Install on new device

As long as you are using the same app store and user account as when you originally bought Chordbot you can install the app again without extra charge, even on multiple devices.

Check if you can find Chordbot on the "Purchased Apps" / "Your Apps" section in your app store. If so, just install it from there and the app will install again without any extra charges.

If Chordbot doesn't show up in the list of previously purchased apps you are probably using another account than the one you originally used to buy the app with. Unfortunately there is no practical way to move licenses between accounts so in this case you will either have to switch to the original account, or buy a new copy for your new account.

Blank screen / app won't start

On some Android tablets the app will only work if launched from landscape mode (wide-screen). Launching from portrait mode will only show a blank screen. (Or vice versa under some even more mysterious circumstances).

If this happens, just force close the app and launch it again from landscape mode and see if that helps.

Contact support@chordbot.com if the app still doesn't start.

Switch licenses between iOS / Android

There is currently no practical way to transfer app licenses between Google Play and Apple's App Store, so you will need to get a new copy for the other platform.

Chord Colors

The color of the chord indicates how well the chord fits in to the currently selected key.

• Green: All chord tones belong to the current key.
• Yellow: All chord tones except one belong to the current key.
• Red: Two or more chord tones are outside the current key.

Green chords are guaranteed to sound good together (at least in a traditional sense). Yellow chords could work in certain situations while red chords are more likely to clash with the green and yellow chords. These are not absolute laws, so depending on what kind of sound you are lookig for a red chord might be perfect for your song.

Selecting an unusual mode and using diatonic (green) chords can be a good way to discover interesting and original chord progressions.

Licensing / Usage

You are hereby awarded a perpetual non-exclusive royalty-free license (NERF) to use anything you create in Chordbot for commercial recording and performance purposes throughout the known universe, for any medium that exists now or in the future.

Credits

Samples from GeneralUser GS by Chris Collins
Coding by Lars Careliusson

Sharing songs with other Chordbot users

Chordbot song files (in JSON-format) can be shared between Chordbot users by sending them through any standard file sharing app (E-mail apps, iCloud Files, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)

These files can also be used as backups of individual songs.

Wrong instruments in exported MIDI-files

By default, Chordbot will add Program Change messages to the exported MIDI-files that instruct the playback synthesizer what instrument samples to use. The mapping of these instruments correspond to the venerable but ancient General MIDI standard which is seldom used in modern softsynths.

This will typically lead to your softsynth switching to an unwanted patch during playback. In order to avoid this you can disable the Export GM instrument map option under Menu > Settings.

Exporting WAV-files to Garageband (iOS)

• Use AudioCopy (Menu > Export) to copy your song to the clipboard.
• Start GarageBand and go to the mixer view.
• Click somewhere in the empty space under the tracks and select Paste.

Importing songs into Chordbot

• Locate the file you want to import, in the app you received it in (E-mail, Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, etc).
• Click the file and you should be given a choice of apps that are capable of opening the file.
• Choose Chordbot from this list.
• Chordbot will open and ask you if you want to import the file.
• After you confirm the import the file will be available from the menu Open

Many file sharing apps will first preview JSON-files as plain text. If this happens, lock for an Open in button/icon, click it and choose to open the file in Chordbot.

Note: Only song files in JSON-format ('MySong.json') can be imported back into Chordbot. It is not possible to import MIDI- or WAV-files.

Missing presets from Chordbot 1.X

In Chordbot 2.0 all the old styles from Chordbot 1.25 were split into individual tracks that can be combined and mixed independently. Most of the old styles are still available as presets, but some of the simpler ones that mostly consisted of a single instrument (Balladica, Pluckocaster, Plaino, etc.) and some others are now only available as individual instrument tracks. Here's a list of the old presets and which tracks they now correspond to

Planned features

Here's an incomplete, undetailed and unordered list of planned features:

• Style/pattern editor
• Downloadable song/sound libraries
• Intros, outros and fill-ins
• Next chord recommendation algorithm
• Support for 1/8 note durations
• Web and desktop versions
• Insert effects
• Live MIDI Output

No ETA's can be given on any of these. Chordbot is a one-man, part-time project so development will be slow at times.

Feature requests

If you have requests for features that are not already in the list above, please send them to support@chordbot.com.

Style requests

If there is a style or instrument pattern that you would like to see included in future updates the best thing you could do is to send in a short example of that style as a MIDI-file.

A few bars are enough, no intros or endings required. Record it as it would sound in the middle of a Chordbot track. The patterns have to be repeatable and work with any four note chord. Use only chord notes, no embellishments or ornamentations. Drum patterns can use most sounds in the General MIDI specification excluding helicopter noises, dog barks and similar abominations.