Gestures & Drawing

Pixelboop uses intuitive gesture-based input for drawing musical patterns. Different gestures create different musical results depending on the track and direction.

Gesture Overview

Pixelboop interprets your touch gestures based on:

• Direction: Horizontal, vertical, or diagonal
• Track: Melody, Chords, Bass, or Rhythm
• Duration: Quick tap vs. held touch

Basic Gestures

Tap (All Tracks)

The simplest gesture: tap any empty pixel to place a single note. Tap an existing note to delete it (a sustained note's whole chain is removed together).

Tap Gesture

Tap Gesture

Tap any pixel to place a single note

Tap to Place Note

Single tap places one note at that step and pitch.

Melody Track

Rows 2-7. Tap to place melody notes.

Accent (Double-Tap)

Double-tap a note to accent it (louder).

Accent Gesture

Accent Gesture

Double-tap for accented notes (brighter = louder)

Accented Note

Double-tap for a louder note (velocity 96 vs 64).

Normal Note

Quick tap for standard velocity.

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Horizontal Gestures

Swipe horizontally to create patterns that span multiple steps.

Arpeggio Generator (Melody)

Horizontal swipe on Melody track activates the arpeggio generator — chord notes from the current visible set, played sequentially across steps. Vertical movement during the drag selects the pattern (ascending / descending / up-down) and the density (quarter / 8th / 16th notes); the speed of the drag also influences the note count.

Melody Arpeggio

Melody Arpeggio

Horizontal swipe on melody = arpeggio generator (chord notes spread across steps)

Arpeggio Pattern

Horizontal swipe spreads chord notes (from the current visible set) sequentially across steps. NOT a stepwise scale — picks from chord notes.

Swipe Direction + Vertical Pattern

Left-to-right or right-to-left sets direction; vertical movement during the drag picks the arpeggio pattern (ascending / descending / up-down).

Single-Note Sustain (Chords)

Horizontal swipe on Chords track plays a single sustained note — the note at the row you started on, held across the steps you drag through. Arpeggios are reserved for the Melody track; on Chords, horizontal drag is a sustain. Add vertical deviation (>1 row) during the drag to convert into a chord-build gesture.

Chords Sustain

Chords Sustain

Horizontal swipe on chords = single sustained note (not an arpeggio)

Sustained Note

Horizontal swipe holds one chord-track note across all steps dragged through.

Chords Track

Rows 8-13. Horizontal swipe creates a single sustained note (NOT an arpeggio).

Walking Bass (Bass)

Horizontal swipe on Bass track creates a template-based walking bass line. The pattern is selected dynamically by drag length and direction: short horizontal → Funk Groove, medium → Rock Walk, long → Running 8ths; diagonal-up → Ascending Walk, diagonal-down → Descending Walk. There's no fixed "root–5th–4th" sequence; each template is its own musical figure.

Walking Bass

Walking Bass

Horizontal swipe on bass = walking bass line

Walking Bass Pattern (Rock Walk example)

One of several templates the engine picks from based on drag length + direction. Short → Funk Groove; medium → Rock Walk; long → Running 8ths.

Bass Track

Rows 14-17. Horizontal swipe creates walking bass.

Drum Roll (Rhythm)

Horizontal swipe on Rhythm track creates a drum roll — rapid hits on the same drum.

Drum Roll

Drum Roll

Horizontal swipe on rhythm = drum roll

Drum Roll

Rapid consecutive hits on the same drum sound.

Rhythm Track

Rows 18-21. Horizontal swipe creates drum roll.

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Vertical Gestures

Swipe vertically to stack notes at the same step.

Chord Stack (Melody/Chords)

Vertical swipe on Melody or Chords creates a chord stack — multiple notes at the same step.

Chord Stack

Chord Stack

Vertical swipe = stacked chord notes

Chord Stack (Maj7)

Vertical swipe creates Root-3rd-5th-7th chord at one step.

Ba-Dum (Bass)

Vertical swipe on Bass creates a sequential "ba-dum" figure — the root note at step N, then a second note at step N+1 (not simultaneous). The interval between the two notes is determined by the drag distance: a small drag yields a tight interval, a large drag yields a wider one (octave, etc.). It's not always a 5th — the size of your gesture picks the interval.

Bass Ba-Dum

Bass Ba-Dum

Vertical swipe on bass = sequential ba-dum (root at step N, interval at step N+1)

Ba-Dum (sequential, not stacked)

Vertical swipe on bass: root at step N, interval at step N+1. The two notes play one step apart, NOT at the same time.

Multi-Drum (Rhythm)

Vertical swipe on Rhythm plays multiple drums at the same step.

Multi-Drum

Multi-Drum

Vertical swipe on rhythm = multiple drums

Multi-Drum Hit

Vertical swipe triggers multiple drums simultaneously (e.g., kick + snare + hat).

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Diagonal Gestures

Swipe diagonally to create melodic phrases or fills.

Phrase (Melody/Chords)

Diagonal swipe on Melody or Chords creates a melodic phrase — notes that follow the scale diagonally.

Melodic Phrase

Melodic Phrase

Diagonal swipe = melodic phrase

Melodic Phrase

Diagonal creates a musical phrase following the scale.

Fill (Rhythm)

Diagonal swipe on Rhythm creates a drum fill — notes that traverse multiple drums across steps.

Drum Fill

Drum Fill

Diagonal swipe on rhythm = drum fill

Drum Fill

Diagonal creates a fill pattern across drums.

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Progression Fill (Chords Track Only)

Progression Fill is an intelligent chord-filling gesture exclusive to the Chords track. It uses harmonic intelligence to suggest musically coherent chord sequences.

Progression Fill

Progression Fill

Hold a chord step, drag vertically to activate, then horizontally to fill

Starting Chord (Hold)

Hold a step on the Chords track that already has a chord.

Filled Steps

Drag horizontally — subsequent steps fill with harmonically intelligent progressions.

How It Works

1. Hold a step on the Chords track that already has a chord.
2. Drag vertically to activate Progression Fill mode.
3. Drag horizontally — subsequent steps fill with harmonically intelligent chord progressions matching the current key and scale.
4. While filling, drag vertically to shift the harmonic degree of the progression.

Progression Fill uses chord intelligence to suggest musically coherent sequences. Undo/redo works with the standard double-swipe gestures.

Note: Progression Fill only works on the Chords track.

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Special Gestures

Sustain (Drag Right)

From a note on the Melody track, drag right along its lane (same row) to extend it into a long, sustained note across multiple steps. Tapping any part of the sustained note deletes the whole chain.

Sustained Note

Sustained Note

Drag right along the lane = sustained note

Sustained Note

First note is accented, following notes are sustain markers.

Chord Cycling (Hold)

On the Chords track, hold an existing chord to cycle through chord voicings/types. Release when you hear the one you want.

Erase (Tap)

Tap an existing note to erase it. Sustained notes are removed as a whole chain.

Clear (Shake)

Shake the device to clear all notes from the current pattern.

Undo/Redo (Double-Swipe)

• Double-swipe left: Undo last action
• Double-swipe right: Redo last undone action

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Gesture Reference Table

Gesture	Direction	Melody	Chords	Bass	Rhythm
Tap (empty pixel)	Point	Note	Note	Note	Drum hit
Tap (existing note)	Point	Delete	Delete	Delete	Delete
Double-tap	Point	Accent	Accent	Accent	Accent
Hold (existing note)	Point	—	Cycle chord	—	—
Horizontal	← →	Arpeggio	Single-note sustain	Walking	Roll
Vertical	↑ ↓	Chord stack	Chord stack	Ba-dum (sequential)	Multi-drum
Diagonal	↗ ↘	Phrase	Phrase	Bass walk	Fill
Drag right from note	→	Sustain	Sustain chord	Sustain	—
Hold+Drag ↕ then ↔	Hold ↕ →	—	Progression Fill	—	—