A while back, I had the idea of researching how certain electronic drum beat styles have rules that can be applied and mutated (nothing new here). After some prompting, I ended up with an engine that generates a brand-new pattern every time you hit randomize, following specific rules for styles like House, Techno, Minimal, and so on. It handles the kick, snare, open and closed hi-hats, and two percussion tracks.
Installed with VS Code and Cline, and a prompt done on Gemini that created a script to automate a full install of the VCV Rack programming environment on my PC. Click–done
I asked myself: would it be simple to grab a VCV Rack GitHub repo for a simple six-track gate sequencer and drop this engine in easily? The answer was yes—something that would have been completely impossible for me two years ago was now a reality.
So, I downloaded Daniel Davies’ that Gemini suggested and using “James” step gate sequencer, implemented the pattern generator right into the context menu just prompting with Cline. It’s like mutating modules, totally Frankenstein style. I added the “Randomize” button to the interface and a CV control input right where Cline suggested, and even downloaded Inkscape to mess around with the UI.
All of this just by talking with Cline. Infinite possibilities to experiment and customize modules—definitely at your own risk.
Can I share a binary here? It’s only compiled for Windows, and it’s pretty messy. The rest of the collection will show up, but since it has a different slug, it will appear as a brand new collection. Also, the UI looks broken in the module browser, but once you load it onto the rack, it looks fine.
To use it: select a style from the right-click menu, then click the unnamed button on the interface—you’ll figure it out. That randomize button has a CV input, too.
You can also set a probability for each individual step using the right-click menu on top of a step.
you should put it up at github and compile it as the usual vcv modules
like = xyz.vcvplugin
in the developer category you find more info about all this
I’ve cleaned up the codebase and created a public Git repository for the Interactive Rhythm Composer so you can download and compile it.
I’ve structured the plugin to follow official VCV guidelines (aiming for eventual VCV Library submission), included all required metadata for GPL-3.0 compliance, and maintained proper attribution to Daniel Davies’ original code base.
Overview
Interactive Rhythm Composer is a 6-track gate sequencer designed around style-based algorithmic generation. Selecting a genre and hitting Random generates a brand new rhythmic variation tuned to that style’s specific rules.
Tracks & Voices
Kick
Snare
Closed Hi-Hat
Open Hi-Hat
Perc 1 (Claps)
Perc 2
Available Styles
House
Techno
Trap
Drum & Bass
Minimal
Afro
Electro
Ambient
Glitch
Braindance
Markovian (Generative sequences based on Markov chain probability matrices)
Key Features
Per-step Probability: Set step triggers independently (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%).
Style-driven Randomization: Generating a new pattern resets step probabilities according to the active style’s rule set.
Rush/Drag steps: Original Daniel Davies James module functionality to rush or drag a track to create JDilla style beats.
Build & Cross-Platform Testing
Developed on Windows using Cursor + Cline. I’d really appreciate it if macOS and Linux users could try compiling it and share feedback on performance or build issues!
