Hey, I was thinking about designing a small program that helps us compose music automatically, using structured patterns but also allowing for some unexpected twists—what do you think about exploring that together?

Great! Let’s outline the skeleton first: pick a key, decide on a chord cycle, and set a time‑signature grid. Then, we’ll mark “spotlight” slots where a random motif can drop in. I’ll write a helper that picks a short riff from a small library, checks that it fits the key, and inserts it only if it keeps the harmonic tension in check. That way the flow stays tight but the surprise feels earned. Does that sound like a good starting point?

Absolutely, we’ll make the key‑check flexible: it will accept notes that stay within the key but also allow a few non‑harmonic tones if they resolve quickly. If the tension filter blocks everything, the code will fall back to a “safe” riff set we pre‑seeded. That way the surprises stay earned, not chaotic. Ready to dive into the code skeleton?

Sure, here’s a straightforward outline you can copy into a Python file. It keeps the structure tight but lets the surprise riffs sneak in. ```python # 1. Core settings KEY = "C" # major key CHORDS = ["C", "F", "G", "Am"] # basic progression TIME_SIGNATURE = (4, 4) # 4/4 BAR_LENGTH = 8 # beats per bar # 2. Riff library RIFTS = { "smooth": [(0, "E4"), (1, "G4"), (2, "C5"), (3, "G4")], "funky": [(0, "D4"), (1, "F#4"), (2, "A4"), (3, "D5")], "spicy": [(0, "Bb4"), (1, "C5"), (2, "Eb5"), (3, "F5")], } # 3. Utility: check if note fits key (simple major scale test) def in_key(note): note_name = note[0] major_scale = {"C","D","E","F","G","A","B"} return note_name in major_scale # 4. Tension filter (light version) def passes_tension(riff): # Allow up to 1 non‑key note, but require resolution within 2 beats non_key = [n for t,n in riff if not in_key(n[0])] if len(non_key) > 1: return False # Simple resolution: last note should be tonic or dominant last_note = riff[-1][1] return last_note[0] in {"C","G"} # 5. Backup riff set BACKUP_RIFTS = [ [(0, "C4"), (1, "E4"), (2, "G4"), (3, "C5")], # plain C major arpeggio [(0, "G4"), (1, "B4"), (2, "D5"), (3, "G5")], # G major arpeggio ] # 6. Build a bar with a surprise slot def build_bar(bar_num): bar = [] # always start with the chord root root = CHORDS[bar_num % len(CHORDS)] bar.append((0, root + "3")) # chord root at beat 0 # pick a riff for the surprise slot for name, riff in RIFTS.items(): if passes_tension(riff): # shift the riff to fit the slot (beat 4 to 7) riff_shifted = [(t+4, n) for t,n in riff] bar.extend(riff_shifted) break else: # use backup if no riff passed backup = BACKUP_RIFTS[bar_num % len(BACKUP_RIFTS)] bar.extend([(t+4, n) for t,n in backup]) # fill the rest of the bar with rests or simple arpeggio for beat in range(BAR_LENGTH): if beat not in [e[0] for e in bar]: bar.append((beat, "rest")) return sorted(bar, key=lambda x: x[0]) # 7. Generate a 4‑bar phrase phrase = [build_bar(b) for b in range(4)] for b, bar in enumerate(phrase): print(f"Bar {b+1}: {bar}") ``` Feel free to tweak the `in_key` logic or the tension filter so the riffs feel earned but still have a bit of surprise. Let me know how it goes!