action I use a lot.

"close all running reascripts"

I also use it on occasion to clear some persistant scripts which continue to dock which were part of a screenset which I can't seem to overwrite.

Anyway I checked the project file and the chordgun docking state was set to false so changed it to true, then added that to a new custom action. The ghost is now away for the day.



Trouble with this is that if my slots change in resources its going to stuff this. What a shame we cant load a project with a direct link or can we?

[pandabot]

Take a look at my last post, if you right-click within the window and select "dock window" and save the project then you should be all set. Don't right-click on the top bar

[dreaminglife]

OK by RClick inside the window select dock, then saving the project changes the project file docking state. Im like Maxwell smart. Thanks Pandabot [99]

[Miguel Capelo]

This is a great tool and I'm grateful for it...

Kind Regards

Miguel Capelo

[pandabot]

Originally Posted by Miguel Capelo

This is a great tool and I'm grateful for it...

Kind Regards

Miguel Capelo

[osiris]

Late to the party, but this is amazing!

[Judders]

Yeah, super helpful tool. Gets a lot of use here. I can't remember if I said thanks, so thanks!

[garck]

Brilliant tool, thanks. I have one problem, I'm sure down to my ignorance, but I can't get the chords to insert into the midi track. I've everything set-up as per instructions, the Chordgun plays fine. I've got my midi item open, but no chords are inserted. I've tried step mode on and off. I've got the track armed. Is there some extra setting that I'm not aware of?

Many thanks for any help.


Reaper 6.42, Win 10.

[Spookye]

Originally Posted by garck

Brilliant tool, thanks. I have one problem, I'm sure down to my ignorance, but I can't get the chords to insert into the midi track. I've everything set-up as per instructions, the Chordgun plays fine. I've got my midi item open, but no chords are inserted. I've tried step mode on and off. I've got the track armed. Is there some extra setting that I'm not aware of?

Many thanks for any help.


Reaper 6.42, Win 10.

... when you click on the chosen chord, click the "shift" key together. The agreement will be printed in the e-midi...

[garck]

You're right! Silly.me.

[pandabot]

some updates for ChordGun:

• now preserving existing note lengths, velocity, mute state and channel if notes are selected
• added ability to move midi editor cursor with left and right arrow buttons
• added persistence for floating window position
• fixed bug where some keyboard shortcuts did not work on Windows machines
• added ability to stop all notes from playing using middle mouse button
• added some optional code at bottom of the file to make ChordGun window be always on top (Windows only)
• added mini version for small screen users

Special thanks to hopi and bobobo 🏜️

[leescratchy]

Awesome thanks a lot, adding BLUES would be great please so I won't have to do it for every update ^^

Funny thing is Keystep37 has it when novation's direct challenger doesn't so I didn't upgrade even though the latter has regular sized keys instead of mini's

[Spookye]

Originally Posted by pandabot

some updates for ChordGun:

• now preserving existing note lengths, velocity, mute state and channel if notes are selected
• added ability to move midi editor cursor with left and right arrow buttons
• added persistence for floating window position
• fixed bug where some keyboard shortcuts did not work on Windows machines
• added ability to stop all notes from playing using middle mouse button
• added some optional code at bottom of the file to make ChordGun window be always on top (Windows only)
• added mini version for small screen users

Special thanks to hopi and bobobo 🏜️

Thank you very much Pandabot & C. More and more beautiful this ChordGun. The "Mini" is a brilliant "new entry"! Thank you very much for your commitment. Greetings from Italy.

[USR]

Hi pandabot, thanks for making this great tool. I love the mini version, too!

I don't know if it's a known issue, but I noticed that these two key commands don't seem to work on Mac:

Mac option + . (double grid size)
Mac option+shift + . (increment octave)

Everything else works flawlessly!

[pandabot]

That's weird, it works on my Mac. It sounds like some other program is intercepting it, does it work if you assign those keystrokes to a regular Reaper action?

[USR]

I'm so sorry, it was my key-mapping program that was interrupting it. Thanks so much for your response!

[Anti]

Is there some code I can copy/paste to ChordGun (lua script) to make it remember its last docker position when I load it via 'SWS global startup action'? I'm getting really tired of dragging it to the docker every time I restart Reaper.

Someone else pointed to the following page as a possible solution, but I don't understand the script enough to edit and insert it myself.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=262135

Thanks.

[pandabot]

Chordgun will remember the dock state if you save the project, but if you want to change the default behavior when starting it up for new projects then replace the line

defaultWindowShouldBeDocked = tostring(false)

with

defaultWindowShouldBeDocked = tostring(true)

If it's not docking to the correct position then change the line

defaultDockState = 0x0201

to be one of the following:

defaultDockState = 0x0001

defaultDockState = 0x0101

defaultDockState = 0x0301

Apparently you can't specify a window position, but rather you can only specify a docker index and users can freely move these dockers around so I don't know which value will correspond to left/right/bottom/top for you

[pandabot]

You could also try opening up a new project, docking it where you want and then saving this empty project as your default template. That might be easier, if that works then you wouldn't have to make any code changes

[Anti]

Originally Posted by pandabot

You could also try opening up a new project, docking it where you want and then saving this empty project as your default template. That might be easier, if that works then you wouldn't have to make any code changes

Thanks for the replies.

It's with my default template that the problem occurs. ChordGun always starts floating when I start-up Reaper. However, I just checked and when I load the project template into a new tab with Reaper already running, it is in the correct docker place.

I'll play around with it and the code you kindly posted. Cheers.

[ebatewell]

Hi all, I'm very late to this thread but what a great tool this is, discovered thanks to Kenny Goaia. Huge thanks to you Pandabot, this is fantastic!

I added a few scales to the .lua and I'm posting them here. I find it super helpful that the tool automatically builds chords of the scale based on these scale degrees.

scales = {
{ name = "Major", pattern = "101011010101" },
{ name = "Nat. Minor", pattern = "101101011010" },
{ name = "Harm. Minor", pattern = "101101011001" },
{ name = "Mel. Minor", pattern = "101101010101" },
{ name = "Pentatonic", pattern = "101010010100" },
{ name = "Blues", pattern = "100101110010" },
{ name = "Ionian", pattern = "101011010101" },
{ name = "Aeolian", pattern = "101101011010" },
{ name = "Dorian", pattern = "101101010110" },
{ name = "Mixolydian", pattern = "101011010110" },
{ name = "Phrygian", pattern = "110101011010" },
{ name = "Lydian", pattern = "101010110101" },
{ name = "Locrian", pattern = "110101101010" },
{ name = "Persian", pattern = "110001110010" },
{ name = "Arabian", pattern = "101011101010" },
{ name = "Scottish", pattern = "101000101100" },
{ name = "Hirojoshi", pattern = "1011000011000" },
{ name = "Hungarian Minor", pattern = "101100111001" },
{ name = "Spanish 8", pattern = "110111101010" },
{ name = "Whole Tone", pattern = "101010010010" },
{ name = "Augmented", pattern = "100110011001" },
{ name = "Pelog", pattern = "110101010010" },

}

I'll keep updating this post to include the latest. I'm having trouble adding Bebop scales for some strange reason. When I include these and try to use them, the script chokes with the error "attempt to concatenate a nil value (local 'symbol')"

{ name = "Bebop", pattern = "101011011101" },
{ name = "Bebop Dom", pattern = "101011010111" },
{ name = "Bebop Dorian", pattern = "101101010111" },

so if someone could help solve that, I'd be grateful.

[pandabot]

I'm not familiar with those scales, but they need to be heptatonic. This tool is only meant for diatonic harmony with seven scale degrees. Maybe you have a repeated note somewhere in there? You could try removing the last 1 in the pattern, that might give you what you want

[pandabot]

Oh no it looks like bebop scales are octatonic, those won't work. You would need to add an eighth column

[ebatewell]

Originally Posted by pandabot

Oh no it looks like bebop scales are octatonic, those won't work. You would need to add an eighth column

The Spanish 8 scale works though?

[pandabot]

No not really, the tool would need some modifications to handle that

[AutoBass]

The chordgun is really amazing! Thanks Pandabot!

I took a look at the code was able to successfully add these heptatonic modes:

{ name = "Major", pattern = "101011010101" },
{ name = "Dorian", pattern = "101101010110" },
{ name = "Phrygian", pattern = "110101011010" },
{ name = "Lydian", pattern = "101010110101" },
{ name = "Mixolydian", pattern = "101011010110" },
{ name = "Aeolian", pattern = "101101011010" },
{ name = "Locrian", pattern = "110101101010" },
{ name = "Melodic Minor", pattern = "101101010101" },
{ name = "Dorian b2", pattern = "110101010110" },
{ name = "Lydian Aug", pattern = "101010101101" },
{ name = "Lydian Dom", pattern = "101010110110" },
{ name = "Melodi Maj", pattern = "101011011010" },
{ name = "Half Diminished", pattern ="101101101010" },
{ name = "Altered Dom", pattern = "110110101010" },
{ name = "HarmonicMAJ", pattern = "101011011001" },
{ name = "Dorian b5", pattern = "101101100110" },
{ name = "Phrygian b4", pattern = "110110011010" },
{ name = "Lydian b3", pattern = "101100110101" },
{ name = "Mixolydian b2", pattern = "110011010110" },
{ name = "Lydian Aug #2", pattern = "100110101101" },
{ name = "Locrian bb7", pattern = "110101101100" },
{ name = "Harmonic Minor", pattern = "101101011001" },
{ name = "Locrian 6", pattern = "110101100110" },
{ name = "Ionian #5", pattern = "101011001101" },
{ name = "Dorian #4", pattern = "101100110110" },
{ name = "Phrygian DM", pattern = "110011011010" },
{ name = "Lydian #2", pattern = "100110110101" },
{ name = "UltraLocrian", pattern = "110110101100" },
{ name = "D. HarmonicMAJ", pattern = "110011011001" },
{ name = "Lydian#2#6", pattern = "100111010011" },
{ name = "UltraPhrygian", pattern = "110110011100" },
{ name = "HungarianMIN", pattern = "101100111001" },
{ name = "Asian", pattern = "110011100110" },
{ name = "Ionian#2#5", pattern = "100111100101" },
{ name = "Loc bb3 bb7", pattern = "111001101100" },
{ name = "HungarianMAJ", pattern = "100110110110" },
{ name = "Neapolitan Minor", pattern = "110101011001" },
{ name = "Neapolitan Major", pattern = "110101010101" },
{ name = "Pentatonic", pattern = "101010010100" },
{ name = "Lydian #9", pattern = "100110110101" }

[AutoBass]

Also added some chord structures:
{
name = 'diminished 7 b13',
code = 'dim7b13',
display = 'dim7b13',
pattern = '1001000011'
},
{
name = 'diminished major 7',
code = 'dimMaj7',
display = 'dimMaj7',
pattern = '100100100001'
},
{
name = 'augmented',
code = 'aug',
display = 'aug',
pattern = '100010001'
},
{
name = 'augmented Major 7',
code = 'augM7',
display = 'augM7',
pattern = '100010001001'
},
{
name = 'major sixth',
code = 'maj6',
display = '6',
pattern = '1000100101'
},
{
name = 'minor sixth',
code = 'min6',
display = 'm6',
pattern = '1001000101'
},
{
name = 'dominant seventh',
code = '7',
display = '7',
pattern = '10001001001'
},

{
name = 'seventh sus4',
code = '7sus4',
display = '7sus4',
pattern = '10000101001'
},
{
name = 'augmented seventh',
code = '7+5',
display = '7+5',
pattern = '10001000101'
},
{
name = 'major seventh',
code = 'maj7',
display = 'maj7',
pattern = '100010010001'
},
{
name = 'major seventh sus4',
code = 'maj7sus4',
display = 'maj7sus4',
pattern = '100001010001'
},
{
name = 'minor major seventh',
code = '-maj7',
display = '-maj7',
pattern = '100100010001'
},
{
name = 'minor seventh',
code = 'min7',
display = 'm7',
pattern = '10010001001'
},
{
name = 'minor seventh b5',
code = 'min7b5',
display = 'm7b5',
pattern = '10010010001'
},
{
name = 'flat fifth',
code = 'flat5',
display = '5-',
pattern = '10000010'
},

{
name = 'lydian',
code = 'lyd',
display = 'lyd',
pattern = '10000011'
},
{
name = 'lydianMaj7',
code = 'lydMaj7',
display = 'lydMaj7',
pattern = '100000110001'
},
{
name = 'sus4b5',
code = 'sus4b5',
display = 'sus4b5',
pattern = '1000011'
}

[D-Reaper]

Congratulations for this incredible and very very useful script!!
Many thanks!!

I´d like to ask if there is a way (tweaking some line in the script) of increasing the font size in the mini version.

Many thanks once again!!

[pandabot]

It looks like ChordGun just uses the default system font and size, you can try using gfx.setfont but you would have to play with it