Smart Controls & Song Structure
Guide generation with genre, mood, and layers controls, musical parameters from key to BPM, and explicit song sections for full arrangements.
DocumentationSmart Controls
Parameters
Smart Controls
The parameter panel adapts to your current workflow with two states. When no MIDI is loaded, you see controls for fresh generation. When MIDI is present, the panel switches to editing and refinement controls.
State A: Fresh Generation
When starting from scratch, you can guide the AI with:
Genre (16 options)
Pop · R&B/Neo-Soul · Jazz · Lo-Fi/Chillhop · Pop Ballad · Cinematic/Film Score · Trap/Hip-Hop · Classical · Blues · Rock/Alt-Rock · Funk/Soul · Gospel · Bossa Nova/Latin · Ambient/New Age · Ragtime/Boogie · Electronic
Mood (13 options)
Happy · Sad · Dark · Dreamy · Energetic · Nostalgic · Tense · Peaceful · Romantic · Angry/Aggressive · Melancholic · Triumphant · Mysterious
Layers (pick any mix)
Auto · Bass · Chords · Melody · Pad · Arp · Counter-melody · + Other
Layers sets which parts a new clip gets. Pick as many as you like, or click + Other, type a name such as Strings or Horns and press Enter to add your own (up to 8; the × removes one). With nothing picked, Auto is lit and the AI chooses. Leave Melody out and Aether asks the AI not to write one. Layers applies to new clips, including every variation of a batch; parts named in your message, such as "just a bassline", win over it.
Electronic Subgenres
Electronic covers a lot of ground, so Aether reads your prompt for a subgenre, such as techno, trance or drum and bass, and writes to that style's tempo, groove and structure. Say nothing in particular and you get house. Prompt Vocabulary lists the words for each one.
Naming a Genre in Your Prompt
Naming a style in your message works as well as the Genre menu, and the menu wins when both are set. Prompting Guide covers the words Aether acts on, composer names as shorthand, and prompting in your own language.
Genre Sticks Across the Conversation
Once a chat settles on a genre it stays there until you name another one, set the Genre menu, or start a New Chat. Refining a Result covers what moves it and what does not.
State B: Editing Mode
When MIDI is already loaded, the panel switches to refinement controls:
Action (7 chips)
Enhance · Add layers · Extend · Simplify · Reharmonize · Humanize · Combine MIDI
Restyle (10 chips)
Jazzy · Darker · Brighter · Ballad feel · Swing · Sparse · Lush · Rhythmic · Classical · Groove / funk
Action and Restyle chips are multi-select: toggle several at once (for example, Reharmonize + Jazzy + Lush) to stack directives in a single pass. Aether flags musically contradictory combinations (such as Sparse + Lush) in real time so you can resolve them before generating.
Musical Parameters (Always Available)
| Parameter | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Key | Any key + 12 roots | Any key plus C, C#/Db, D, Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B. On Any key, Aether picks the root note for a chat's first request, so new chats start in different keys, unless your message names a key or spells out chords ("C F G C"); after that the AI decides. A key your message names, such as "in F# minor", wins over Key and Scale |
| Scale | Let AI Choose + 10 | Major, Minor, Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Phrygian, Harmonic minor, Melodic minor, Blues, Pentatonic |
| Time Signature | 4/4 (default) + Let AI Choose + 5 | 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 5/4, 7/8, 2/4. Defaults to 4/4 so Aether can send its bar-by-bar timing reference, which needs a known meter. Choose “Let AI Choose” if you would rather it picked. Asking for a waltz, or typing a meter such as 3/4 or 6/8, replaces the 4/4 default for that request. |
| Bars | 1 to 64 | Length of the generated clip |
| BPM | 20 to 999 | Tempo in beats per minute |
| Loop Mode | On / Off | Generates seamless loops suitable for layering. It is the loop symbol at the left of the top bar |
| Lock to Host | On / Off | Syncs BPM and time signature from your DAW (hidden in Standalone) |
Importing fills these in
Drop a MIDI file onto the chat panel and Aether reads its key and tempo and sets Key, Scale and BPM for you, highlighting them so you can tell they came from the file. These controls are what hold a generation to a key and a tempo, so this is what keeps a variation on your own song in your own key. Change any of them and your choice wins. A file with no clear key leaves Key on Any key rather than pinning a guess.Arrangement
Song Structure & Sections
Beyond single loops, Aether can compose with explicit song form. Turn on the Sections toggle in the parameter panel to define your piece as an ordered list of named sections, each with its own bar count, turning Aether from a loop generator into an arrangement tool.
Building a Structure
- ●Add sections in order: Verse, Chorus, Drop, Bridge, or anything you type. Names are passed to the AI verbatim, so non-pop terms like "Exposition" or "Recapitulation" work too.
- ●Give each section a bar count, or leave it at 0 to let the AI decide how to distribute length across the form.
- ●When Sections are active, the Bars field shows the total of the sections you named, or of every row when none has a name, which is the length the request asks for.
Genre-Aware Presets
Each genre supplies sensible structural starting points, so you don't have to build every arrangement from scratch:
| Genre | Default Sections |
|---|---|
| Pop / Pop Ballad | Intro · Verse · Pre-Chorus · Chorus · Bridge · Outro |
| R&B / Neo-Soul | Intro · Verse · Pre-Chorus · Chorus · Bridge · Vamp · Outro |
| Rock / Alt-Rock | Intro · Verse · Pre-Chorus · Chorus · Bridge · Solo · Outro |
| Electronic | Intro · Build · Drop · Breakdown · Build 2 · Drop 2 · Outro |
| Trap / Hip-Hop | Intro · Verse · Hook · Bridge · Outro |
| Jazz | Head · Solo · Trade · Out-head |
| Lo-Fi / Chillhop | Intro · Loop A · Loop B · Bridge · Outro |
| The other eight genres | Intro · Verse · Chorus · Bridge · Outro (generic fallback) |