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RapidComposer Version History

Check the recent changes since v4.0


February 23, 2023: v4.6.2

  • Fixed crashing bug when all tracks were removed
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed crashing bug when dropping a phrase/instrument/scale/chord in a closed and re-opened window
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed hanging notes during phrase preview when selecting a phrase

February 20, 2023: v4.6.1

  • MIDI import: imported MIDI is zoomed out when loaded
  • MIDI import: MIDI CC's are displayed as events, not curves
  • MIDI import: LSB of 14-bit controllers are not added to the imported MIDI CC's as a separate CC
  • Fixed: 2/4 grid lines disappeared when zooming when grid was set to 2/4
  • Fixed: VST3 plug-in resizing to a bigger size resulted in black areas
  • Fixed a bug when auto-harmonizing many phrases at once

February 6, 2023: v4.6.0

  • VST3 instrument plug-ins supported
  • Instrument plug-in handling simplified: the 'multi-timbral plug-in' setting was removed, all plug-ins are handled equally. If you select a plug-in from the 'Loaded plug-ins' section, it will use the existing loaded plug-in instance, otherwise choosing from the menu will load a new instance.
  • Searchable lists for plug-ins, settings, keyboard shortcuts, UI colors
  • Smart instrument menu displays instruments based on your usage statistics
  • Drag phrase directly to a DAW from the Phrase Editor
  • MIDI keypresses can be assigned to any functions as shortcuts
  • [Windows][Plug-ins] Using keyboard shortcuts is possible even if the plug-in host does not support that! Select the small keyboard in the upper right corner. Deselect it to allow the host to process keypresses.
  • 'Replace Selection' option added to the Idea Tool to replace the contents of the timeline selection
  • Idea Tool 'generate' button is always displayed after using the Idea Tool
  • Tonnetz visual improvements
  • File menu: "Save composition (selection only)" added with shortcut
  • Track inspector: "Duplicate track with new plug-in instance" added with shortcut
  • Right-click on the structure bar will select the timeline and master track for the line, Shift-right-click will do the same for the part
  • Keyboard focus border is hidden if window looses keyboard focus, and shown if window becomes keyboard focus (this is important for the plug-ins) 
  • [macOS] New setting: 'Disable retina screen detection'
  • New setting: 'Enable mouse-wheel over track sliders' (disabled by default)
  • Dozens of chord progressions added with voicing kindly contributed by Robin Bergsohn
  • "Merge composition" menus fixed, and set up automatically when track names match
  • User guide updated

January 23, 2023: v4.5.2

  • New setting: 'Enable mouse-wheel over track sliders' (disabled by default)
  • Timeline range selection added to the Phrase Editor and Melody Editor (Ctrl-drag on the timeline to make a selection). When there is a selection, only the selection is played back.
  • In the MIDI Mutator you need to hold down Ctrl for timeline selection to be consistent with Phrase Editor and Melody Editor
  • Fixed composition templates which used the old V3 file format
  • Fixed scroll bar when using the Idea Tool
  • Fixed a bug in MIDI Mutator when new MIDI was dropped but some operations used the previous state
  • Fixed a bug in the standalone version that caused the program hanging during exiting when VST plug-ins were used

December 14, 2022: v4.5.1

  • Slider improvements and fixes; mouse-wheel can be used over track sliders
  • [macOS][Plug-ins] Fixed window size for re-opened plug-in window on retina screens
  • [macOS] Cursor fixes: eraser cursor was not shown, pencil cursor had wrong color
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed crash when closing and re-opening the window with the note inspector open
  • Fixed: hanging notes when adding pitch bend to a note

December 5, 2022: v4.5.0

  • Reworked MIDI CC and parameter editing with curves (exponential or S-curve) or individual events
  • Reworked MIDI CC processing with improved precision (floating point values). 14-bit MIDI CC's are supported.
  • Add MIDI CC's for phrases and notes (in the Phrase Editor). Controller data are attached to phrases/notes as you move them and can be saved.
  • New LE features: articulations and melody generators were added to the light edition!
  • [Plug-ins] The UI engine was replaced in the plug-ins. As a result retina screens are also supported in the plug-ins on macOS.
  • Dozens of UI changes to improve the UI on Retina (macOS) and HiDPI (Windows) screens
  • Double-clicking on the timeline selection will zoom into the selection
  • Horizontal zoom on the timeline is very smooth now (in Composition, Phrase Editor, Melody Editor, MIDI Mutator)
  • Instrument menu better organized in the track inspector
  • Articulations included for Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra Kontakt library and the four sections of Red Room Audio Palette Kontakt library (contribution by Jose Eulogio Sanguino Payan)
  • Fixed: when using default.rcCOMP for new compositions, it is not overwritten for a 'Save'
  • Fixed crash when dropping a phrase on another one and selecting 'Replace Phrase'
  • Fixed a rare crash during editing a phrase generator
  • Bugs of MIDI recording fixed (crashes and recording offset)
  • User guide updated: a new chapter added explaining MIDI CC editing
  • Many stability improvements

July 18, 2022: v4.4.3

  • New setting: Reset Phrase Editor, MIDI Mutator and Chord Rules Editor for New Composition
  • New setting: Past 'History' states to store
  • Fixed: VST plug-in instance issues when duplicating a track
  • Fixed a 'division by zero' error in the Modern Random Rhythm generator
  • [macOS, plug-ins] Fixed a crash after the plug-in was unloaded

July 4, 2022: v4.4.2

  • [MIDI Mutator] Recalling a MIDI Mutator preset won't disable the 'Apply Changes' button
  • [MIDI Mutator] Notes are updated live when moving the chord edges
  • [MIDI Mutator] Fixed internal inconsistency because of playback (e.g. 'randomize progression' did not work sometimes)
  • Ctrl-up/down transpose selection by semitones in the Phrase Editor
  • Fixed: editing notes during Phrase Editor loop playback are heard immediately
  • Fixed: due to a compiler bug harmonization crashed in the plug-in (but not in the standalone, or on macOS!)

June 29, 2022: v4.4.1

  • Fixed: VST plug-ins are properly instantiated when a composition is reloaded

June 13, 2022: v4.4.0

  • MIDI Mutator tab added for manipulating MIDI files (change rhythm, timing, accents, chords, voicings, pitches of loaded MIDI files)
  • Auto-regeneration options added for phrase generators: change the rhythm and/or notes at the end of loop or on stopping playback.
  • New rhythm generator: 'Modern Irregular Rhythm' suitable for modern genres
  • New chord suggestion that looks up chords with the same bass note: Bass pedal tone chords
  • New chord suggestion that looks up chords with the specified melody note: Melody pedal tone chords
  • 'Scale Degrees' received a note filter where you can filter the displayed chords by notes (e.g. when using a melody pedal tone)
  • Optimized phrase rendering and MIDI import (chord detection is many times faster)
  • Smoother horizontal zooming
  • Splash screen shown during initialization
  • UI option to use color buttons (can be customized or turned off entirely)
  • Small UI cleanup in Quick Suggestions

April 25, 2022: v4.3.4

  • [macOS] New setting: Invert scrolling direction
  • New setting: Load 'default.rcCOMP' for 'New Composition'.
  • The piano keyboard can be removed from the tracks ('Show Keyboard' in the menu)
  • 'Remove Unused Motives' added to the Melody Editor context menu
  • Fixed: dragging MIDI from the plug-in to DAW during playback sometimes included wrong notes
  • Fixed a crashing race condition bug
  • Fixed: pop-up help stopped working after opening a pop-up menu
  • [macOS] Fixed mouse coordinates when RC window dragged from retina to non-retina screen
  • [macOS] Too fast scrolling on Apple Trackpad or Magic Mouse improved

February 14, 2022: v4.3.3

  • 'Reload all articulations' menu item added to Controller menu in the track inspector
  • Fixed crash when dragging a folder track
  • Fixed crash during editing Strum Pattern Generator
  • [macOS] Fixed UI layout issues in the demo version on retina displays
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed crashing bug when using soundfonts in the plug-ins
  • Various stability fixes

January 10, 2022: v4.3.2

  • Scrolling settings (speed, acceleration, deceleration) added under Settings / User Interface
  • Arpeggiator has a 'generate' button, improved 'Random' setting
  • [macOS] Fixed visual issues on retina, UI optimizations for high-DPI screens
  • [macOS] Fixed too fast scrolling
  • [macOS] Redo is command-shift-Z by default
  • Removed pop-up menu unnecessary title in Melody Editor
  • Fixed: inspector windows when opened outside the main window, were always-on-top regardless of the settings
  • Fixed using negative octave offset in the phrase inspector (in the allowed notes)
  • Fixed a note editing bug when editing Motive Generator (wrong scale used as a reference)
  • [macOS, AU] Fixed: when opening RC in a separate window, resizing the window did not work 

December 30, 2021: v4.3.1

  • [macOS] UI fixes and improvements on retina resolutions
  • Redesigned scrollbars, scrollbar width setting is reset to 'Auto' 
  • Fixed redraw and window size issues in Chord Selector
  • Fixed dragging from the Chord Selector
  • [macOS] Fixed mouse cursor (it was always an arrow)
  • [macOS] Fixed crash when opening menus
  • Other small fixes for issues appeared in v4.3

December 13, 2021: v4.3

  • New UI engine with hardware acceleration, retina display support and smooth scrolling
  • [macOS] Apple M1 is natively supported
  • [macOS] AU synth plug-in supports 128 MIDI channels!
  • Dragging and dropping selected chords on the master track is possible
  • Reworked chord rules editor toolbar
  • New MIDI import setting: Import MIDI markers as chords
  • New variation: Insert Connecting Notes
  • New variation: Insert Connection To Next Phrase
  • 'Learn' functionality in Markov Melody generator: drop a monophonic MIDI file or a phrase on the Learn button!
  • Cosmetic changes on the Markov Melody UI, a missing option added
  • Tolerance option added to Join Notes
  • Phrase variations: 'Remove Note' variation improvements: specify number of notes/events for 'Random notes' and 'Random times'
  • [Plug-ins] New playback option: 'Sync playback to host'
  • Shortcuts Ctrl-Z/Cmd-Z and Ctrl-Y/Cmd-Y work in the Phrase Editor
  • Chord rules are looked up for church modes and chromatic scale (when unlocked), not just for major and minor scales
  • Last edited rules are saved and restored between sessions
  • Lower case is used for labels
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed silent or swallowed notes at the beginning of a loop for local playback: usage of 'all notes off' removed
  • [macOS][Plug-ins] Crash fixed when right clicking on a phrase magnet
  • [Windows] Installer updated

September 27, 2021: v4.2.3

  • Ctrl-Drag Master Track chords as MIDI file (timeline selection, or all when there is no selection). Use Ctrl-Shift-drag for voice leading.
  • Phrase variations: 'Remove' and 'Remove All' work for all selected phrases
  • Phrase variations: setting a parameter works for all selected phrases
  • Shortcut added for showing/hiding the browser (unassigned by default)
  • [Melody Editor] Playback option added to play the chords track together with the melody
  • [Melody Editor] Chords track length issues fixes (when adding/removing motives)
  • [Melody Editor] Crashing issue when resizing the last chord fixed
  • Fixed chord rule selection from menu when magnet was 'off'
  • Fixed bug when applying Mirror Vertically on a Chord Generator

July 19, 2021: v4.2.2

  • It is possible to regenerate the shape only or the rhythm only for phrase generators
  • Markov Melody Generator UI reworked
  • Phrases had incorrect length when dragging from the browser (wrong signature was used)
  • Fix disappearing graphics when dragging over a zoomable scroll bar
  • Instrument selection in the Percussion Generator did not update the editor (bug introduced in v4.2.0)
  • Stability fixes for various undo/inspector crashes
  • Fix for a crash when editing the Percussion Generator in the Idea Tool
  • Enable Drawing 'Line' And 'Freehand' Phrases is among experimental settings
  • [Windows] Fix for a crash during text editing (e.g. when saving a progression)
  • Other bug fixes

June 21, 2021: v4.2.1

  • Keyboard left-right arrows move notes and phrases by 'snap' setting
  • Preview implemented when moving notes with the arrow keys (note editing mode)
  • Fixed: Alt/Option-click to split or join notes did not work in note editing
  • States are stored for 'undo' during note editing
  • New MIDI Export setting: Embed 'Program Change' events in exported MIDI
  • New chord suggestion: secondary dominant for the next 'I' chord
  • Fixed: VSTi instruments unloaded for 'undo' if 'Save VSTi State In History' was turned off
  • Fixed: invalid control number inserted to exported MIDI for some soundfonts
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed: first note of the loop sometimes did not play back in some hosts
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed rare crash when right-clicking on a phrase to open the inspector during playback

June 7, 2021: v4.2.0

  • Undo/redo arrows added to main composition, History tab removed
  • Past 'undo' states can be stored in RAM or on disk. The default is in RAM.
  • Chord rules lock have been added to all chord rules settings. When unlocked, the rule automatically changes based on the scale (default).
  • Sending MIDI Machine Control events is implemented (enable under Settings / MIDI)
  • New menu added when right-clicking on a master track scale/tempo/signature where scale/tempo/signature can be reviewed and edited for all levels (composition, part, line, local) 
  • 'Create Tone Row' setting for chromatic progression generation (experimental setting, which must be enabled under Settings / Miscellaneous)
  • Double-clicking on horizontal or vertical scrollbars zooms out the view, another double-click restores the previous view
  • Vertical scrollbar has magnifiers to allow zooming
  • New Idea Tool track option: 'Select Phrases From List In Random Order'
  • Melody Generator UI improvements: '2nd Last Note' menu added, Tonic, Step Above Tonic, Step Below Tonic added to 'Last Note' options
  • 'Render Motive With Variations' added to Melody Editor menu
  • 'Change Chords According To New Scale' option added to master track scale menu (Scale Inheritance) and other places
  • Editing in Percussion Generator was reworked, it is snappier and more reliable
  • 'Preserve Phrase Order' option added to Phrase Container, moving phrases up/down is possible
  • Improved bar position editing is used in the Timeline Inspector, and in Loop Options
  • Track vertical zoom is saved with the track
  • [Plug-ins] RC VST3 plug-in displays input and output channel menu in Studio One
  • [Plug-ins] RC VST3 plug-in offers 128 output channels (some DAWs may not handle all 128 channels)
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed preview (incoming notes sent to plug-in host)
  • Memory footprint reduced, memory and resource allocations optimized (lots of changes under the hood)
  • Stability improvements

April 19, 2021: v4.1.4

  • Fixed: entering a melody formula crashed in the Melody Editor 'generation settings' when the chords track was not enabled
  • Fixed: pop-up help did not work in Melody Editor 'generation settings'
  • Fixed: wrong font sizes were used for vertical sliders on Melody Editor 'generation settings'
  • Fixed occasional issues with exported MIDI length
  • [macOS] Fixed crashes when opening pop-up menus

March 22, 2021: v4.1.3

  • Keyboard shortcuts added: 'Mute/Unmute Selected Track', 'Solo/Unsolo Selected Track' (unassigned)
  • 'Undo' and 'Redo' keyboard shortcuts added to Melody Editor
  • Chord help is displayed multiple times on the master track
  • Fixed: split phrases at bar boundaries did not work
  • Fixed MIDI import issues when 'auto-detect phrases' was not enabled
  • Fixed: Track Templates browser did not display folders initially

March 3, 2021: v4.1.2

  • New size entry for phrase generators in the phrase inspector 
  • Improved length display for phrases and rhythm patterns in the phrase inspector
  • Fixed badly working "Preview Rhythm" button in the phrase inspector
  • Fixed: preview in chord selector was always turned on
  • Fixed: 'lock' should never be enabled for percussion phrases
  • Fixed: in a percussion track the 'lock' button should not be displayed

February 22, 2021: v4.1.1

  • Fixed: adding notes to a transposed phrase added the wrong notes in Note Editing mode
  • Fixed: composition loaded in Note Editing mode sometimes did not display notes
  • Fixes for adding notes/phrases in the composite track
  • Fixed crash when 'unghosting' a phrase during playback
  • Fixed phrase preview in inspector when preview with other tracks
  • Fixed importing MIDI files with multiple 'note off' events for a 'note on' event
  • [macOS] Fixed hanging when using the AU plug-in in Logic Pro X 10.6

February 8, 2021: v4.1

  • Chords track added to Melody Editor
  • 'Tonnetz' added to Chord Selector and master track chord options
  • 'Parallels' tab added in the Chord Selector that lists all modes and chords
  • Chord rules and chord progressions are included for Dorian, Lydian, Myxolydian, Phrygian, Aeolian modes, kindly contributed by Tomás San Miguel (not available in the demo version)
  • MIDI files and folders can be dropped on the progression browser to save the chord progressions from the files
  • Improved detecting and importing 'chords only' MIDI files
  • New variation: Rhythm Mapper
  • New option in Idea Tool track menu: Use Rhythms For 'Rhythm Mapper'
  • Chords can be on 'beat' boundaries by default which is the denominator of the signature
  • 'Lightning' button added to folder tracks in the Idea Tool which regenerates all tracks in the folder
  • Improved 'Collect Scales For Selected Chords'
  • Vector graphics is used for the buttons in the track header
  • Idea Tool UI layout improved when used with big font sizes
  • Using sliders in the track header updates the same slider in the track inspector
  • Variations display help when the mouse is hovered on the name
  • Fixed crash in Chord Selector when using bigger font sizes
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed: settings were saved in the RapidComposer folder instead of RapidComposerV4

December 7, 2020: v4.03

  • [macOS] AU MFX plug-in included
  • 'Open User Guide' button added which opens the updated v4 user guide (the wiki is deprecated)
  • Fixed importing MIDI CC's in MIDI files and other MIDI import fixes

November 30, 2020: v4.02

  • Fixed inserting bars into the composition in the timeline inspector
  • Fixed loading compositions when a VST instrument was set as preview instrument
  • Small fixes in the phrase and rhythm drop targets
  • Double-clicking on a 'Motive Generator' will set the instrument in the Melody Editor
  • When using the 'Repeat' option in the Idea Tool, regenerating individual tracks or the master track will do the repetition
  • Fixed crash when clicking on the phrase preview in Apply Shape and Apply Melody variations
  • [macOS] Fixed crash on Cmd+Q on macOS Catalina

November 23, 2020: v4.01

  • Phrase inspector shows timeline and note lengths for percussion phrases
  • Idea Tool 'Replace Composition' mode sets composition scale, tempo and signature, instead of setting the same in the added part
  • [Plug-ins] Fixed playback issues in the Melody Editor when soundfont was used
  • Fixed playback in the phrase inspector when previewing phrase generators dropped in percussion tracks
  • Fixed Idea Tool crashing randomly
  • Fixed crash when clicking on the 'Phrase Container'

November 16, 2020: v4.0

  • Redesigned user interface
  • Browsers are docked on the right side, file browser added
  • Melody Editor tab added for motive development, melody generation and editing
  • All rhythm and phrase generators were revamped
  • New rewritten VST2, VST3 and AU plugins. The plug-ins are self contained, so they do not use the main application. You can use soundfonts in the plug-in.
  • The installer is improved, including installing plug-ins. The Windows installer includes 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
  • Folder tracks
  • Peak meters and Audio Gain slider displayed for SF2, VSTi and audio tracks
  • Settings / VSTi page reworked and simplified
  • New structure inspector with extended functionality
  • Diatonic and chromatic mediant chords are in the Chords Suggestions
  • The initial 'enter license key' screen redesigned with the possibility to start the demo version
  • New variation: 'Apply Shape'. It is similar to Apply Melody but uses the new rhythm mapping
  • Add selected chords to a progression rule (from the master track, the progression editor, and the browser)
  • Additional bigger font sizes offered, suitable for 4K resolution
  • At the first usage font size is automatically set based on the screen resolution
  • Supporting special characters in directory names (cyrillic, kanji, etc)
  • Color themes updated and cleaned up. New color themes: 'Dark With Orange', 'Katalin Dark'
  • Dozens of other improvements and bug fixes that are impossible to list