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LES CERCLES

Les Cercles is a web-based generative music sequencer that combines orbital mechanics with physics-based interactions. It creates evolving musical patterns using "planets" that trigger sounds as they cross "gates" in their orbit, alongside a "slingshot" physics engine for chaotic, collision-based textures.

Features

Orbital Sequencer

  • Polyrhythmic Logic: Create up to 32 "planets," each with independent RPM (speed), velocity, and note assignments.
  • Dynamic Gates: Adjust the number of trigger gates (1-32) on the orbit path.
  • Transposition: Gates can be assigned individual pitch shifts (transpositions), allowing a single orbiting note to play complex melodic lines.
  • Global Controls: Real-time adjustment of global speed, orbit direction (CW/CCW), and master transposition.

Physics Engine (The Orb)

  • Slingshot Mechanic: Drag and release from the center to launch "orbs" into the arena.
  • Collision Modes:
    • Circle: Orbs trigger sound when hitting the outer boundary.
    • Gates: Orbs trigger sound when crossing gate lines.
    • Notes: Orbs trigger sound when colliding with orbiting planets.
  • Generative Chaos: Enable orb-to-orb collisions to create evolving, non-repeating rhythmic textures.

Audio & MIDI

  • Synth Engine: Built-in polyphonic web audio synthesizer (Triangle wave with lowpass filtering).
  • Music Theory: Lock your sequence to various scales (Chromatic, Major, Minor, Pentatonic, Dorian, Lydian, Whole Tone) or create a Custom Scale.
  • Web MIDI Support: Route note data to external hardware synthesizers or DAWs via the "MIDI..." dropdown.

Controls

Top Bar

  • AUDIO: Toggle the audio engine on/off.
  • SETTINGS: Open global settings for Root Note, Scale, and JSON Save/Load.
  • MIDI: Select a MIDI output device.
  • VOL: Master volume control.

Main Controls

  • PLAY/PAUSE: Start or stop the sequencer.
  • UNDO: Revert the last action (supports up to 20 steps).
  • CLEAR: Reset the entire scene.
  • SYNC: Synchronize the RPM of all planets to match the first planet.
  • EVEN: Evenly space all planets along the orbital path.
  • ORB: Toggle the Slingshot/Orb panel.

Macro Controls

  • CCW/CW: Toggle orbit direction (Switches UI between Light and Dark mode).
  • GATES: Set the number of trigger lines (1-32).
  • TRANSPOSE: Shift the pitch offset of all gates.
  • RND: Randomize the transposition values of current gates.
  • SPEED: Global playback speed multiplier (0.1x to 3.0x).

Usage

  1. Initialize: Click the screen to start the AudioContext.
  2. Add Planets: Use the + button in the bottom planet list to add new notes.
  3. Edit Planets: Click a planet chip to adjust its specific Note, RPM, and Velocity.
  4. Launch Orbs: Toggle "ORB" mode, then drag from the center of the circle to slingshot projectiles.

Installation

Les Cercles is a standalone web application with zero dependencies.

  1. Clone the repository.
  2. Open index.html in any modern web browser.

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Jerome Potter.
Released under the MIT License.