Song Arrangement Builder
Stage the entrances, exits, registers, and focal roles that make sections feel different.
Contrast appears here.
Collision guidance appears here.
Density guidance appears here.
How to play
Mouse or touch: tap a section heading to select its scene. Tap any stage role to cycle off, support, and featured; every active change previews that instrument. Use the selected-scene controls for length, dynamics, pattern density, and register. Reorder, duplicate, strip, or remove scenes with the desk controls.
Keyboard: 1–6 selects a scene; Q/W/E/R/T/Y cycles drums, bass, harmony, hook, lead, and texture. Brackets move the selected scene earlier or later, U undoes the last desk change, and M begins or silences the spotlight mixdown. Native Enter and Space operate every focused control.
Audio convention: four written bars equal one compressed mixdown pulse, so 2/4/8/16-bar sections still have proportionate lengths without a long wait. Drums use synthesized kick and noise, bass follows roots, harmony voices diatonic triads, hook and lead use scale melodies, and texture sustains high tonic color.
Arrangement tip: use featured sparingly. A chorus feels larger when something was absent before it, while a breakdown works because register, rhythm, and role count contract together. Solo a lane to hear whether its entrances tell a clear story across the song.
Use it to build a structure for your songs through staging instrument in different parts: verses, choruses, bridges etc. Then use the tools to edit and sequence these sections and make intensity rise and fall during each section. It also helps you listen to where you’ve made contrasts.
The builder is operated via your mouse, just click the controls. Alternatively, if you want to edit more quickest, there are key commands that works too.
How to Use the Song Builder
Up on the top you have your global settings across all scenes in the arrangement. Pick your demo key (from Bb to C). Switch between Major/Minor harmony beds. Use tempo slider to adjust how fast things play back. The master level control the overall volume.
Use the Incoming Scene selector to pick what sort of section is coming up next. Then, click on the cue button to drop it into your current arrangement.
Below is where you’ll find controls unique to the chosen scene. Here you determine the number of bars for this section. You establish how forcefully (from intimate to forceful) you want the music to be played. Next, you adjust the pattern density (from airy to busy). Lastly, you select a register plan that shifts instrument low, high, or wide to add textural interest. This determines the feel of each part before you even hear it.
The stage plots shows you which instruments is active in each section. Tap on a heading to choose that section. The controls for it appear at the top. Clicking on an icon representing the instrument you want to work with cycles it between featured (it is more prominent), support (it is still there but more subtle), and off (there is space and silence). This make a huge difference when building up impact.
Below the stage plots are desk controls which let you manage your list of section. Move a selected scene forwards or back in the song. Duplicate it, creating a variation. Remove all instruments from it for a rest. Strike that section from the desk altogether if you wish. Make a mistake? There’s an undo button. Want to start again? Try the restore button; this will reset the builder to a default four-section sketch.
Below, you have the stage area with instrument lanes. Here you will mute an instrument which means it won’t play back across all sections. You can also solo to just hear that instrument alone. This allows you to listen to see if the drums is working as a pattern or maybe the bass line on their own. Soloing and muting allow you to concentrate on one element at a time. This is done without altering the arrangement itself.
This is an overview of the energy skyline graph that gives you a picture of how much your track change. Based off the choices you make regarding density, roles and dynamics, it plots out the relative intensity of each section of your song. If the skyline appears flat then consider adding some contrast. To achieve this, remove some of the instruments from the quieter sections. Add them back into the louder parts. The diagnostic text below will give advice about any lack of variety and possible collisions.
To audition what you’ve done, hit the begin spotlight mixdown button and this will play through the arrangement from your current position. As each part plays, that is highlighted. If you want to stop and listen more closely then you can use the hold spotlight button. Alternatively, you can select one of the arrangement recipes which will automatically add common techniques like a breakdown rebuild or a late bass entrance.
If you like to type rather than click, keyboard shortcuts will speed up your edits. The numbered keys 1-6 is used to pick out the scenes based off their place in the order. Cycle through roles for drums, bass, harmony, hook, lead and texture with the key Q, W, E, R, T and Y. Left and right bracket keys step forward and backward through scenes. U is undo (last action). M plays or stops the mixdown.
Adjust the global tempo and key so that it’s what you imagined. Choose your first scene and tap each of the instrument icons to compose your intro. Move to the next section and layer on additional instruments. Bump up the dynamics to drive forward. Listen to the changes in volume to make sure your up-and-down tells an obvious story. Experiment with muting lanes to hear where you have real space.
You should of tried this sooner. It feels much more naturaly.