Quantizer
Takes a sequence of notes and snaps each to the nearest scale degree. Most commonly used after a Turing Machine to lock random output to a musical key.
Double-tap a Quantizer node in the Scene (or press EDIT in the Dock) to open the Quantizer Sheet — a keyboard visualization showing scale tones, chord tones, and controls for all three modes.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”| Knob | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ROOT | C–B | Root note of the scale (also settable by tapping a key in the sheet) |
| OCT LO | 0–8 | Lowest octave |
| OCT HI | 0–8 | Highest octave |
Select from the dropdown:
Major, Minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian, Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, Blues, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Whole Tone, Chromatic.
Three quantization modes, selectable via pills in the Dock or the Sheet:
Scale (default)
Section titled “Scale (default)”Notes are snapped to the nearest scale degree. This is the original behavior — simple and effective.
Notes are snapped to chord tones first, falling back to scale tones when the nearest chord tone is more than 2 semitones away. This creates melodies that follow chord progressions without being rigidly locked.
Chords can come from two sources:
- Manual — add chord badges directly in the Sheet (e.g. C @ step 0, Am @ step 8)
- Tonnetz source — reference a Tonnetz node’s chord walk. The active chord at each step is read from the Tonnetz walk path.
Harmony
Section titled “Harmony”Input notes are scale-snapped, then parallel diatonic voices are added above or below. Up to 3 harmony voices can be stacked (original + 3 = 4-note chords max).
Available intervals: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th — each above or below.
Chaining: Turing → Quantizer
Section titled “Chaining: Turing → Quantizer”Connect a Turing Machine node’s output edge to a Quantizer node, then connect the Quantizer to a Pattern node. The chain works like a signal flow:
- Turing Machine generates raw pseudo-random notes
- Quantizer snaps every note to the chosen scale (or chord tones, or adds harmony)
- Result is written to (or layered on) the target pattern
For the most musical results, combine all three generators: Tonnetz defines chord progressions, Turing Machine generates melody, Quantizer (chord mode with Tonnetz source) snaps to chord tones.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Turing Machine — the most common input source
- Tonnetz — chord progression source for chord mode
- Generators — merge mode, seed, presets, step sequencer integration