⧉ New window ▾
Open a view in its own window
◎ Wheel + 5ths
⊞ Octave / Bands
🎹 Piano
🎸 Guitar
🎻 Strings
🎸 Bass
🪕 Banjo
🌀 Spiral
∿ Freq + ∑ Math
⤒ Upload ▾
📄 File(s)…
a .ladder.json hub · MusicXML · .als · audio · stems
📁 Folder…
Ableton/Logic project · folder of stems · reference folder (score + chord sheet)
❔ Help
Importing a song — pick your source
I use:
🎛️ From Ableton Live
Best & most exact: Upload → 📁 Folder and choose your whole Ableton Project folder (the one holding the
.als and its Samples/). MIDI tracks come in note-exact; audio/sampler tracks are auto-transcribed.Just the
.als: Upload → 📄 File(s) and pick the .als. Its MIDI tracks load exactly, but audio tracks can’t be transcribed unless you also select their audio files in the same go (or use the folder above).The
.als is plain XML, so The Ladder reads the arrangement directly — no bouncing needed. You can also just drag the .als or the folder onto the page.🎹 From Logic Pro
A Logic
.logicx is a closed package — The Ladder can’t read it directly the way it reads Ableton’s .als. Use one of these exports:Stems (works for any project): in Logic, File → Bounce → “All Tracks as Audio Files”. Then Upload → 📄 File(s) and select all the bounced WAVs together (2 or more). Each stem becomes its own track, rough-transcribed; tempo is auto-detected.
Exact notes: open Logic’s Score Editor → File → Export → MusicXML (wording varies by version) and import that
.musicxml — notes are exact; chords are inferred.Dragging the WAVs (or a folder of them) onto the page works too.
🎼 Sheet music (MusicXML)
Export from MuseScore / Finale / Sibelius / Dorico / Logic as
.musicxml, .xml, or .mxl.Upload → 📄 File(s) (or drag it in). Notes are exact from the score; key and per-bar chords are inferred — you can correct them in the chord editor.
📁 Reference folder (exact notes + exact chords)
The no-manual-work path. Put in one folder: a MusicXML score (or an
.als / audio stems) plus a Word .docx chord sheet.Upload → 📁 Folder and pick it. The Ladder takes notes from the score and chords from the chord sheet — so you skip manual chord entry and re-auditing.
Note: chords are placed one per bar in order (it doesn’t yet read bar-by-bar durations from the sheet).
🎚️ Audio stems / a single song file
2+ audio files (WAV/MP3/M4A/AIFF…) → each becomes its own track, rough-transcribed.
One audio file → a single transcribed track.
A
.ladder.json you saved earlier → reopens the whole project, exactly as you left it.Paste a chord progression — Ultimate-Guitar text,
[ch]Am[/ch] tags, or just C G Am F — or ⤒ Upload sheet to load a Word .docx or plain-text .txt/.md chord sheet. It sets the key/mode and restricts chord detection to your chords. Apply it before you listen or upload for best results.…or build it on the light show. On the WHEEL, spin the inner keyboard ring to set the tonic and the outer colour rings to set the mode — each disc spins independently, like a real key wheel; tap a chord cell to mark it expected. (Linear/piano view: click + the mode dropdown.)
🎯 Wheel + piano always live — drag inner ring = tonic · colour rings = mode · tap a chord cell to add/remove it from the expected chords
…or play them in on MIDI. Tap Capture, play your tonic chord and hold ~5 s to set the key, then play each chord and hold ~3 s to lock it. Detection then sticks to exactly these chords — no recolouring mid-jam.
Play your instruments live — guitar + vocal mic on your audio interface and a MIDI keyboard each become a channel, and the wheel shows the combined chord · key · bass · melody. Works for one instrument or a whole band; assign each input a part below, then ▶ Start.
lock the key with the Lock + Drone button in the centre of the wheel
—