Version 1.1 Notes:
I’ve added several things: the biggest is that there are now two lanes of rotating intervals, a second fixed interval, and six steps per rotator lane instead of four.
This version has tweaked FX and an adjustment to the rotator on/off toggle (it now sends only one voice when toggled off).
In the demonstration video, I am controlling a Novation Peak (via the Zoia Euroburo) with a Berglund Instruments NuRAD Breath Controller. The patch should work with any midi-controllable poly synth. I hope you enjoy it!
What is a Chord Rotator?
Jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker programmed his Oberheim Xpander to select tuned oscillators in sequence. The rotator takes a note input, adds a fixed parallel interval, and adds a third rotating interval. The rotating interval is not quantized; instead, it is just a sequence of intervals transposed from the input note.
For example, if the fixed interval is set to 7 semitones up, and the rating sequence is +3, +5, +4, +2 (a minor third, a perfect fourth, a major third, and a major second), and you play four Cs in a row, you get:
CEbG, CFG, CEG, CDG
If you play C, D, E, and F in order, you get:
CEbG, DGA, EG#B, FGC
The effect is of chaotic, unpredictable “accompaniment,” but with structure.