Arpeggiator
Turns a held chord into a sequence of single notes fired one after another.
Related
An arpeggiator breaks a held chord into single notes, firing them in a set order and rate.
The problem
One hand holds the chord and the other plays the melody, leaving no hand for continuous sixteenths. The arpeggiator turns a static chord into a moving figure with controllable order and speed.
How it works
It reads the held notes, orders them up, down, up-down, randomly or as played, then triggers them one by one at the chosen note value. Octave range sets how far it reaches, gate sets how long each note sounds, and latch keeps it running after release.
Settings and practice
Use a sixteenth rate, one or two octaves and a gate of fifty to eighty percent. Shorten the gate for air and lengthen it for a pad. Leave latch off when changing chords live, and record to MIDI so individual notes can be edited later.
What to listen for
Hear whether the spacing is even and whether accents follow the velocity you played. Against a hand-played arpeggio, the machine is tighter while the hand carries weight and small anticipations.
Common misunderstandings
An arpeggiator is not a sound source; it only reorders existing notes. Up-down patterns do not always repeat the end notes, depending on the implementation. A drawn arpeggio can sound close to a live one but edits very differently.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- 琶音器的排序模式与门限参数，依合成器与音序软件说明核查，未抄文本
- 实时琶音与手写琶音的差别，依键盘演奏通识核查，未抄文本
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.