Machine For Composing Music is generative music software / computer aided composition software for creating Midi and avantMidi compositions and runs on Mac OSX. Based on a musical model that consists of hierarchle structures based on motif material and transformations of these motifs in order to build-up phrases, voices and the final composition.

With Machine For Composing music you can quickly explore, improvise and experiment with generating musical compositions and create endless variations of these. It is ideal for both creating ideas and for creating final compositions. If you have an XG based Midi synthesiser you can experiment with creating avantMidi compositions in which the synthesiser is continously bombarded with high densities of SysEx data trajectories which can construct experimental and ambient soundscapes.

The basic motif of MCM can be created by 4 different generator types - melodic, chordal, drum-pattern or SysEx/CC. So a motif is not always a motif in its usual sense, but is being called a motif as it is the most basic and lowest level building block of the composition. Each generator has many generator algorithms available and these are being continuosly extended with new algorithms and generator types. MCM also comes with a library containing over 400 drum pattern presets in styles ranging from rock, to samba to ska, and these patterns can be used to create instrumental patterns and not just drums patterns.

These motifs are then used to build the phrases. A phrase consists of a selected motif that is repeated N number of times, with a set of possible transformations applied to the motif for each repetition. Transformation include for example tranposition, inversions, retrograde, shuffle, retro-inversion. This also means than the same motif can be used for different parts, but having different transformations and number of repetitions.The overall composition is then designed by selecting which phrases occur overtime by clicking on the overall structure grid. ( The grid in lower part of the above screenshot )

Different compositions can be quickly generated and listened too. It is possible to regenerate individual motifs and any higher compositional elements that reference this motif, will be changed without affected the other elements. These enables to keep things that sound right, whilst adjusting the things you do not quite fit, until the whole composition gels.

Final compositions can be saved as Midi files, and imported into other music software for editing and integration.