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Frond SPRIG 1.0.4 — Manual

English version. 日本語

1.0.4 — Chord names by bar

The melody panel now shows each 4-beat bar number and the actual chord names, including changes within a bar. Click the chord header to read the full chart. Numbers beside chords in a multi-chord bar are beat numbers. Held chords repeat in the next bar.

Recording guide revision: 20 October 2026
The SPRIG instrument, Audio, MIDI FX and standalone app are version 1.0.4.

Record your performance as MIDI

Change SPRIG while the DAW records. The resulting MIDI clip contains the notes actually played, including changes to the key, progression and pattern at the time you made them. You can edit and play these notes with your own instrument afterwards.
The DAW must record SPRIG's MIDI output. Arming the track that contains a normal instrument plug-in usually records its MIDI input instead. The setup depends on the DAW.

Ableton Live: quickest setup

1. Open starters / SPRIG MIDI Recording Starter Project / SPRIG MIDI Recording Starter.als.
2. Save As a new project for your song. Set Live's tempo.
3. The second track, Your instrument, is already armed. It contains Live's Drift instrument; replace Drift with your own instrument if you prefer.
4. Double-click Live's Stop button to return to bar 1, then press Arrangement Record at the top. While it records, change SPRIG on the first track: the progression, key, patterns or melody.
5. Press Stop. The MIDI clip is on Your instrument. Double-click it to edit the notes.
6. Turn off the red record-arm button on Your instrument, then press Play to hear the recorded notes. Keep Monitor on Auto.

To record another performance, arm Your instrument again. To listen to SPRIG live without recording, arm that track and press Play.
The starter uses Frond SPRIG VST3 1.0.4, with its sound set to MIDI output only so that you hear the receiving instrument once. It contains no recorded notes or audio samples. It was saved and checked in Live 12.4.6; an older Live version may require the manual setup below. Drift is included in Live 11.3 and later editions.

Ableton Live: set it up in an existing song

Track 1: SPRIG
Add Frond SPRIG from Plug-Ins > VST3. Do not use SPRIG Audio or the Audio Unit version for this route.
In SPRIG, choose Sound > MIDI output only. Do not arm this track.
Track 2: Your instrument
Add the instrument you want to play, such as Drift, Wavetable, Kontakt or Keyscape. For this recording route, put your instrument on this receiving track; leave SPRIG on MIDI output only.
MIDI From, upper chooser: SPRIG (or the name of the track containing SPRIG).
MIDI From, lower chooser: Frond SPRIG. This must be the plug-in output, not Post FX or Post Mixer.
Monitor: Auto. Record arm: On.
Press Live's Arrangement Record, change SPRIG as it plays, then Stop. Disarm Your instrument to play the recorded clip.
If no notes are recorded, check both MIDI From choosers, use VST3, and arm the receiving track.
If playback follows new SPRIG changes instead of your saved clip, disarm the receiver and keep Monitor Auto. Monitor In always listens to the live input.
If two sounds play, choose MIDI output only in SPRIG and use only the instrument on the receiving track. Choosing another SPRIG preset can change its sound setting, so check it again.
Audio effects on Your instrument affect its sound, not the MIDI notes. Export that track as audio to include those effects.

Logic Pro: record on the same track

Recording checked in Logic Pro 12.2 on Mac (Rosetta) with SPRIG 1.0.4. This route uses Logic's Record MIDI to Track Here feature.

1. Create a Software Instrument track and choose the instrument you want to hear.
2. In that track's MIDI FX slot, choose Audio Units > Frond Grid > Frond SPRIG MIDI. Keep your sound instrument in the Instrument slot below it.
3. Open the menu at the right edge of the SPRIG MIDI slot. Choose Record MIDI to Track Here (Japanese Logic: MIDIをこのトラックに録音).

Two small yellow triangles mark the recording position after SPRIG. This setting is essential.

4. Select/arm the track, press Logic's Record button, and change SPRIG while it plays. Stop and open the recorded MIDI region.
5. Bypass SPRIG MIDI before playing the recorded region, so the saved notes, instead of a new generated performance, play the instrument.

Use the AU MIDI FX version for this route. The normal SPRIG AU instrument and SPRIG Audio are different plug-ins.

Other DAWs

MIDI recording support and routing vary by DAW and plug-in format. Live 12.4.6 (VST3) and Logic Pro 12.2 (AU MIDI FX, Rosetta) on Mac have been checked with SPRIG 1.0.4. REAPER, Cubase, Studio One, FL Studio and Bitwig remain untested, as does MIDI recording in actual Windows DAWs. Do not assume that a track's Record button records a plug-in's generated output.
Where the DAW cannot record the output directly, use the Played take MIDI export below to keep what SPRIG actually played.

MIDI drag and Played take: two different exports

MIDI ↓ in the top bar is one loop made from the current settings. It does not recreate a sequence of changes you made earlier.
Played take contains the notes SPRIG actually played during playback, including the timing of live changes. Stop playback, open the settings page at the top right, then drag Played take onto a track with your instrument. Place it at the bar shown in its name.
The played take contains MIDI notes and controllers, not audio, effect movements or a recording of the sound. Keep the DAW project to preserve the SPRIG settings as well.

Play your own instrument live

1. Click Sound below the progression figures on the main screen.
2. Choose Your instruments, then your installed instrument. On Mac this list shows Audio Units; on Windows, choose a VST3 instrument.
3. Its window opens automatically. Choose a patch and wait for its samples to load.
4. Start SPRIG or the DAW. Change patterns, chords, Material (with Figures) and the melody while your instrument plays the new notes in real time.
5. Open returns to the instrument window. Sound > Built-in sounds returns to SPRIG's own sounds.

The selected instrument and its patch are saved with your project. Keep that instrument installed when reopening it.
Load instrument file… also lets you choose a .vst3 or, on Mac, .component file directly.
Live's built-in instruments are not AU/VST3 plug-ins and do not appear in this list.

Quick start: make a loop and drag it into Live

1. Add Frond SPRIG Audio to an audio track. Choose a preset, chord progression and pattern.
2. Set Live's tempo and press Play to hear SPRIG. Edit shows or hides the main adjustments.
3. Drag Audio ↓ in SPRIG's top bar onto an empty audio track in Live, or an empty part of Arrangement.

It creates a WAV clip of one complete loop using the current SPRIG sound, reverb and level.
If the button shows a percentage, wait for it to finish, then drag.

4. Mute the original SPRIG track while playing the new clip, so you hear the audio once.

Save the WAV with your Live project (File > Collect All and Save).

SPRIG makes and plays its own notes; a keyboard or a MIDI clip does not play it.
The Audio version puts the sound generator on an audio track. Live's global Record button does not record
SPRIG's output back onto that same track. You can use Audio ↓ without recording first.

MIDI instead of audio

Use Frond SPRIG on a MIDI track. Drag MIDI ↓ onto another MIDI track with a normal piano or other instrument.
The MIDI file contains notes, not SPRIG's sound or effects.

More export options

The settings icon at the top right opens the detailed page.
Under Export, the Audio ↓ beside Played take exports the notes captured during playback as a WAV;
the next Audio ↓ exports one loop. Stop playback before exporting a played take.
A played take is rendered using the current sound settings, not a recording of every live sound or effect change.

Effects after SPRIG

Audio ↓ includes the sound and processing inside SPRIG. Effects placed after SPRIG in Live are added by Live,
so they are not part of SPRIG's dragged WAV. To include those effects, select the Arrangement time range,
open Export Audio/Video (Mac: Cmd+Shift+R; Windows: Ctrl+Shift+R), choose the SPRIG track and export WAV.
Import that WAV onto another audio track, then mute the original track.

English is the initial language; a language you choose is remembered.
Material and Rhythm apply to Figures. Edit can be closed to restore the full figures view.

SPRIG composes a piano part over a chord progression and plays it in time with your DAW: an arpeggio whose top
note sings the melody, left-hand chords and a bass. Draw a line and the melody follows it. In addition to SPRIG Audio, these existing forms are included:
Frond SPRIG an instrument (AU / VST3 / standalone app): plays its built-in sounds (or an instrument you
load into it) and sends the MIDI it plays.
Frond SPRIG MIDI a MIDI effect for Logic Pro (AU MIDI FX): plays the instrument on its track.
SPRIG plays on its own. It does not use incoming MIDI notes: a keyboard does not play or change it. MIDI is output only.
Made for songs in 4/4 (it plays in other time signatures too, counting four beats as a bar).

Getting started

1. After installing, quit and reopen your DAW (Logic Pro looks for new Audio Units when it starts).
2. Put SPRIG on a track.

Logic Pro: a Software Instrument track, then AU Instruments > Frond Grid > Frond SPRIG.
Or, on any Software Instrument track: MIDI FX > Audio Units > Frond Grid > Frond SPRIG MIDI
(SPRIG then plays that track's instrument).
Ableton Live: a MIDI track, then Plug-Ins > VST3 > Frond Grid > Frond SPRIG. Use VST3 for the live MIDI recording route above.

3. Start the DAW: SPRIG plays in its tempo and follows its bars. The play button at the top listens without the DAW.
4. Pick a preset, click a progression on the right, draw a line in the band at the bottom.

The window

Top Style (Jazz / Neo Soul / Lo-Fi) · how the melody is made (the button with the arpeggio's name) · Presets ·
play / stop · the dice (another melody: a new seed) · the keys (the sound) · MIDI (drag it to a track) ·
the settings page.
Left The progression drawn on the circle of fifths. The playing chord's notes are the open dots around it, with
their degrees (R 3 5 7 9); the melody lights them as it plays (an open ring = a note outside the chord).
Click a chord for its tensions, bass notes (inversions) and substitutes, or to keep it as it is.
Beside it Reharm 0–5, six figures: chords added inside the same bars.
0 none · 1 colour (sus, clichés) · 2 secondary dominants · 3 related ii-Vs · 4 tritone subs and approaches · 5 every beat
Right 125 progressions, each drawn as its own figure: click one to play it. The name above opens the full list,
Generated (a new one each time) and Written (type your own chart).
Bottom The melody: each dot is a note (played: dark, coming: grey; red = sounding now). Draw across the band and
the melody follows your line; right-drag or Option-drag erases. Clear line (settings page) gives it back.
Point at anything for a line of help under the progressions.

Edit: show or hide the main controls

The normal view keeps the progression figures on the right. Press Edit at the top to open the performance
controls; press it again to restore the full figures and original drawing area. Opening or closing Edit does not
change the notes. Its open/closed state is saved with the project; older projects start with the figures.
Inside Edit: 16 arpeggio families and Auto, previous/next pattern and the full picker, Material, Rhythm, Touch,
Speed, Density, Low/High note, Humanize, Dynamics, Color, Key, Left hand, Bass, Pedal and the pattern Unit.
Material and Rhythm apply to Figures phrasing. Choose Figures from the top phrasing menu to use them;
they are dimmed with Arpeggio or Hook. Touch remains available. The synthesis and composition rules are unchanged.
Slide horizontally or click a value and type. Percentages accept decimals; range accepts note names (C3) or MIDI
numbers (48). Hold Shift for fine adjustment; double-click a slider to reset it to its default.
The per-phrase strip is visible above the drawn line. Filled cells have their own pattern and override the main
pattern. Click to choose; right-click to follow the main pattern again. The progression figures remain available
in the lower-right scroll area while Edit is open. Every setting is also still available on the settings page.
English is the initial language; Japanese can be selected on the settings page. A saved language choice is kept.

How the melody is made (the button at the top)

Arpeggio a fixed pattern plays each chord while its top note sings slowly (default). 16 families:
calm 1–11 (rising, falling, arch, pinky, thumb, Alberti, open spread, two-note sway, rolling threes,
prelude, jazz cells) and virtuoso 12–16 (grand sweep, cascade, broken tenths, jazz run, sextuplet waves).
Auto lets the style choose; Speed from 0.6 chooses among the virtuoso families.
Hook one short motif, repeated and answered.
Figures runs between the melody notes (48 figures).
Everything is straight time and the same every time for the same settings (a new seed gives another melody).

Presets

From the videos 8 presets that recreate the SPRIG videos: the progression, reharm, drawn line and the tempo they
were made at (shown on the right of each):
Bright Turnaround 112 · Velvet Cycle 100 · Dorian Glide 108 · Lydian Stairs 104 ·
Backdoor Whisper 116 · Floating Arch 112 · Chromatic Tide 120 · Sway Call 104 (BPM)
As they change each video's later states: (Subs) = Reharm 4; (Valley), (Wave), (Fall), (Call), (Steps), (Arch),
(Rising), (Falling) = the line redrawn; "+ Subs" = both.
More presets 16 more: styles, progressions and sounds together. Jazz arpeggio (default) is the starting state.
Choosing a preset sets every setting except Level, draws its line (or clears it) and clears chord edits.
"Suggested 112 BPM" under the progression name is the tempo the preset was made at. SPRIG chooses its fastest
figures for the tempo, so at another DAW tempo the same preset plays somewhat different notes. A plug-in cannot
change the DAW's tempo: set it yourself. The standalone app plays at the preset's tempo.
In a video, the change of a preset to its later state happens while it plays: Reharm can be automated in the DAW;
the line cannot (choose the later preset instead).

The settings page (top right)

Every setting, with a line of help each. Drag numbers up and down; click words for a list.
Style Jazz / Neo Soul / Lo-Fi default Jazz
Key the key of the loop default C
Harmony Curated (the style's set, picked by the seed) / Generated / Library / Written default Library
Progression the 125 progressions by name default ii-V-I-VI
Reharm 0–5 (above) default 1
Packing chord lengths: packed (half) / normal / spacious (double) default normal
Pattern unit how many bars each per-phrase pattern covers default 1 bar
Phrasing Arpeggio / Hook / Figures default Arpeggio
Material notes the line uses (chord tones / scale / chromatic approach / enclosure) default the pattern's own
Rhythm even / accents in 3 or 5 / mixed tuplets / long-short / speeding up default the pattern's own
Touch legato / staccato / accented / swell default the pattern's own
Speed brilliance: from 0.6 the virtuoso families default 0.78
Density how much of the time the line plays default 0.60
Low / High the line's range default G3 / E6
Humanize looseness of timing and velocity default 0.50
Dynamics how strongly phrases swell default 0.60
Color how many tensions the chords carry default 0.70
Left hand · Bass · Pedal (sustain, CC64) default on
Left voicing Auto / Close / Open / Drop 2 / Rootless / Shell / Quartal default Auto
Sound 22 built-in sounds, or Off (MIDI only) default Piano
Left sound the same as the right hand, or another sound default the same
Reverb · Level for the built-in sound default 0.30 · −3 dB
Also there: Pattern and Seed, the notes per second now, a pattern for each phrase, the take and audio exports,
Save MIDI, Clear line, Load instrument, and the language (日本語 / EN; English at first, the language you pick is
used for the next SPRIG you add, and a project keeps its own).

Getting the music into the DAW

MIDI (top) drag it onto a track: one loop as a MIDI file.
Take everything SPRIG played while the DAW (or the play button) ran, as it played; drag it in and place it
at the bar in its name. Use this where the DAW does not record a plug-in's MIDI.
Take audio · Loop audio the same as WAV, in the current sound or loaded instrument (a % shows while it is made).
Save MIDI saves the loop as a MIDI file where you choose.
MIDI channels: everything on channel 1; with a separate Left sound, the left hand and bass on channel 2.
WAV files you drag are kept in Music / Frond Grid / SPRIG drags (the DAW project may refer to them); SPRIG never
deletes them. MIDI files are copied into the project by the DAW.

Playing another instrument (Frond SPRIG and SPRIG Audio)

Sound > Your instruments on the main screen (or Load instrument in settings) loads your instrument. SPRIG's MIDI plays it, and its
sound comes out of SPRIG. Show opens its window; Remove goes back to the built-in sound. It is saved with the project.

The standalone app

Options (top left) > Audio/MIDI Settings: choose the audio output, and a MIDI output to send SPRIG's MIDI to another
app or device. The MIDI inputs listed there are not used (SPRIG does not respond to a keyboard).
If you unplug the MIDI device you send to and plug it back in, choose it again there if SPRIG's MIDI does not reach it.
With no DAW, the play button plays at the last preset's tempo (120 BPM when none was chosen).

Saving

A project keeps every setting, the drawn line, chord edits, per-phrase patterns, the loaded instrument and its state,
the language, the last preset and its tempo. Projects saved with earlier versions (0.1.4, 0.1.5) open with the same music.

System requirements

macOS 12 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. A DAW that hosts Audio Units or VST3 (checked with Logic Pro).
A standalone app is included.

Installing and removing

The installer puts:
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Frond SPRIG.component, Frond SPRIG MIDI.component
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Frond SPRIG.vst3
/Applications/Frond SPRIG.app
/Library/Application Support/Frond Grid/SPRIG/ (manual, licence, third-party notices)
To remove SPRIG, delete these files.
Dragged audio: ~/Music/Frond Grid/SPRIG drags/ (or ~/Library/Application Support/Frond Grid/SPRIG drags/ when the
DAW does not allow writing there). It stays when you remove SPRIG.
The language you picked: ~/Library/Application Support/Frond Grid/SPRIG.settings (only that; SPRIG works without it).

If something goes wrong

Not in the DAW's list Quit and reopen the DAW (always after installing), or rescan plug-ins; if it is still
missing, restart the Mac.
No sound Is the DAW playing (or the play button on)? Sound Off sends MIDI only. With Frond SPRIG MIDI
the sound comes from the track's instrument. In the standalone app, choose the output
under Options (top left).
A keyboard does nothing That is how SPRIG works: it plays on its own and sends MIDI out.
A preset sounds different Set the DAW's tempo to the suggested tempo; Level is not part of a preset.
A damaged file A project or settings file that SPRIG cannot read safely is ignored: a project keeps
SPRIG as it was, a settings file is set aside as "<name>.damaged" and SPRIG starts with
its defaults.

Licence and refunds

Use of SPRIG is governed by the Frond Grid End User License Agreement (shown by the installer; afterwards in
/Library/Application Support/Frond Grid/SPRIG/ as EULA_PLUGINS_EN.txt and EULA_PLUGINS_JA.txt, and on frondgrid.com).
You may install it on up to three computers that you own or control. Music you make with SPRIG, including the MIDI
it plays, is yours to use in any way.
Refunds follow the Frond Grid Refund Policy (https://frondgrid.com/legal/refund/). As a downloadable product, SPRIG is
not refunded for a change of mind. Within 14 days of purchase we refund when it does not run on a computer that meets
the requirements and we cannot fix it, when you were charged twice, when you cannot download it, or when it is clearly
not as described. Lemon Squeezy handles the refund.

Contact

Frond Grid https://frondgrid.com
For a refund, please include your order number (in the Lemon Squeezy receipt e-mail) and the e-mail address you bought with.

Privacy

SPRIG does not connect to the internet, collects no data and has no online licence check.

Built-in sounds: VCSL (Versilian Studios, CC0), Emilyguitar (Karoryfer Samples, CC0), SteelDrum (Jeff Learman,
The Unlicense); details in CREDITS.txt (click the SPRIG logo for the same).
VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Audio Units is a trademark of Apple Inc.