Riffer 4

What it does

An AUv3 MIDI sequencer that generates riffs rather than making sound. Five engines each produce a different character: hypnotic sequences, hooks, guitar-inspired patterns, arpeggios and weighted basslines. Pick a key and scale, generate, then shape range, density, timing and swing. Six riff tracks run at once, each sending on its own MIDI channel. An edit section opens the generated notes for hand editing, with a fit button that pulls anything drawn out of key back into the scale, plus per-track stutter and pitch bend.

In the demo

Jade runs three instances into SoundBox, Piano Tech and Back Room’s piano, generating live and swapping engines to hear how bass hooks sit against hook riffs. She works through random link, which reshuffles notes while leaving the blocks in place, saves generations into packs and favourites, then exports a patch as a MIDI file and builds a track around an Emperor bass preset.

Worth knowing

iPad only, and there is no upgrade price from Riffer 3 because the App Store cannot do upgrades, so this is a separate purchase and Riffer 3 keeps working. The desktop version is sold separately at audiomodern.com and does have an upgrade path.