Gates

Quick start

Gates generates MIDI; route it to a drum instrument to hear sound.

1. Place Gates before your instrument, or route its MIDI to the instrument’s track.
2. Select the matching MIDI kit in Outputs.
3. Click + in Patterns. Choose a preset or Init / Empty to draw your own.
4. Start the DAW transport with Speed = 1/16 and Auto-Advance off.

Outputs and MIDI kits

MIDI kits set each row’s available sounds, default note, and MIDI channel. Choose your device in Outputs; hover a row selector to check its note and channel. Some single-note profiles use that selector for the channel.

Click the kit name in Outputs to open MIDI Kits. The library opens at the top, with your saved kits first, even when General MIDI is active. Filter with All, My kits, or Included, or search by kit name or maker.

• Load kit activates the selected mapping. Double-click a kit or press Enter to load it directly.
• + New kit starts an unsaved custom kit.
• Edit kit opens the selected mapping. Saving an included kit creates and activates your own copy.
• Delete removes a saved user kit after confirmation. Included kits cannot be deleted.
• Hover a kit to reveal its outline star, then click the star to use that kit at startup without loading it now. The startup kit always shows a filled star, even when another kit is selected. Click its star again to return to General MIDI. Keyboard focus also reveals the star. Existing DAW sessions restore their saved routing; an unavailable favorite falls back to General MIDI.

1. Enter the kit name at the top, then select an instrument on the left.
2. Set Channel (all sounds) for that instrument. Drum 1 and Drum 2 share their sound collection but retain separate defaults and channels.
3. Click + Add sound, then play a note on the on-screen piano or an external MIDI pad. Gates captures one note and ends recording. Arm or enable input monitoring on the host track if incoming pads are not detected.
4. Rename sounds directly. The star chooses the instrument’s default sound, play auditions it, the record button captures a replacement note, and the trash button removes a sound. MIDI numbers identify pitches; use the piano or a MIDI pad to add or replace them.
5. Use the piano to audition and the arrow buttons to change its displayed range. Gates sends MIDI to your routed drum instrument; it does not generate drum audio.
6. Undo / Redo steps through draft edits. Save writes the mapping and returns to the library; replacing an existing user kit asks for confirmation. Cancel returns without saving and asks before discarding edits.

If a kit changes elsewhere while you are editing it, Gates preserves your draft and reports the conflict instead of overwriting the saved mapping.

Loading a Project preserves this instance’s output profile and routing.

Projects, sections, and patterns

A Project contains Sections. Each Section contains a chain of up to 16 stored Patterns.

• Add: click + in either row. Patterns fills a selected empty slot before appending.
• Reorder: drag chips.
• Replace a pattern: click its selected chip again, or right-click Replace.
• Copy / Save Pattern: right-click a pattern to duplicate it or save it to the browser’s User category.
• Rename / Duplicate / Delete Section: right-click a section.

The browser has Search patterns… and Recent. Arrow keys browse; Return chooses; Escape closes.

Click a pattern’s ×N selector for 1–8 total passes. A section’s right-click Repeat menu repeats its entire chain 1–8 times. (A ×3, B) ×2 = eight bars. Each pass occupies four quarter notes, one 4/4 bar. Speed changes the note rate, not this arrangement duration.

Playback and section automation

Section clicks always select the editing view immediately. With Auto-Advance on, playback stays aligned to the DAW and the editor follows subsequent Section/Pattern transitions.

Use the sequencer

At 1/16 Speed, the 16 columns cover one 4/4 bar.

Chance defaults to 100%. Hover for its value. At 0%, the stored hit is silent during playback. One decision covers its ratchets and note layers. Turning a hit off and on retains its chance.

Gates has six rows: kick, snare, two drums, and separate closed/open hats. Device profiles can map them to any sounds. Why five timbres?

The grid shows the active profile’s sound names. Speaker buttons mute rows during playback. If row export icons are showing, collapse them with the small Outputs toggle to reveal mutes.

Section groove controls

These controls belong to the whole Section:

Write, revert, and undo

Switching patterns or sections preserves pending edits. Write accepts all pending project edits; Revert discards them.

To save a reusable arrangement, open Projects, enter a name, and click Save. This includes current edits. Select a saved project and click Load; unsaved changes prompt a save/discard choice.

MIDI output and export

Drag the Outputs export icon into your DAW. It exports the selected section, including Pattern/Section repeats and trailing silence. The small toggle above it reveals individual row exports. Right-click any export icon for Copy or Save to Disk.

Files use the section name: Intro.mid or Intro - Kick.mid.

Export uses straight stored hits and ratchets. It includes live-muted rows and even 0% Chance hits. Speed, Humanize, Drift, Chaos, and live Chance decisions are not rendered. Record live MIDI to capture what you hear.

Hold Option/Alt while dragging or right-clicking for held gates: each note lasts until its next trigger on the same channel, or the section ends. Check your output profile before exporting.

JSON projects

Open {}, paste a complete project, and click Apply to replace its sections. Close leaves the project unchanged. Check Auto-Advance after importing.

{
  "activeSectionIndex": 0,
  "sectionPlaybackMode": "loopSection",
  "sections": [{
    "name": "Intro",
    "speed": 2,
    "sequence": [{
      "name": "Beat",
      "instruments": {
        "BD": "x...x...x...x...",
        "SN": "....x.......x..."
      }
    }]
  }]
}

Paste musical JSON, not a saved library file’s metadata wrapper. Raw imports can include note_mappings or note_layers that change routing; portable Projects exclude them. Legacy clock_divisions has no playback effect.

Isorek MCP

Set up Isorek MCP to edit loaded Gates instances or manage saved Projects without opening Gates. With multiple instances, select the intended runtime ID.

MCP musical edits preserve output routing. Through a live Gates instance, separate tools manage custom profiles and activation. Factory profiles remain read-only. Accepted live edits persist in the DAW session; your AI client can undo its last live JSON change. Manual editing needs no AI account.

Troubleshooting

• Silent: check DAW playback, MIDI routing, row mutes, and Chance.
• Wrong sound: check the MIDI kit, note, and channel.
• Stuck in one section: enable Auto-Advance or automate Section.
• Export sounds different: record live MIDI to include playback controls and probabilities.

Support and privacy

Open ? > Help & Privacy for updates, registration, and telemetry consent. The envelope opens support.

Pattern-library reference: jcelerier/drum-patterns. Terms, privacy, and notices · YouTube · Discord