Scribbletune

CLI

Scribbletune includes a command line interface to generate MIDI files directly without writing JavaScript code. This is useful for quick sketching, scripting, and testing patterns from the terminal.

You can run the CLI as scribbletune (global install), npx scribbletune (local install), or directly from a local build using node dist/cli.cjs.

# Global install
npm install -g scribbletune
scribbletune --help

# Local/project install
npm install scribbletune
npx scribbletune --help

# Local build (from the Scribbletune repo)
node dist/cli.cjs --help

Command format

scribbletune --riff <root> <mode> <pattern> <subdiv> [options]
scribbletune --chord <root> <mode> <pattern> <subdiv> <progression|random> [options]
scribbletune --arp <root> <mode> <pattern> <subdiv> <progression|random> [options]

Progression input

--chord and --arp accept these progression formats:

1645            # degree digits
"I IV vi V"     # roman numerals (space separated)
I,IV,vi,V       # roman numerals (comma separated)
random          # generated progression
CM-FM-Am-GM     # explicit chord names

Notes:

Hyphenated roman numerals like I-IV-vi-V are not supported.
For explicit chords like CM-FM-Am-GM, root/mode are currently ignored.

Common options

--outfile <file.mid>              # default: music.mid
--bpm <number>
--subdiv <4n|8n|1m...>            # optional override to positional subdiv
--sizzle [sin|cos|rampUp|rampDown] [reps]
--sizzle-reps <number>
--amp <0-127>
--accent <x--x...>
--accent-low <0-127>
--fit-pattern                      # explicit enable (enabled by default)
--no-fit-pattern                   # disable automatic pattern fitting

# arp only
--count <2-8>
--order <digits>

# riff only
--style <letters>                  # style/motif, e.g. AABC

If your pattern uses [ and ] (subdivisions), quote it in shell:

scribbletune --arp C3 major 'x-x[xx]-x-[xx]' 16n 1736

Pattern helpers

You can use repeat helpers directly in CLI pattern input:

x.repeat(4)       # -> xxxx
'x-x[xx]'.repeat(2)
2(x-x[xx])        # prefix repeat shorthand
(x-x[xx])2        # suffix repeat shorthand

`--riff` examples

# Basic riff
scribbletune --riff C3 phrygian x-xRx_RR 8n --outfile riff.mid

# Riff with style
scribbletune --riff C3 phrygian x-xRx_RR 8n --style AABC --outfile riff-style.mid

# Pattern with subdivisions
scribbletune --riff C3 phrygian 'x-x[xx]-x-[xx]' 8n --style AABC --outfile riff-subdiv.mid

Style behavior:

--style creates sections by repeating the full pattern per letter.
--style AABC means section order: A, A, B, C.
Repeated letters reuse the same generated section (same rhythm and same notes, including random R choices).

`--chord` examples

# Degree digits
scribbletune --chord C3 major xxxx 1m 1645 --outfile chord-1645.mid

# Roman numerals
scribbletune --chord C3 major xxxx 1m "I IV vi V" --outfile chord-roman.mid

# Random progression
scribbletune --chord C3 major xxxx 1m random --outfile chord-random.mid

# Explicit chord names
scribbletune --chord C3 major xxxx 1m CM-FM-Am-GM --outfile chord-explicit.mid

`--arp` examples

# Degree progression
scribbletune --arp C3 major xxxx 1m 1736 --sizzle cos 4 --outfile arp-1736.mid

# Single degree "1" means tonic chord in the selected key/mode
scribbletune --arp C3 major xxxx 4n 1 --outfile arp-degree-1.mid

# Explicit chords
scribbletune --arp C3 major xxxx 1m CM-FM-Am-GM --count 4 --order 1234 --outfile arp-explicit.mid

# Custom arp order (one-based)
scribbletune --arp C3 major xxxx 4n 1 --order 2143 --outfile arp-order.mid

# Auto-fit is default
scribbletune --arp C3 major x 4n 1736 --outfile arp-fit.mid

# Disable auto-fit
scribbletune --arp C3 major x 4n 1736 --no-fit-pattern --outfile arp-no-fit.mid

--order behavior:

One-based order is recommended (1234, 2143).
Zero-based order is also accepted (0123, 1032) for compatibility.

Run scribbletune --help for the latest usage text.

CLI