Tutorial

How Shapes Make Melodies

When a shape plays, a node traverses the perimeter of the shape at a constant speed, sounding a note at each vertex.

The first note of a shape is determined by the shape's y position on the plane. The note for each subsequent edge is determined by the angle between that edge and the previous edge. This angle determines the musical interval between the two notes(edges). For example: A sharp right turn means that the next note is much lower than the previous, while a shallow left turn means that the next note is a little higher. When the last point is reached, the loop starts again.

Drawing and Changing Colors

Use the draw tool to draw polygons on the canvas. Shapes of the same color use the same instrument, which is chosen using the colored control panels at the bottom. Change a shape's color by clicking on it while using the Edit tool.

Adjusting Sound

Use the instrument-specific knobs to control how the different colors sound.

Transposing and Panning Shapes

Moving shapes up and down on the canvas changes the note in the scale at which the loop starts. Higher shapes start at higher notes and lower shapes start at lower notes.

Moving the shapes left and right positions them in stereo space (this is more noticeable when using headphones).

Duplicating and Reversing Shapes

Duplicate a shape by clicking on a shape using the Edit tool to bring up the shape context menu and then clicking 'Duplicate'. You can also hold down the Option key and click a shape. This creates a clone of the shape.

Clicking 'Reverse' reverses the shape's playback direction. Since the melodies are calculated by using the sequence of edges and angles, this will produce a new melody (instead of playing the original notes in reverse order).

Using the Grid

With the grid enabled, all new points will snap to the grid. Shapes that had been previously drawn can be manually locked to the grid by dragging their vertexes using the Edit tool.

Using Sync

With Sync enabled, all shapes will be locked to the same perimeter (or a multiple thereof). This means that they all loop at the same time (or 2x, 0.5x times etc.).

Click on a shape with the Edit tool to double or halve its length.

Recording and Downloading a Project

Click the Record icon to begin recording. The audio of your composition will be recorded as a WAV file and can be previewed and downloaded in the Downloads section of the sidebar.

Saving and Loading a Project

Click the Save icon to name and save your project. You can view your projects in the account dropdown in the top right corner.

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