A deterministic, musically-aware acid bassline generator.
This is a fork of drakh/acid-generator, heavily inspired by the STING by SKINNERBOX Max for Live device.
Unlike standard random generators, this version focuses on musical stability and reproducibility. It uses seeded random number generation and weighted probability to ensure that "random" patterns feel like cohesive musical phrases rather than chaotic noise.
- Seed-Based Logic: The generator is now fully deterministic. Every pattern is generated from a unique seed. If you find a pattern you like, it will sound exactly the same every time you load it.
- Weighted "Musical" Probability: The generator no longer picks notes purely at random. It uses a tonal hierarchy:
- Root & Fifth Priority: The generator favors the root and fifth notes of the scale, especially on downbeats, to "anchor" the bassline.
- Rhythmic Stability: Downbeats (steps 1, 5, 9, 13) are prioritized when generating rhythms to establish a strong groove.
- Intelligent Resolution: "Wonky" intervals are mathematically forced to resolve to stable tones on the "One" (the first beat of the bar).
- Density as a Mask: Changing
Densityno longer regenerates a new random pattern. Instead, it acts as a "Rhythmic Gate," revealing or hiding notes from a fixed "Master Sequence." Turning it down removes the funkier off-beats first; turning it up reveals them. - Spread as a Pool: Changing
Spreadcontrols the pool of allowed notes. Lower settings restrict the melody to just the Root and Fifth. Higher settings unlock the full scale. This allows you to simplify a melody without changing its fundamental rhythm. - Loop Length Independence: Changing the
Pattern Length(e.g., from 16 to 7) does not regenerate the notes. It simply loops a smaller section of the 64-step master sequence.
- New Synth Controls: Added Envelope Mod (Env) and Decay controls to the interface, allowing for deeper, squelchier TB-303 style sound design.
- Visual Feedback: The piano roll now visually dims steps that are outside the active loop length.
- Expanded Scales: Added Pentatonic Minor/Major, Blues Minor, Whole Tone, Chromatic, and Japanese In Sen scales.
Download the .vcvplugin matching your platform from the Releases page:
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | AcidGenerator-x.y.z-mac-arm64.vcvplugin |
| macOS (Intel) | AcidGenerator-x.y.z-mac-x64.vcvplugin |
| Windows (64-bit) | AcidGenerator-x.y.z-win-x64.vcvplugin |
| Linux (64-bit) | AcidGenerator-x.y.z-lin-x64.vcvplugin |
Then either:
- Option A (easiest): Open VCV Rack and choose Library → Install Plugin from File…, then select the downloaded
.vcvplugin. Restart Rack. - Option B (manual): Place the
.vcvpluginfile in your Rack user plugins folder, then restart Rack:- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Rack2/plugins-mac-arm64/(Apple Silicon) or…/plugins-mac-x64/(Intel) - Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Rack2\plugins-win-x64\ - Linux:
~/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/
- macOS:
After restart, find Acid Generator in the module browser under the Vulpes79 brand.
- Clone the repository into your Rack SDK plugins folder:
cd /path/to/Rack-SDK/plugins git clone https://github.com/jjbbllkk/Acid-Generator-Full.git AcidGenerator - Build the plugin:
cd AcidGenerator make dist - The packaged
.vcvpluginwill be in thedist/folder. Install it via VCV Rack's Library → Install Plugin from File… menu (or copy it into the appropriateplugins-<os>-<arch>folder shown above).
This repository ships a GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/build.yml) that builds .vcvplugin artifacts for all four supported targets (mac-arm64, mac-x64, win-x64, lin-x64) on every push. Tagged releases (v*) are automatically attached to a GitHub Release.
- Space: Start/Stop playback.
- G (or Click Smile): Generate a completely new pattern (new Seed).
- Knobs:
- Density: Add/remove rhythmic events.
- Spread: Add/remove melodic complexity.
- Env / Decay / Cut / Res: Shape the synth tone.
Created with help of Tone.js.
