claude-collider: Skill for Claude Code

Arrange Tape

This skill composes an arrangement for a tape — the performance plan for how elements are introduced, removed, and layered over time.

What is an arrangement?

A tape's .scd defines all the musical elements (Pdefs, Ndefs, effects, sidechains). An arrangement defines when each element plays and stops, turning a static loop into a track with structure.

Arrangements use CCArrangement — a declarative class where you list sections as [name, bars, elements] arrays. The class handles all Pdef/Ndef start/stop diffing and uses TempoClock.schedAbs for drift-free timing.

Process

Step 1: Understand the tape

Read the tape's .md and .scd files to understand:

• What elements exist (all Pdef/Ndef names)
• The tempo (needed to calculate total duration)
• The vibe/genre (informs pacing and conventions)
• Effects and sidechains (may need to be activated/deactivated per section)

Step 2: Plan the arrangement with the user

Propose a section-by-section plan. Use standard arrangement conventions for the genre. Common structures:

Dance/electronic (~2-4 min):

• Intro → Build → Drop → Break → Drop 2 → Outro

Ambient/textural:

• Emerge → Develop → Peak → Dissolve

Hip-hop/R&B:

• Intro → Verse → Hook → Verse 2 → Hook → Outro

For each section, specify:

• Name and length in bars
• Which elements are active during that section
• Any parameter changes (effect tweaks, filter sweeps, etc.)

Present the plan as a table or outline and get user approval before writing code.

Step 3: Write the arrangement

IMPORTANT: The arrangement does NOT go into the tape's .scd file. Tape .scd files define elements only — no arrangement logic. Instead, do one of:

Option A: Live performance — Execute via cc_execute during a session.

Option B: Separate file — Write to tapes/<name>-arrangement.scd if the user wants to save it.

The arrangement code follows this pattern:

// First, execute the tape's .scd to define all elements
// (but remove .play from each Pdef/Ndef — arrangement controls when they start)

// Then execute the arrangement:
CCArrangement([
    [\intro, 8, [\kick, \hat]],
    [\build, 8, [\kick, \hat, \bass, \rim]],
    [\drop, 16, [\kick, \hat, \bass, \rim, \lead, \pad]],
    [\break, 8, [\hat, \pad]],
    [\drop2, 16, [\kick, \hat, \bass, \rim, \lead, \pad]],
    [\outro, 8, [\kick, \hat]],
]).play;