What are your favourite "idea generation" VSTs?

Hello! I've just started using Reaper. Nice to be here :-) I discovered at the weekend, and I think it's so awesome. I've only just scratched the surface of what it can do, but half an hour spent messing around with those Bach-like chords has already given me a ton of new ideas. It got me wondering - what other plugins exist to help you come up with interesting things? Neat chord progressions, rhythms, melodies based around certain scales, whatever. Basically stuff to aid the creative process as opposed to sound generation or processing. For example, I'm a huge fan of for drums - loading some random midi loop I found on the internet into it and seeing what it comes out with is totally inspiring, and many times it's sent me off in directions I never would have considered if I'd had to do all the programming myself. I'm not looking for something like Band In A Box that does all the writing and arrangement for you - more like a kind of 'suggestion machine' if that makes any sense. What ya got for me? :-)

Definitely check out RapidComposer. It is a amazing, if not quite a fully realized concept. It can already do some amazing stuff. The developer is very open and responsive to suggestions on KVR. I have owned it for about 6 months and seen the improvements in that time and expect that will continue. It is probably comparable developement wise to Reaper circa version 2.5-3.0. The other parallel to Reaper is the developer. It is clear that this is a life passion and I am a sucker for such folks. Good luck in your search.

Idk how I feel about this plugin. On the one hand, I can definitely relate with wanting some simple way to do things which is easy to change, and I love removing tedium of doing repeating crap that you wish your computer could do for you. But stuff like this, makes "happy accidents" a little bit too easy, and really cheapens music creation to me. I could see how people would love it, because it would let them make cool music without putting much effort into learning anything but, "There is no art without intention." -Duke Ellington.

LOL This thread is a perfect caricature of itself Need VSTs to come up with creative ideas for me but can't come up with any creative ideas of where to look for them or what to look for Solution go to computer so that other people can generate ideas for me of some VSTs that will allow the computer to generate ideas for me It's a work of ironic art! I should have my computer make it into a skit for me and sell it to the New Yorker as my idea

For some reason, as soon as you start talking about software creating chord progressions - even if it's you picking the key and style - some people just go nuts over how you aren't making music anymore. I think they might be the same people who live in perpetual fear of a machine uprising.

Following tools have provided me with some fresh ideas when other means have not been available, or at least some idle fun. Not totally random, controllable but still with some surprising results. They are based on math and geometrics. Euclidean rhythms, commonly found in world music. Study by Godfried Toussaint. The Euclidean Algorithm Generates Traditional Musical Rhythms archive.bridgesmathart.org/2005/bridges2005-47.pdf Here's a webpage flash app anybody can use to easily test the idea. Euclidean rhythms By Wouter For Reaperites, user true-grue released similar JS fx, Euclid JS Also in the same package is Musinum, which is based on Lars Kindermann's algorithm. Different kind of fun, Otomata generative sequencer. Same for Reaper but with more features Nova Two - generative sequencer by tonecarver

It's an open road.....whatever floats your boat. One thing I do regularly is to set up REAPER to record midi, preferably from a keyboard but the virtual keyboard can do the job. Then spend five minutes or so just hitting (clicking on) keys, to a drum track or the metronome. You might mentally wander into some kind of groove, so stay with it and keep hitting/clicking the keys. Save the recording, then watch in the midi editor as you listen to the result. See/hear something interesting, somewhere in there? Save it, and develop it to the best of your abilities/desires. Whatever you come up with as an end result, it's all yours!

To me there's nothing wrong with using something like this piece of software to try create something that's new and maybe exciting for you. I think Band-In-A-Box is also a very unique piece of software. One way or another a composer is influenced by something. Folks working with video are going to be influenced by the scenes, dialog, and the flow of the direction the video is going. A jingle writer is going to be influenced by the manner in which the company advertises and any other pertinent info the writer might gleefully get his/her hands on. I think anyone in the business of creating music for monetary means is going to be influenced by what's in front of them. So what if you have nothing in front of you. That's when something like this software and BIAB can be fun and useful. On a side note, I've seen talk of gigging and playing live in this thread. When it comes to gigging playing live or even on your own recordings I believe it's important to seek your own way of free form playing. It does take a little time and relentless pursuit but that's what learning and eventually becoming the best player you can be is all about. Not only that, but with the absence of Free Form, to me music would really be boring and I wouldn't have spent my lifetime of playing without having that freedom. Heh heh, I think I might be talking to karbo when I say this, from what I can tell that's what he's talking about but don't know for sure? :)

MyBrain. Windows only I'm afraid. Windows of consciousness that is.