mcp_opendaw_add_anticipation
Add anticipation notes before strong beats to create syncopation. Specify scale, direction, offset, and track to insert early pitch-matching notes for jazz, pop, or Latin feel.
Instructions
Add anticipation notes before strong-beat notes.
Anticipation is the fourth classic non-chord tone technique: a note that arrives early — on the weak part of the beat before a strong beat — anticipating the pitch of the upcoming note. This creates forward rhythmic motion and is ubiquitous in jazz, pop, and Latin music.
Unlike passing tones (which connect two different pitches stepwise), suspensions (which hold a note into the next chord), and neighbor tones (which ornament a single note), anticipation reaches forward to the next melodic/harmonic goal before the beat arrives.
Structure: [original note shortened] → [anticipation on weak beat] → [strong beat note]
The tool finds notes on strong beats (integer beat positions) and inserts an anticipation note just before them. The anticipation has the same pitch as the target note (or a related scale tone if direction is set), placed on the weak portion of the beat.
Jazz syncopation, pop vocal anticipations, salsa montuno, and funk guitar stabs all rely on this device.
Args: unit_index: Audio unit index track_index: Note track index region_index: Region index (-1 = first region) scale: Scale for anticipation pitch selection ("major", "minor", "dorian", "phrygian", "lydian", "mixolydian", "locrian", "harmonic_minor", "melodic_minor", "pentatonic", "blues", "chromatic") root: Root note for scale (C, C#, D, ... B) anticipation_offset: How early the anticipation arrives, in beats before the strong beat (0.0625-0.5, default 0.25 = sixteenth note before). Smaller = more subtle, larger = more pronounced. anticipation_fraction: Duration of anticipation as fraction of the offset gap (0.1-1.0, default 0.33). Controls how long the anticipation note lasts relative to the gap before the strong beat. anticipation_velocity: Velocity of anticipation note (0-1, default 0.55 — softer than the main note, as it is on a weak beat). direction: Anticipation pitch direction — "auto": same pitch as target note (classic anticipation) "upper": one scale step above target "lower": one scale step below target "approach": scale step approaching target from the direction of the previous note min_duration_beats: Minimum note duration in beats to qualify (0.5-4.0, default 1.5). Ensures the target note is long enough to anticipate meaningfully. cross_track: If >= 0, place anticipations on this track index instead of source track (preserves original notes).
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| root | No | C | |
| scale | No | major | |
| direction | No | auto | |
| unit_index | Yes | ||
| cross_track | No | ||
| track_index | Yes | ||
| region_index | No | ||
| min_duration_beats | No | ||
| anticipation_offset | No | ||
| anticipation_fraction | No | ||
| anticipation_velocity | No |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |