6EN MELODY User Guide
MIDI Melody Generator · by GDP Audio · macOS & Windows
Download the PDF · 6EN MELODY product page · Release notes
Overview · Controls · Factory Presets · Support
Overview
6EN MELODY is a MIDI melody generator and the fourth module of the 6EN series: it writes hooks, top lines and lead lines. Load it on an instrument track and it plays in sync with your host, sending one note at a time as MIDI to the lead, keys or synth of your choice — it makes no sound of its own. It follows your chords from 6EN CHORDS automatically (6EN LINK), phrases like a player — a call, an answer and an ending — and gives you nine styles, contour, range, leap, motif and outside-note controls, 16 endings and 27 presets. Drag the finished melody into your project as a MIDI clip.
System Requirements
| macOS | macOS 12 Monterey or later — Intel & Apple Silicon |
| Windows | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit |
| Formats | macOS: VST3, Audio Unit (AU) Windows: VST3 |
| DAW | Any VST3 or AU host that supports instrument plugins (Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Bitwig Studio, REAPER, Cubase, Studio One, etc.). How the MIDI output is routed to other tracks depends on the host. |
Installation
macOS
Run the 6EN MELODY macOS installer (the .pkg file you downloaded) and follow the on-screen steps. The installer places files at:
| VST3 | /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/MIDI6EN_MELODY.vst3 |
| AU | /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/MIDI6EN_MELODY.component |
| Docs | /Library/Application Support/GDP Audio/MIDI6EN_MELODY/ |
Windows
Run the 6EN MELODY Windows installer (the .exe file you downloaded) and follow the on-screen steps. The installer places files at:
| VST3 | C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\MIDI6EN_MELODY.vst3 |
| Docs | C:\Program Files\GDP Audio\6EN MELODY\ |
Most DAWs find 6EN MELODY automatically on their next plugin scan. If it doesn't appear, rescan plugins from your DAW's plugin manager.
Licensing
6EN MELODY runs in demo mode until a license is activated. In demo mode the plugin's audio output plays a brief noise burst approximately every 45 seconds, the MIDI output occasionally drops a bar, and EXPORT MIDI is disabled. Everything else remains fully functional.
To purchase a license visit gdpaudio.com.
To activate:
- Click the UNLICENSED - CLICK TO ACTIVATE pill in the plugin footer.
- Paste the full contents of your license file into the text box.
- Click Activate. The pill will change to LICENSED TO followed by the name on your license.
Your license file carries the name it was issued to, and the pill shows it (shortened if it is long). A license that carries no personal name simply shows LICENSED. Either way it unlocks the plugin in full.
Your license is stored at:
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/GDP Audio/MIDI6EN_MELODY/license.settings |
| Windows | %APPDATA%\GDP Audio\MIDI6EN_MELODY\license.settings |
Using another computer — activate 6EN MELODY there with the same license file. No internet connection is required.
Uninstalling
macOS — open MIDI6EN_MELODY Uninstaller.app from your Applications folder and follow the prompts.
Windows — go to Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find 6EN MELODY by GDP Audio, and choose Uninstall.
Both remove the plugin files and the documentation. Your license file is kept, so reinstalling 6EN MELODY later doesn't require re-activation.
Controls
PRESETS — The preset bar in the header. 27 factory presets, each a style with its key, scale, loop length, ending and a melody to start from. They use the same names as the presets of 6EN BASS and 6EN CHORDS, so loading one name in each gives a matched set. Click the name for the list (grouped by style family) or step with the arrows; a * after the name means you changed something since loading it.
MIDI OUT — The light flashes whenever a note is sent. CH sets the MIDI channel (1–16). TEST plays the melody's first note. ROUTE shows how to send the melody to an instrument in the host you're using.
BPM — Tempo for the play button when the host is stopped. When the host reports a tempo the box shows HOST and 6EN MELODY follows it.
PLAY / STOP — Runs the melody while the host is stopped, for auditioning. Whenever the host transport plays, 6EN MELODY follows the host's position instead.
RESET — Returns to the current style's base melody.
STYLE ENGINE — Pick a style, grouped by family — TRAP & DRILL: Trap, Drill; HIP-HOP & R&B: Boom Bap, R&B; HOUSE & GARAGE: House, UK Garage; SOUL & FUNK: Neo-Soul Rap, Half-Step Funk, Fusion Funk — or step with PREV and NEXT. Each style has its own rhythm, note choice and slides; choosing one loads its base melody and its CONTOUR, RANGE, LEAP, MOTIF, OUTSIDE, DENSITY, SYNCOPATION and SWING. Below the dropdown: the style's character, its typical tempo and the kind of melody it writes.
KEY & SCALE — KEY transposes the melody without rewriting it. SCALE (Minor, Major, Harmonic Minor, Phrygian, Dorian, Minor Pentatonic, Major Pentatonic — the same list as 6EN BASS and 6EN CHORDS) sets the notes it is written in and writes a new melody (locked notes stay). When 6EN MELODY follows 6EN CHORDS, the key and scale come from there.
FOLLOW CHORDS — On: the melody follows chords — chord tones on the strong beats, scale notes between, and endings that land on the last chord. Off (or with no chords): it follows the key alone, using the key's root, 3rd and 5th as home notes. See Following 6EN CHORDS below.
LINK — 6EN LINK letter A–D. 6EN MELODY follows the 6EN CHORDS on the same letter on this computer, live. Click for the letter, HOLD (keep the current chords and stop following changes; turning HOLD off catches up) and Clear chords. The line under the buttons shows the chords and where they come from.
PASTE — Takes the chords that COPY in 6EN CHORDS put on the clipboard — for chords from another computer, or in a host where LINK can't reach (see below). You can also drop a MIDI file on the window: a file exported from 6EN CHORDS gives its exact chords, and any other chord MIDI file is read from its notes.
BARS — Loop length: 1, 2, 4 or 8 bars. The melody is always written 8 bars long, so switching never changes it — BARS only sets how much of it loops.
VARIATION — The seed is the melody's number: the same settings and the same seed always give the same melody. Click SEED (or GENERATE VARIATION) for a new one — never one of your last few. The < and > arrows beside SEED step back and forward through your last 64 variations, with your note edits and ending.
OCTAVE — Moves the whole melody up or down an octave. Note names use C3 = MIDI note 60.
CHORD lane — The chords the melody follows, by name. Edit them in 6EN CHORDS (they arrive here live), or paste again.
Piano roll — The melody, one note at a time over the notes it can use (out-of-key rows are dimmed); the current chord's notes are shaded. Brighter notes are louder; pale-blue notes are outside notes; a small curve marks a slide. Click an empty cell to add a note (drag right for its length), drag a note to move it, drag its right edge to resize, double-click to delete. Right-click a note for Slide, Lock and Delete. A locked note stays when the melody is rewritten. Click a note name at the left to hear it. Edits are saved with your project.
PHRASE lane — Shows the CALL (first half of the loop), the ANSWER (second half) and the ENDING when one is on.
ENDING — Plays the ending chosen beside it at the end of the loop; press again to remove it. Click the box for all 16 endings and the length (1 beat, 2 beats or 1 bar), or scroll over it to step through. See Endings below.
EXPORT MIDI — Drag the button onto a track in your host to drop in the melody as a MIDI clip as long as the loop, or click it to save a MIDI file (named 6en-melody-…mid).
GENERATE VARIATION — A new melody in the same style and settings. Locked notes stay.
CONTOUR — The shape of each two-bar phrase: ARCH (up, then down), RISE, FALL or WAVE (up and down twice).
RANGE — How wide the melody moves, 7 to 24 semitones.
LEAP — Low: mostly steps to the next note of the scale. High: more skips and jumps.
MOTIF — How much the answer repeats the call. 0%: every bar is new. 100%: the answer has the call's rhythm and shape, moved to fit its own chords.
OUTSIDE — Adds chromatic approach notes — a half step below or above a strong-beat note, just before it. Turning it never moves the other notes. 0%: every note is in the key.
DENSITY — How many notes the style plays. More density only adds notes; the ones you had stay.
SYNCOPATION — Pushes notes off the beat and a 16th ahead of it.
SWING — Delays the off-beat 16th notes, up to a dotted 16th at 100%.
VELOCITY — The average velocity. The top note of each phrase and the downbeats play a little harder, approach notes softer.
Following 6EN CHORDS
6EN MELODY, 6EN BASS and 6EN CHORDS can work as a set. Put 6EN CHORDS on one track and 6EN MELODY on another, both on the same LINK letter (A by default): the melody follows the chords, key and scale live — change a chord in 6EN CHORDS and the melody rewrites itself to match. No copying or routing is needed; the modules find each other on this computer. FOLLOW CHORDS turns itself on the first time 6EN CHORDS shows up, unless you switched it off yourself.
Two songs open at once, or two chord parts in one song? Give each its own letter. HOLD keeps the chords you have. The last chords are saved with your project, so it plays the same when you open it again or send it to someone without 6EN CHORDS.
Where LINK can't reach — another computer, or a host that keeps plugins in a sandbox (GarageBand) — use COPY in 6EN CHORDS and PASTE here, or drop a MIDI file exported from 6EN CHORDS on the window. Without 6EN CHORDS at all, 6EN MELODY works on its own key and scale, or follows any chord MIDI file you drop on it.
MIDI Output
6EN MELODY makes no sound itself: put your lead, keys or synth on a second track and route 6EN MELODY's MIDI output to it — in most hosts, by setting that track's MIDI input to 6EN MELODY and turning on its monitoring. The ROUTE button shows the steps for your host. If your host can't route MIDI from plugins, drag EXPORT MIDI onto a track instead.
The melody plays one note at a time. A slide is a short grace note a scale step below the note, played just before it, so it works with any instrument — no glide or pitch-bend setup needed.
In Ableton Live, don't put Live's Scale device after 6EN MELODY: it would pull the outside notes back into the scale.
Transport and Sync
While the host is playing, 6EN MELODY follows the host's tempo and position, so the melody stays locked to your project. While the host is stopped, PLAY runs it at its own BPM for auditioning.
Endings
RESOLVE — 01 Long root · 02 Step down home · 03 Fall to the root · 04 Land on the 3rd. HANG — 05 Hang on the 5th · 06 Hang on the 9th · 07 Question · 08 Suspend. PICKUP — 09 Upward pickup · 10 Run into bar 1 · 11 Octave leap · 12 Grace slide. RHYTHM — 13 Stop · 14 Stutter · 15 Echo the call · 16 Cut short.
Resolve and Hang endings land on (or hang off) the last chord; Pickup endings lead into the first note of bar 1. Each rewrites the end of the loop; locked notes stay.
Factory Presets
27 factory presets are included, with the same names as 6EN BASS and 6EN CHORDS. Click the preset name in the plugin header to open the list and pick one directly, or step through them with the < and > arrow buttons.
| Preset | Description |
|---|---|
| 01 NIGHT RIDE | Trap, F minor, 2 bars |
| 02 LONG SLIDES | Trap, C# minor, 4 bars, ending: Hang on the 5th (2 beats) |
| 03 BOUNCER | Trap, G Phrygian, 2 bars, ending: Echo the call (1 beat) |
| 04 SLIDE DRILL | Drill, F# minor, 4 bars |
| 05 COLD STEPS | Drill, D# Phrygian, 2 bars, ending: Upward pickup (1 beat) |
| 06 OCTAVE CHASE | Drill, A harmonic minor, 8 bars, ending: Hang on the 9th (2 beats) |
| 07 DUSTY FINGERS | Boom Bap, D Dorian, 2 bars |
| 08 HEAD NOD | Boom Bap, A minor, 4 bars, ending: Long root (1 beat) |
| 09 BASEMENT LOOP | Boom Bap, E minor pentatonic, 1 bar |
| 10 LATE NIGHT | R&B, D# major, 4 bars |
| 11 SLOW WIND | R&B, A# Dorian, 8 bars, ending: Step down home (2 beats) |
| 12 VELVET | R&B, G# minor, 4 bars, ending: Grace slide (1 beat) |
| 13 OFF-BEAT | House, A minor, 2 bars |
| 14 WAREHOUSE | House, F Dorian, 4 bars, ending: Land on the 3rd (1 beat) |
| 15 DEEP ROOT | House, C minor, 8 bars, ending: Fall to the root (2 beats) |
| 16 TWO-STEP | UK Garage, G minor, 2 bars |
| 17 SKIPPY | UK Garage, D Dorian, 4 bars, ending: Echo the call (1 beat) |
| 18 SHUFFLE SUB | UK Garage, B minor, 4 bars, ending: Suspend (2 beats) |
| 19 BEHIND THE BEAT | Neo-Soul Rap, E Dorian, 2 bars |
| 20 SUNDAY SEVENTH | Neo-Soul Rap, F# major, 4 bars, ending: Grace slide (1 beat) |
| 21 SOFT POCKET | Neo-Soul Rap, C# minor, 8 bars, ending: Octave leap (2 beats) |
| 22 SIDE STEP | Half-Step Funk, E minor, 2 bars |
| 23 PUSH PULL | Half-Step Funk, G Dorian, 4 bars, ending: Stutter (1 beat) |
| 24 PUNK FUNK | Half-Step Funk, A Phrygian, 4 bars, ending: Question (1 beat) |
| 25 UP THE NECK | Fusion Funk, E Dorian, 2 bars |
| 26 COSMIC RUN | Fusion Funk, A minor, 4 bars, ending: Octave leap (2 beats) |
| 27 SIX STRINGS | Fusion Funk, D Dorian, 8 bars, ending: Grace slide (2 beats) |
Support
Support: support@gdpaudio.com · Release notes: gdpaudio.com/6en-melody-release-notes
GDP Audio and the names of our products are trademarks of GDP Audio LLC. All other product and company names mentioned in this guide are trademarks of their respective owners. They are used only to describe the character of a sound or for compatibility, and do not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, those companies.