BARBAR

Ramp up the intensity

Endlessly rising pitch, accelerating rhythm, or both together

A MIDI plugin that plays your chords as a Shepard tone and a Risset rhythm, on any instrument you own.

$19$29introductory price at launch

Join the waitlistHear it first

Shepard tone

Pitch that climbs or sinks forever, made from a figure you write. Play it plain, then switch tabs. Same chords, same tempo. Watch the pole by the BarBar name.

Staircase

A one-bar climb over four chords in C major. Each repeat starts a chord tone higher. It never runs out of stairs.

The figure following the chords: 44 notes over 16 beats, round and round.The Shepard part: 501 notes in 4 octave layers. Then the 48-beat loop comes round again. C major, 104 bpm.

Undertow

A minor, pointed the other way, over a progression that walks down too. It sinks a chord tone each repeat and never hits bottom.

The figure following the chords: 32 notes over 16 beats, round and round.The Shepard part: 368 notes in 4 octave layers. Then the 48-beat loop comes round again. A minor, 96 bpm.

Risset rhythm

Rhythm that speeds up or slows down forever, made from an accent pattern you write. Play it plain, then switch tabs. The pole follows the tempo.

Staircase

The same four chords as blocks, on a one-bar accent pattern. It keeps speeding up and never gets any faster.

The accent pattern on the chords: 144 notes over 16 beats, round and round.The Risset part: 567 notes in 3 tempo layers. Then the 32-beat loop comes round again. C major, 104 bpm.

Undertow

The same chords, roots only, down in the bass. The rhythm winds down for good and never stops.

The accent pattern on the chords: 32 notes over 16 beats, round and round.The Risset part: 126 notes in 4 tempo layers. Then the 32-beat loop comes round again. A minor, 96 bpm.

More examples

How it works

  1. Give it chords

    Play the progression once from another track, or drag in a MIDI file. BarBar loops it and keeps those notes to itself. Without chords, it sticks to your key and scale.

  2. Write a figure for the Shepard part

    A bar of notes on a grid is plenty. Main degrees land on chord tones, the rest become passing notes. Each repeat starts a chord tone higher, or lower.

  3. Write an accent pattern for the Risset part

    Rest, ghost, normal or accent per step. The Risset part plays each chord in that rhythm, as a block or its root, and never stops speeding up. Or slowing down.

  4. Send each part somewhere

    Each part has its own MIDI channel and loop length. Aim them at one instrument or two, or switch either off. BarBar follows your host's transport.

Drag the loops out as a MIDI file, one track per part, and they're yours.

Why it works

A barber pole's stripes only go round. A new one slips in at the bottom as an old one leaves the top, so they seem to climb forever.

A Shepard tone does it with pitch. BarBar stacks your figure in several octaves and climbs them all a chord tone per repeat. Loud in the middle, quiet at the edges, so one copy fades out up high as another fades in down low. Your ear follows the climb and misses the handover.

A Risset rhythm does it with time. Copies of the accent pattern run at doubling speeds, all accelerating together. The fastest fades out as a slow one fades in underneath, so the tempo keeps rising without getting anywhere.

The two parts run side by side over the same chords.

In the piano rolls above, colour is the layer and opacity the velocity. You can watch the fades do the work.

Formats

  • AU
  • AU MIDI FX
  • VST3
  • CLAP
  • Standalone

macOS first, Windows later. In Logic, the AU MIDI FX sits in front of any instrument; the others send MIDI out or play the built-in voice. Release date not announced yet.

Questions, awkward ones included

Does it make sound?

MIDI out. The instrument build adds a plain sine voice, so you can hear the effect before routing anything.

Where do the chords come from?

From MIDI. Play the progression once from another track, or drag in a file. You can't type chord names. Without chords, it uses your key and scale.

Will it read my chords correctly?

Plain triads and sevenths, yes. Sus, sixth and ninth chords read as the nearest triad or seventh, so check the chord strip. For arpeggios or loose playing, set the chord grid to a beat, half a bar or a bar.

Will it work with my synth?

It depends on the synth, and that's BarBar's biggest limit. The effect is all loudness, so velocity has to mean volume and little else. Velocity-layered samples and patches where velocity changes tone weaken it. The velocity curve helps, and the built-in voice shows what you're aiming for.

Does the pitch glide?

No. It steps by chord tones, one repeat at a time. An MPE glide mode is planned. Don't buy the first version for it.

Do the two parts loop together?

Not usually. Each loops at its own length (48 beats and 32 in the examples above), but both lock to your host's bar position, so they meet the same way every time.

There are free devices that do this.

There are, and some are very good. Most are synths with their own sound. The two we found that write MIDI are Live-only, do one illusion each and ignore chords. BarBar does both, on your instruments, in any host that loads the formats above.

Is it a one-trick pony?

Two tricks, four directions, any figure over any chords. Priced like a small tool, because it is one: $29, or $19 at launch.

How many notes is that?

More than you wrote. Each layer is another copy, mostly quiet. Four octave layers and three tempo layers can ask a synth for a dozen voices or more. A heavy patch will thank you for keeping layer counts low.

Is there a Windows version?

Not at first. macOS ships first, Windows follows, and the waitlist hears about it.

Join the waitlist

One email when BarBar ships, with the date and the $19 launch price. One more when Windows follows. Nothing else.

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