Tonegrid Scale and Sequence Planner

What it is for

This planner helps you understand the notes and timing behind a Tonegrid melody. Choose a root MIDI note, one of nine scales (major and minor pentatonic, major, natural minor, Dorian, Mixolydian, harmonic minor, blues or chromatic), a tempo and swing. Choose 1–24 melody rows and 1–32 steps to match your Tonegrid matrix. The planner lists the pitches from high to low, then calculates note events for the selected squares in the first melody cycle.

Enter each square as a step,row pair on its own line. Number columns from left to right and rows from top to bottom, starting at 1. The lowest row is the root note (row 16 with the default settings). Several rows on one step form a chord. Leave the cell list empty to inspect the scale by itself.

Worked example

Choose root 48, major pentatonic, 120 BPM, and 0% swing. Enter:

1,16
5,14
9,12
13,11

The planner returns four notes over 2.00 seconds: C3 at 0 s, E3 at 0.5 s, A3 at 1.0 s and C4 at 1.5 s. Each sixteenth-note step takes 0.125 seconds, and the sixteen-step loop lasts two seconds. The grid table shows the pitch and frequency of every row (C3 is 130.81 Hz, C6 at the top is 1046.50 Hz), while the events table shows when each selected square starts.

Now try a chord with swing: root 57 (A3), minor pentatonic, 90 BPM, 30% swing, cells 1,16, 1,14, 1,13 and 4,11. Step 1 sounds A3, D4 and E4 together at 0 s. A step now lasts 0.167 seconds, and step 4 is an offbeat, so swing delays it by 30% of a step: A4 starts at 0.55 s instead of 0.5 s. The loop is 2.67 seconds long.

For an odd number of steps with swing, the offbeat positions alternate between cycles; the planner shows the first cycle only.

How to read the result

The row table shows the note name, MIDI number and frequency for each pitch. Notes are built by repeating the selected scale upwards from the root; sharp spellings are used for black keys. The events table is ordered by step, and notes in the same step have the same start time.

Set the same rows, steps, root, scale, tempo and swing in Tonegrid, then activate the listed squares to hear the plan. This tool produces a note list rather than audio or a project file.

Tips and common mistakes

• The root is a MIDI note number: 48 is C3, 57 is A3 and 60 is C4.
• Row 1 is the highest note, and the final configured row is the lowest.
• Step 1 begins at zero seconds. Step 5 begins after four nominal step durations.
• Each selected cell must be within the selected number of steps and rows. List it only once.
• Frequencies use A4 = 440 Hz and equal temperament.
• Pentatonic scales have five notes per octave, so 16 rows span three octaves; the chromatic scale covers only about one and a third octaves with the same rows.

FAQ

Can multiple notes sound at once?

Yes. Give them the same step number and different row numbers.

Does changing the root shift the whole scale?

Yes. The same intervals repeat upward starting at the chosen root.

Does this tool make sound?

No. It calculates pitches and start times. Use Tonegrid to play the squares.

How do I get a MIDI file or a project I can open?

Use the Tonegrid Pattern Builder: it takes x-and-dot lines per note name, returns a MIDI file and a link that opens the pattern in Tonegrid.