Recipes

6 examples. Each block is the grid as the app loads it (a . is an empty cell). Open in Chipgrid opens it ready to play; or pick it from the app’s EXAMPLES menu.

Flash on the kick

One bang can touch several things. The bang under D is left of B and above F, so both fire. Add anything else that touches it.

# FLASH ON THE KICK #
.
1D8
..B1C2
.F1

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 120 BPM

See every note

J copies the note down from the voice’s input to the y of a bar, so each note draws at its own height. The same trick works for any value: copy it down with J.

# SEE EVERY NOTE #
.
..2C8
1D2.SCEGEAGED
..P4.12
....J
..H0.84
.
T5

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 120 BPM

Random, but in key

Never let R choose a note directly. Let it choose a position in a list of notes that work: here the pentatonic scale. Change the list, and the max 4 if its length changes.

# RANDOM, BUT IN KEY #
.
..0R4
1D2.SCDEGA
..P5.12

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 120 BPM

Fresh screen every bar

1Dg bangs every 16 ticks, one bar, and K wipes. Whatever you draw now has one bar to live. It is the simplest way to give a picture a rhythm.

# FRESH SCREEN EVERY BAR #
.
1Dg
..K
.
U21
.0Rv
.X.c7

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 120 BPM

Fade on the snare

A gate makes any effect happen on the beat: ?T9 dissolves only when the bang arrives, so the picture builds up, then takes a hit. The same bang plays the snare below it. Try ?M03 or ?/9.

# FADE ON THE SNARE #
.
1D8
..?T9
.N520
.
U61

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 120 BPM

Bar that follows the sound

I0 writes how loud the first voice is, and that number is the width of the bar. Any input can take it: size, colour, position. The picture follows the sound with no timing to work out.

# BAR THAT FOLLOWS THE SOUND #
.
...I0
H0c.7
T8
.
..2C8
1D2.SCEGEAGED
..P4.12

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 120 BPM