ToneBank

What it does

A MIDI note generator that makes no sound of its own. It improvises inside harmonic loops drawn from 16 African harmonic systems (pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic and overtone based) or a custom harmony you build yourself, with clave patterns, swing and alternative tunings shaping the rhythm. Loop mode produces patterned arpeggiation; Melody mode produces vocal-like phrases with four trigger modes.

In the demo

Jade runs four instances in AUM feeding Pianoteq, iFretless Bass and DigiStix, then rebuilds from scratch: sets a clave, edits the harmony lines, and works density, pitch variance and rhythmic tension. She changes key from a MIDI keyboard, shows synced instances sharing a preset, and sets up call and response between guitar and Spelldozer using fixed phrase beginning.

Worth knowing

On iOS it runs on iPad only, and changing the harmonic system on one synced instance changes it on all of them. The desktop version costs considerably more than the iPad version.