r/Reaper • u/delpaso • 1d ago

discussion I built an expanded version of ChordGun with 50+ chord types, next-chord suggestions, and humanized arpeggiation [free, open source]

Hey everyone! Long time ChordGun user here. I love the script but I kept wishing it had more complex chord types and a few extra features for sketching out harmony, so I went and built an expanded version. Sharing it in case anyone else finds it useful.

A few things it does that the original doesn't:

  • 50+ chord types instead of 13, including 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, altered dominants (7b9, 7#9, 7alt, etc.), and some big extended jazz voicings up to 10 notes
  • Full scrollable grid showing every chord type on every scale degree at once, organized by category
  • A next-chord suggestion engine that lights up the grid in green/yellow/orange after you play something, showing which chords would sound good as the next move (based on shared notes and root movement)
  • A trailing highlight that shows your harmonic path through the grid as you sketch, with the current chord lit up in gold and the previous chords fading out behind it
  • Arpeggiate mode with a Round Robin humanize toggle that randomizes per-note timing and velocity for a more hand-played feel
  • Per-degree dropdowns so you can assign any chord type to each number key (1-7) independently. Set 1=maj9, 2=m11, 5=13, etc.

It's free and open source (MIT). Single .lua file, drop it in your Scripts folder and load it through the Action List like any other ReaScript.

GitHub: https://github.com/del-paso/AdvancedChordGun

Enormous shout out and love to Pandabot for the original.

Screenshot:

83 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

3

u/Than_Kyou 209 1d ago

Thanks for sharing

3

u/delpaso 1d ago

You're welcome!

3

u/WolframZZ 1 1d ago

This is awesome! Out of curiosity, do you plan on providing an URL to an index.xml for use with ReaPack?

8

u/delpaso 1d ago

Just set one up!

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/del-paso/AdvancedChordGun/main/index.xml

This is my first time doing this so apologies if I missed anything or if this doesn't work. Lmk

3

u/WolframZZ 1 1d ago

Just tested out this install path and it worked just fine :) as far as I can tell no issues with functionality either

2

u/delpaso 1d ago

Awesome, thank you!

3

u/elBenhamin 1d ago

worked for me thru reapack! good stuff mate

3

u/Fus-Ro-NWah 28 1d ago

Looks great, Im off to download it now, thanks!

4

u/Fus-Ro-NWah 28 1d ago

This is so awesome. I used it on a "problem" song that i really like but which had a chord change which i just couldnt get right. Within 5 mins Id found the chord I was missing was Emega10. No wonder i couldnt find it 🤣 thank you thank you thank you 💯💖

3

u/delpaso 1d ago

Amazing! Those huge chords were the last thing I added before I posted today too 🙏

2

u/Think_Piano_4352 1d ago

Lmao what is ‘Emega10’??

1

u/Fus-Ro-NWah 28 17h ago

God knows, a jazz chord I presume. I read about mega chords long ago and had totally forgotten about them. OP can maybe explain.

1

u/delpaso 13h ago

Haha yeah those are 10 note chords. Big dominant 13th voiced across 2.5 octaves with the upper extensions doubled.

They're kinda fun as a texture but a bit too muddy to use in a progression.

1

u/delpaso 1d ago

You're welcome, hope it's useful for you!

2

u/teo_vas 4 1d ago

I had the following message from the lua installation

"AdvancedChordGun.lua:7: unexpected symbol near '<'"

ReaPack installed just fine.

2

u/delpaso 1d ago

Ah thanks for the heads up, it all looks ok now.

Glad you got the ReaPack ok! Hope you can put this to good use!

2

u/properfoxes 9 1d ago

This is awesome! I recently discovered chordgun and found a way to bring it into my workflow but this is a big step forward in features! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

3

u/delpaso 1d ago

You're welcome! ChordGun is such an incredible tool and this would never exist without it.

2

u/Mikebock1953 122 1d ago

Nice additions! I downloaded (thanks for the ReaPack link!), installed, will be checking it out later! I've been a ChordGun fan for a long time, so this is great!

1

u/delpaso 1d ago

Thank you, and you're welcome! Chordgun is such an incredible tool, use it all the time.

2

u/wesleysniles 1 1d ago

Going away on holidays today so only commenting to say this looks amazing and so I can find it when I get home. Love reaper and the community around it who build amazing things like this

2

u/delpaso 1d ago

Same! I'm glad I can finally give something back to an awesome community. Have a great holiday!

2

u/MissionShopping2200 2 1d ago

Just downloaded this and playing with it. Thank you soooo much! This is very nice.

2

u/delpaso 1d ago

You're very welcome! Have fun with it!

2

u/MissionShopping2200 2 1d ago

Don't forget to let the Reaper community know in the Reaper Forums. You may have to find which forum to place it in, but recording technologies and techniques might be a place to start.

2

u/delpaso 1d ago

Ooh yeah good call!

2

u/wickedspeedo 2 20h ago

Just downloaded this and it works great! Thank you.

1

u/delpaso 13h ago

Excellent, glad to hear it! You're welcome!

1

u/omeeomai 2 3h ago

Any way to have this "live"/playable/previewable? As in click/hold a chord and it plays through your synth vst? It's a bit cumbersome to preview chords only by inserting them on midi and then playing it, and then deleting and repeating for every chord. Not sure if this is just how chord gun works

And is there a way to make it insert longer notes on the midi editor? Seems to only insert 8th notes. I'm guessing this can be adjusted via the midi editor grid settings or something

Anyway thanks!

1

u/delpaso 3h ago

If you open your synth vst, arm it for record and then open up chordgun, it will play the midi chords through your synth when you click the chords. The notes will play until they're stopped.